Obscure Holidays: International Pillow Fight Day

Mark your calendars everyone, because this Saturday, April 6th is apparently “International Pillow Fight Day.” This holiday is celebrated around the world with–you guessed it–massive pillow fights! Seriously, there’s an official website for it and everything. A ton of cities will be hosting events (including Atlanta), so chances are, you’ll be able to participate if you’re interested. In honor of the holiday, here’s a poem titled “Pillow”:

“Pillow” by Li-Young Lee

There's nothing I can't find under there.
Voices in the trees, the missing pages
of the sea.

Everything but sleep.

And night is a river bridging
the speaking and the listening banks,

a fortress, undefended and inviolate.

There's nothing that won't fit under it:
fountains clogged with mud and leaves,
the houses of my childhood.

And night begins when my mother's fingers
let go of the thread
they've been tying and untying
to touch toward our fraying story's hem.

Night is the shadow of my father's hands
setting the clock for resurrection.

Or is it the clock unraveled, the numbers flown?

There's nothing that hasn't found home there:
discarded wings, lost shoes, a broken alphabet.

Everything but sleep. And night begins

with the first beheading
of the jasmine, its captive fragrance
rid at last of burial clothes.

Hope everyone has some fun today!

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