As a child and a teenager, I had little memory of a time when the Vietnam War was not raging, a time when the draft hung precariously over the heads of young men, their futures hard to plan. Of course, through the years, many such times have existed. The world can be a dark and … Continue reading Wild and Sweet the Words Repeat
Category: Poets
The Poetry of and in November
My November Guest My Sorrow, when she's here with me, Thinks these dark days of autumn rain Are beautiful as days can be; She loves the bare, the withered tree; She walked the sodden pasture lane. Her pleasure will not let me stay. She talks and I am fain to list: She's glad the birds … Continue reading The Poetry of and in November
Talking With Trees
Recently, my husband and I spent a few days in a treehouse. I’d love to claim it was one of those adventurous and romantic houses you or a sibling or a friend built yourself as a child—one you nailed a few boards across on a couple of sturdy limbs and hammered a side to here … Continue reading Talking With Trees
Nature’s Art
A slender petal venturing into the world. Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. --Albert Einstein While we are in the last throes of spring in my part of the country, I cannot help but marvel at nature's beauty ("God's handwriting"--Emerson.) As I've written already, lush grasses and colorful wildflowers sweep … Continue reading Nature’s Art
O Captain! My Captain!
Today I would like to celebrate Memorial Day by posting a couple of poems by Walt Whitman, long considered one of America’s foremost poets. The following poem," O Captain! My Captain!", was written contemporarily to memorialize the death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. I think it is a fitting poem for Memorial Day in commemoration … Continue reading O Captain! My Captain!
Alone
There are those times in our lives when the crushing throngs around us become too much to deal with, and we seek the calm of solitude or the society of a select few. One need not be a misanthrope to desire the quiet and still, the company of “old dogs and watermelon wine,’ or the … Continue reading Alone
New Year’s Eve
The Passing of the Year by Robert W. Service My glass is filled, my pipe is lit, My den is all a cosy glow; And snug before the fire I sit, And wait to feel the old year go. I dedicate to solemn thought Amid my too-unthinking days, This sober moment, sadly fraught With much … Continue reading New Year’s Eve