revdrejt1832

“I wish we never had to wish”

Earlier this week I stood in line to cast my “vote” in early voting. The line was long, stretching outside of my local library. Once inside the library, the line wrapped around the perimeter of the book shelves. I felt fortunate that as I passed the shelves for preordered books there was one with myContinue reading ““I wish we never had to wish””

“Askernishing”

Askernish, is on the west coast of the island of South Uist, too small to be named on the map above. Yet here on the very western edge of Europe you will find the most unexpected and delightful golf course. https://www.askernishgolfclub.com/ The history of this course is another story! The former American poet laureate, BillyContinue reading ““Askernishing””

We calculate the outsides of all things,

It is sometimes said that vision is more important than sight. In other words, although we see things we lack “vision” to see the real possibility. Sometimes we busy ourselves calculating the outside of things, never bothering to truly measure or imagine what might be below the surface if only we could ponder longer orContinue reading “We calculate the outsides of all things,”

The Ad-dressing of Cats

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of chat about “cats” in the ether! As if we didn’t know enough about Taylor Swift, we now know the names of her cats, Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button! The poet T.S. Eliot grew up here in St. Louis, although in adult lifeContinue reading “The Ad-dressing of Cats”

Fog -“the opposite of Pentecost”!

It may come as no surprise to you to learn that my desk diary is the Faber & Faber Poetry Diary 2024. Each week contains a poem and as I turned the pages into October, there it was, a poem by Christopher Reid from his book Toys/Tricks/Traps entitled Fog. As he describes fog descending toContinue reading “Fog -“the opposite of Pentecost”!”

Dance, that ye need no other day

You never have to explain chocolate cake, it is just chocolate cake, it needs no explanation, no elaboration, no analysis, it needs just one bite followed my many others and every bite confirms what the previous one confirmed, its chocolate cake pure and simple, so enjoy! The poetry of Philip Larkin often lends itself toContinue reading “Dance, that ye need no other day”

“Now I understand history”

I would love to introduce you to the poet Naomi Shihab Nye, a Palestinian American who lives in Texas. If there was space I would use so many of her poems. Today, I share two. This is the season of returning to school and beginning school. Parents with cameras and hugs send their child throughContinue reading ““Now I understand history””

“our kingdom come has just begun”

Amanda Gorman is a poet and a prophet. Her words time and again take away our breath while filling us with hope and imagination of what might be possible. I share with you her poem This Sacred Scene spoken at the Democratic National Convention, but addressed to us all. I share her words not asContinue reading ““our kingdom come has just begun””

Skimming Stones!

We have all tried it! The wonder and the magic of being able to skim a stone across a smooth body of water has occupied many a summer hour. One, two, three skips or even four, make us feel like a champion. I was surprised to learn that there is indeed a World Championship forContinue reading “Skimming Stones!”

“England hath need of thee”

The scene above was common place in my teenage years in N. Ireland. It is depressing to see the above image of the events over the past few days in many cities such as Liverpool, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Bristol, and Belfast, to name a few. In 1802 the Lakeland poet William Wordsworth wrote about London andContinue reading ““England hath need of thee””