As we are soon about to end our Girl Power and Women’s Wiles theme, I thought that it would be best to feature the beautiful and controversial Anaïs Nin for Poetry Friday (hosted this week by the lovely Elaine Magliaro of Wild Rose Reader).
Anaïs Nin is a French-Cuban author who was born in 1903 and died in 1977 (source here). She is best known for her erotic literature as well as her published journals which cover over 60 years (recall that there were no blogs during that time). While I have a few of Anaïs Nin’s diaries and her writing can be described as lyrical, I only know of one poem written by Anaïs, entitled Risk.
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom.
Very few words, but oh so powerful. In celebration of flowers who dared to blossom and who took pains to show to the world their transient beauty, here are a few photos taken by my husband (and post-processed by me) from the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Hope you enjoy them. 🙂
Gathering Books 
such a great poem!
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Thanks, I’m glad you like it.
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very beautiful poem! I tried finding more of Anais’ poems but I guess she doesn’t have more of this.. I so love her books! Thanks for sharing!
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Hi there. Her writings are mostly in prose, very few poems, so i’m glad to have discovered this one. By the way, if you wish to share with us a few of your poems for feature on the site, you can email us at gatheringbooks (at) yahoo (dot) com. 🙂
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thank you =P uhm, what are you looking for in particular? I actually am releasing a printed book soon. =P But the poems are about cannibalism and necrophilia but not blatantly so. =P They are expressed in a homoerotic and romantic manner, like a sweet love poem. If you would like, I will send you a free ebook copy. =P You can chose whatever poems you like there. I have written 6 books of poetry already. Tell me what does this site look for because I am afraid that I could offend some of your followers =P
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Hahhaa. I see. You could email us (I handle the yahoo account) and I’d email you privately and let you know. Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
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okay… where can i find your email? =P
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Hi, the email can be found in the previous comment I just posted. it’s gatheringbooks (at) yahoo (dot) com. Thanks
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soory! I did not see =P i love your site so much =P
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This is going to sound strange, but when I read this poem the first thing that came to my mind was Shel Silverstein’s “I won’t hatch”. I can imagine the chick eventually coming to the realization expressed in Nin’s poem.
Or, perhaps, I need a second cup of coffee before I read poetry.
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Hi Katya, nice allusion! I don’t recall Silverstein’s “I won’t hatch” – will look it up. 🙂 The first cup of coffee did just fine, methinks. 🙂
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This is so beautiful. Reluctance, inevitability, change–all in a few lines. Sometimes I read poems & wonder what I’m doing?? Thanks for the lovely sharing, Myra.
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Hi Linda, you are doing wonderfully with your own poems, I always enjoy visiting your blog and reading your thoughts spoken through verse. 🙂
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Thank you for sharing this gem of a poem, Myra, and these GORGEOUS photos! May your weekend be full of color. :0)
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Thank you dearest beautiful Robyn! We’re enjoying a long weekend and while it’s an overcast Monday mawnin, there is light, love, and color always always. 🙂
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Gorgeous photos, Myra. It’s a poem that speaks to many women.
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Hi Laura, I agree. It’s perfect for our bimonthly theme on Women’s Wiles and Girl Power.
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Would love to visit the Singapore Botanical Gardens! With you!
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I’m game! When do we meet up???! 🙂 Would love for you to come visit Singapura! 🙂
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what a beautiful message in that short verse.
let go, be free, ride the wave, trust the destiny …. 😀
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Hi Amira, there is something about the French poets that simply leave my heart open and captivate my spirit. *heart filled*
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Risk. So important for growth (or blooming, or hatching).
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Hi Mary Lee, there are so many beautiful things that can be unpacked from these distilled thoughts/lines. It’s perfect as well for my discussion on ‘creativity’ in my own class with the importance of risk. I also sense that women at various stages in their lives would resonate with the poem in different ways.
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Hi, Myra. Finally catching up with Poetry Friday! What a wonderful poem. I feel like life (or at least my life!) is all about contemplating risk and hopefully taking some of the ones you need to reach your true potential. I enjoyed the photos as well. My husband likes to photograph flowers, too!
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There’s a line in a Jewel song that says, “You can be Henry Miller and I’ll be Anaïs Nin/This time it will be even better we’ll stay together in the end.” I remember hearing that line and wondering who those people were. Though my interest was piqued, it took me a few years to actually buy and read Henry and June. By the time I was 18, I had read it through several times and had moved onto her other diaries along with some of her essays. Reading her words was much like seeing my own thoughts committed to paper though they were ideas I had never dared to have before. I read her work consistently through college and wrote my independent honors thesis about how her life and art merged in an ideal state in the 1930s.
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