Our Word of the Month for April is “thrive.” It’s appropriate for this time of year when, despite the fact that winter seems to want to overstay its welcome, flowers and trees are coming to life. We’re reminded that we too might need to take a moment and adjust our focus. Maybe it’s a need to lift our heads up from our desks and to do lists, our problems and concerns, to look out the window and choose to thrive.
This poem by Tony Hoagland conveys this very well:
The Word
Down near the bottom
of the crossed-out list
of things you have to do today,between “green thread”
and “broccoli,” you find
that you have penciled “sunlight.”Resting on the page, the word
is beautiful. It touches you
as if you had a friendand sunlight were a present
he had sent from someplace distant
as this morning—to cheer you up,and to remind you that,
among your duties, pleasure
is a thingthat also needs accomplishing.
Do you remember?
that time and light are kindsof love, and love
is no less practical
than a coffee grinderor a safe spare tire?
Tomorrow you may be utterly
without a clue,but today you get a telegram
from the heart in exile,
proclaiming that the kingdomstill exists,
the king and queen alive,
still speaking to their children,—to any one among them
who can find the time
to sit out in the sun and listen.“The Word” is excerpted from Tony Hoaglands collection of works, Sweet Ruin.
What does “thrive” mean for you?