“I really appreciated your piece on education in the Dec. 2 issue…”
“It’s both sickening and appalling to see how the government has dismantled what was once a strong system. As a kid, I remember the very real fear of flunking a grade and being held back. Watching classmates separated from their group, their tribe, was harsh, but it came with warnings throughout the year and reasons that, in my eyes, were necessary. I made sure that would never happen to me and, thankfully, the bar was low enough to clear.
“There’s no question the education system needs fixing. I can’t claim to have studied it in depth, but I do believe it requires a total and uncompromising disruption.” – JS
Why I Do What I Do
“Your book Ready, Fire, Aim has completely transformed my approach to business. I am forever grateful to have found your work. I have read it three times in the last month. I learn more with each pass through.” – MA
“Thanks for your help and for sending your books of poetry. My brother is a big fan of Mary Oliver. One of his favorites is Moles. Do you know it?” – AD
My Response: Yes, I know it. It’s one of her best-known poems and also a poem that I liked immediately and still do… without any second thoughts.
Moles
By Mary Oliver
Under the leaves, under
the first loose
levels of earth
they’re there – quick
as beetles, blind
as bats, shy
as hares but seen
less than these –
traveling
among the pale girders
of appleroot,
rockshelf, nests
of insects and black
pastures of bulbs
peppery and packed full
of the sweetest food:
spring flowers.
Field after field
you can see the traceries
of their long
lonely walks, then
the rains blur
even this frail hint of them –
so excitable,
so plush,
so willing to continue
generation after generation
accomplishing nothing
but their brief physical lives
as they live and die,
pushing and shoving
with their stubborn muzzles against
the whole earth,
finding it
delicious.
