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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””

” Casey at the bat”

I was 39 when I saw my first baseball game! Growing up in Northern Ireland it was cricket not baseball which was played! Even to this day I still am learning the “intricacies” of baseball and still to this day I have never ever played a game. However, just yesterday joining three others for aContinue reading “” Casey at the bat””

Naming and Numbering the Horrors

This morning as I dug in the soil, clearing plants to make ready for a new flower bed, I was listening to the most recent New Yorker podcast Poetry. The podcast featured poet and translator Valzhyna Mort, from Minsk Belarus, who teaches at Cornell University. She translates between English, Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish. InContinue reading “Naming and Numbering the Horrors”

Café Gratitude

Recently, I was visiting Kansas City for a couple of days. When I drove past Café Gratitude I just had to stop and take a photo. It immediately reminded me of that lovely piece of prose in Mike McCormack’s novel Solar Bones – a piece I posted some three years ago. Then, and today, IContinue reading “Café Gratitude”

Words – “Cool it down.”

I haven’t thought much about “words” having a temperature, yet for sure we have reached a boiling point in the civil. social, and political discourse over these past days and months. Many are fearful of how dangerous words and speech have become and will become in the next few months, and beyond. The writer andContinue reading “Words – “Cool it down.””

“The winding path of words”

Today, I share two poems from the book of poems Insomnia by Linda Pastan. In the first poem Pastan likens the work of the poet to that of the work of farmers, forever hoeing and planting. The second poem touches on “writer’s block” and is a tribute to the poet William Stafford. A habit ofContinue reading ““The winding path of words””