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“Candle against the wind”

As I promised in my last post, I return to more of Wendell Berry’s Sabbath poems. The poems below can be found in his book Leavings and these Sabbath poems are dated 2005-2008. Berry asks the question, How may a human being come to rest? For all too many of us “rest” does not comeContinue reading ““Candle against the wind””

“I go among trees and sit still”

During the long period of isolation of Covid 19 I found inspiration and hope by taking walks and hikes in Bernheim Arboretum Research Forest, (photo above) a few miles south of Louisville, Kentucky. It was only a 20 minute drive to this wonderful forest which during Covid I called “my happy place.” Some 41 yearsContinue reading ““I go among trees and sit still””

Why is the sky so tall…?

As children we have all drawn the sky. We have painted the top half of a page blue and the bottom half green and in between we have squeezed people, or buildings, or things, or everything! Some days we forget the sky is there, at times reminded only by the amazing colors of a sunriseContinue reading “Why is the sky so tall…?”

In need of a skylight!

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time, know my joy and delight in the poems of Seamus Heaney. Every time I go back and read a poem over and over again, new things happen. Noticing the line breaks, or hearing the sound of the words as you read themContinue reading “In need of a skylight!”

“Stop all the clocks…”

The image above is from the 1994 movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral. The actor John Hannah plays Matthew, whose love and partner in the movie was Gareth. He used the words of W.H. Auden’s poem “Funeral Blues” at Gareth’s funeral. The poem expresses the devastation of grief. Carried throughout its lines is pessimism andContinue reading ““Stop all the clocks…””

Repetition!

The poem by Dylan Thomas – “Do Not go gentle into that good night” is a strong protest against death, even a denial of it! Thomas conveys a sense that life is for living, it is all there is, and as such life needs to be lived without hesitation, without regret, without any sense ofContinue reading “Repetition!”

A Wind like a Bugle!

“At last,” I hear you say, “an Emily Dickinson poem.” One of my many New Year resolutions is to read more of Emily Dickinson. Although it is not tornado season, the extreme weather conditions we are experiencing can produce tornadoes “out of season” and often “out of place.” A few weeks ago a tornado was reportedContinue reading “A Wind like a Bugle!”

Taffy

In an anthology of poetry and verse The Rattle Bag edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes you can find such a wide range of poems. My conclusion is if was good enough for Heaney and Hughes then it is certainly good enough for me! Nursery rhymes are strange things and often quiet sad andContinue reading “Taffy”

“A blitz of a boy…”

From the book of poems The Rattle Bag, edited by poets Heaney and Hughes we find Charles Causley’s poem Timothy Winters. Written in the early 1950s the poem is a protest to the post WWII failure of the Welfare State to care for the poor and less fortunate. It begs us to pay attention and toContinue reading ““A blitz of a boy…””

maggie and milly, and molly and may

maggie and milly and molly and may maggie and milly and molly and maywent down to the beach(to play one day) and maggie discovered a shell that sangso sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and milly befriended a stranded starwhose rays five languid fingers were; and molly was chased by a horrible thingwhich raced sideways whileContinue reading “maggie and milly, and molly and may”