~ we only need an openness and an eagerness to embrace the possibilities!

A surly old poetry colleague used to harangue his fellow writers whenever an uncommon or foreign word, expression or phrase was used in the poems we shared in group gatherings. I always held a different (read: healthier, more vibrant!) take on the matter. I love stumbling across fresh-to-me opportunities in poetry and prose to gain new knowledge and insights.

This morning, during my daily poetry readings, I discovered the following words and phrases, all new and previously unknown to me:

• the florin: a historically significant coin, first issued in Florence in 1252
• the joyous noise of polyphony: think ‘morning bells are ringing’ in what we used to call singing in the round when I was in Girl Scouts.
• Odin’s ravens: Huginn and Muginn in Norse mythology, ‘thought’ and ‘memory’, respectively; they flew across the world gathering information and each night returned to whisper what they’d learned into Odin’s ears, welcome additions to his arsenal of wisdom.

Life-changing, attaining these simple lessons? Probably not. But, with a smile on my face, I enjoyed the process of discovery, the ‘aha’ moments and the tucking-away of precious new (and perhaps useful) information for future writing endeavors.

Here’s to our own special ravens!