Coffee and Thoughts

There is a pen mark on my dress. I just noticed it. I think it just happened a few minutes ago, and I am not at all surprised. I always find ink marks on my hands, so why not on my dress? As I think I sometimes twiddle with my pen and end up with ink marks in places they aren't supposed to be. Pens and ink are a life-source to my journal and the lovely pen is the essential device. A thin, sleek piece of plastic or metal filled with ink. Handheld and finger-directed, placing words onto pages. It is magical. 

Here she had brought a lute and a few books;
Here would she lie for hours, with grateful looks,
Thanking at heart the sunshine and the leaves,
The summer raindrops counting from the eves.
- Leigh Hunt

I am learning the works and thoughts of a new poet/writer to me, Leigh Hunt. He lived 1784 - 1859 and was friends with Byron, Keats, and Shelley. I am reading his poems and his thoughts/encounters/letters with these authors, and it's a fascinating inside look into all their lives. The descriptions he writes on Byron, Keats, and Shelley contributes to my knowledge of them and adds keen insights from the sight of a friend who spent time with them.

You can learn a lot about people from letters back when letter writing was such a very thoughtful process and was the essential communication across distances. Leigh wrote poetical lines that inspired others, like Tennyson and Browning. It is so fun to get to know another poet/author who I am not familiar with at all, but who was skilled and admired amongst some of the most well-known authors of the time.

I love that there is always more to discover, more to learn, more to read. I am never finished with all that there is to discover. I am so thankful for that.