The Quotidian: Poems Celebrating the Everyday, the Ordinary

The roots of this collection may go back to my early childhood. We owned a copy of "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson. I can still envision the Little Golden Book, with its gilt-edged binding and a painting of a small golden-haired girl with a crown of flowers opening the gate in a white picket fence.

When I go back to it now I find the verses incredibly preachy, but one very short piece captures some of the feeling in the poems collected here (setting aside for one moment the many, many tragedies created by monarchies). In its entirety, it reads:

"Happy Thought" by Robert Louis Stevenson

The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

According to Merriam-Webster (whose social media game is ON POINT so they're my go-to dictionary), the word "quotidian" means occurring every day; belonging to each day; commonplace, ordinary. And yet the things around us, the world around us that we might think of as commonplace are simply and actually amazing! Everything from the way a seed grows into a whole entire tree to the many, many people and processes it took for me to have coffee in my cup is incredible, when you stop and think about it for a moment.

Some time ago I read The Art of Noticing, by Rob Walker (Bookshop.org affiliate link*), and I read his newsletter. The book and his columns provide suggestions for how you might apply the power and energy of simply noticing to add mindfulness and insight to your days. As one example, standing in one spot waiting for my sweetie to come out of the hardware store I simply looked around and noted every instance of the color blue I could find (clicking on the link takes you to my first tweet in a whole thread.) 

Blue. pic.twitter.com/D7vrSFBZMo

— Barb Chamberlain (@BarbChamberlain) May 7, 2022

What is both ordinary and amazing in your world? These poems may point you to some of the incredibleness that surrounds and supports your life. 

"Here" by Wislawa Szymborska

I don’t know about other places,
but here on Earth there’s quite a lot of everything.
Here chairs are made and sadness,
scissors, violins, tenderness, transistors,
water dams, jokes, teacups.

"Tribute Poem" by Anne Higgins

for corkscrews,
corkscrew call of
yellowing lustful goldfinches,
butter,
opposable thumbs,

"Credo" by Donna Hilbert

I believe in the Tuesdays
and Wednesdays of life,
the tuna sandwich lunches
and TV after dinner.

"I Believe Nothing" by Katherine Raine

I believe nothing—what need
Surrounded as I am with marvels of what is,
This familiar room, books, shabby carpet on the floor,
Autumn yellow jasmine, chrysanthemums, my mother's flower,
Earth-scent of memories, daily miracles,

"But You Thought You Knew What a Sign Looked Like" by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

We are blessed
by marvels wearing ordinary clothes—
how easily we’re fooled by simple dress—
Oranges. Water. Leaves. Bread. Crows.

"Otherwise" by Jane Hirshfeld

I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.

"The Letter from Home" by Nancyrose Houston

There was a bed, it was
soft, there was a blanket, it was warm, there were dreams,
they were good. 

"Welcome Morning" by Anne Sexton

in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry “hello there, Anne”
each morning,

"Daily" by Naomi Shihab Nye

This page I type and retype
This table I dust till the scarred wood shines
This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again
like flags we share, a country so close
no one needs to name it

"Ode to Things" by Pablo Neruda

I love
all things,
not only the
grand,
but also the infinite-
ly
small:
the thimble,
spurs,
dishes,
vases.

"The Patience of Ordinary Things" by Pat Schneider

And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

"Miracle Fair" by Wislawa Szymborska

First among equal miracles:
cows are cows.

Second to none:
just this orchard
from just that seed.

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