#summer kitchen

In Episode 263, Rachel shares one of the greatest poet romances of all time!

Rachel: I wanted to talk about Jane Kenya for a minute. So she is 20 years younger than him. Um, and that is significant because it makes kind of what happened in their relationship kind of all the more tragic. So in 1989, Donald Hall was diagnosed with colon cancer, and even though his chances of survival were really slim, he ended up going into remission. Five years later, Jane Kenyon was diagnosed with leukemia and died only 15 months later at age 47.

In those last months of her life, they were putting together an anthology of her work. And at the time she was kind of commenting on his health issues. So I wanted to read one of her poems about his illness, and then read his poem kind of about her. Because I think like, you appreciate his more if you have read hers.

[His poem] is lovely in the context of her poem, particularly because they both used the word "miracle", and her miracle is kind of in the context of poetry and art and this kind of high concept, you know, of what is spectacular. And then his is just kind of like, we had an incredible life, and that was a miracle, too.

This segment is such a gem. When Rachel pointed out the miracle link, I was blown away because I hadn't even noticed. Adding my two cents to the cause -and just like Rachel, I don't pretend or assume this is an actual connection meant by Hall- I like to think Donald was also echoing the use of the chair, and the use of light in his poem.