national poetry month
grrlscientist | April 10, 2008tags: Down the Stream the Swans All Glide, Spike Milligan, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader and friend who writes that "I've attached a poem by Spike Milligan. It should break up the more serious ones (honestly, who decided that the cruelest month should be dedicated to poetry?). It's scanned from Silly Verses for Kids -- his drawings are half the fun."
[larger view]
Down the…
grrlscientist | April 9, 2008tags: The Hen and the Oriole, Don Marquis, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader and friend who writes that "I am not much for poetry, generally. But I have always had a soft spot for Don Marquis. This is one of my favorites."
The Hen and the Oriole
well boss did it
ever strike you that a
hen regrets it just as
much when they wring her
neck as an oriole but
nobody has any
sympathy for a…
grrlscientist | April 8, 2008tags: Mesopotamia, Rudyard Kipling, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader and friend who writes that "my favourite poet is Kipling; sad to say, this [poem] is as appropriate today as it was 91 years ago. The question is still valid and I fear we'll do nothing, as our ancestors did nothing, those who embroiled us in the war will retire in comfort and assumed honour. The dead will lie…
grrlscientist | April 7, 2008tags: At the Quinte Hotel, Al Purdy, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem, one that I've never read before now, was suggested by a reader, who said it is his favorite. Also includes streaming video of the poem being performed/read by Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip [5:18].
-- Al Purdy, Beyond Remembering: The Collected Poems of Al Purdy (Harbour; 2000).
grrlscientist | April 6, 2008tags: The Lake Isle of Innisfree, William Butler Yeats, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader and friend.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes…
grrlscientist | April 5, 2008tags: God, A Poem, James Fenton, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader and friend.
God, A Poem
A nasty surprise in a sandwich,
A drawing-pin caught in your sock,
The limpest of shakes from a hand which
You'd thought would be firm as a rock,
A serious mistake in a nightie,
A grave disappointment all round
Is all that you'll get from th'Almighty,
Is all that you'll get underground.
Oh…
grrlscientist | April 4, 2008tags: A Dream Deferred, Langston Hughes, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader who wrote; "My favorite poem has always been 'A Dream Deferred' by Langston Hughes, even before I was old enough to know the context behind it." I agree with my reader, I also loved this poem as a child, and still do.
A Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2008tags: On Punctuation, Elizabeth Austen, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader and bird pal, Diane, who wrote; "I like the flow -- the freedom -- the not-so-subtle irreverent urging to think outside the box -- the joyful, (very) suggestive sauciness..." . This poet, Elizabeth Austen, is based in my original home, Seattle, and this poem appears here with her kind permission (the author…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: The Family is all There is, Pattiann Rogers, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by my friend, Professor of Poetry at KSU, Elizabeth Dodd.
The Family Is All There Is
Think of those old, enduring connections
found in all flesh -- the channeling
wires and threads, vacuoles, granules,
plasma and pods, purple veins, ascending
boles and coral sapwood (sugar-
and light-filled), those common…