Variation on a Theme by Rilke by Denise Levertov A certain day became a presence to me; there it was, confronting me–a sky, air, light: a being. And before it started to descend from the height of noon, it leaned over and struck my shoulder as if with the flat of a sword, [...]
Archive for the ‘Poems’ Category
If I were a bell
Posted in Variation on a Theme by Rilke, tagged blogging, culture, Denise Levertov, detroit, history, life, poem elf, poetry, random, Underground Railroad, Variation on a Theme by Rilke on May 21, 2012 | 2 Comments »
The rewards of waddling and pushing
Posted in Ruth Stone, The Question, tagged culture, family, life, Mother's Day, poetry, random on May 15, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Forgive me a little bragging about my mother’s day presents. They may not look like much, but as with people, what’s inside holds the most importance. Let’s open the book first. I read once that Jackie Kennedy had her children hand-copy and illustrate a poem every year for her birthday. These she kept in [...]
Coulda been a contender, but coulda been a victim too
Posted in Could Have, Wislawa Szymborska, tagged culture, life, literature, Nobel Prize, poetry, Poland, random on May 3, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Could Have by Wislawa Szymborska It could have happened. It had to happen. It happened earlier. Later. Nearer. Farther off. It happened, but not to you. You were saved because you were the first. You were saved because you were the last. Alone. With others. On the right. The left. Because it was [...]
Here comes the bride and a few poems too
Posted in Dante Alighieri, Fulvia Lupulo, La Vita Nuova, Max Ellison, Rumi, The Giving, tagged culture, family, life, love, marriage, poetry, weddings on April 17, 2012 | 2 Comments »
My niece and goddaughter got married last weekend in Maryland. It was a great occasion to celebrate with my family (70 and counting), and a great occasion for poem elfing. There’s no poem hidden in this picture but I do think I captured one in her expression. Look how she grips her father [...]
New look at old friend
Posted in Jane Hirshfield, Meeting the Light Completely, tagged Costco, culture, life, poetry, random on March 30, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Meeting the Light Completely by Jane Hirshfield Even the long-beloved was once an unrecognized stranger. Just so, the chipped lip of a blue-glazed cup, blown field of a yellow curtain, might also, flooding and falling, ruin your heart. A table painted with roses. An empty clothesline. Each time, the [...]
A different kind of Disney princess
Posted in Interim, Ruth Stone, tagged culture, depression, life, old age, poetry, random on March 22, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Interim by Ruth Stone Like the radiator that sits in the kitchen passing gas; like the mop with its head on the floor, weeping; or the poinsettia that pretends its leaves are flowers; the cheap paint peels off the steamed walls. When you have nothing to say, the sadness of things speaks for [...]
Enlightened tea
Posted in Poem, Thomas McGrath, tagged culture, friendship, love, poetry, random, relationships on March 15, 2012 | 5 Comments »
Poem by Thomas McGrath How could I have come so far? (And always on such dark trails?) I must have traveled by the light Shining from the faces of all those I have loved. If I were skilled in the art of micrographia, I would copy this poem on vellum in [...]
Home is where you dump your stuff
Posted in Dara Wier, Invisible in the Torn Out Interiors, Poems, tagged culture, home, life, poetry, random on March 5, 2012 | 7 Comments »
Invisible in the Torn Out Interiors by Dara Wier A man looked at us across his little dish Of watercress and peas and said he’d wasted Five years. We couldn’t ask him doing what? He said he knew he’d let some thing alive die And didn’t know how to get it [...]
Moby Drink
Posted in A New Lifestyle, James Tate, tagged Ash Wednesday, coffee, culture, Lent, life, obsession, poetry, random on February 23, 2012 | 4 Comments »
A New Lifestyle by James Tate People in this town drink too much coffee. They’re jumpy all the time. You see them drinking out of their big plastic mugs while they’re driving. They cut in front of you, they steal your parking places. Teenagers in the cemeteries knocking over tombstones are slurping [...]
Don’t go confidently in the direction of your dreams
Posted in Christina Rossetti, Mirage, tagged culture, life, poetry, random, romance, Valentines Day on February 9, 2012 | 2 Comments »
MIRAGE by: Christina Rossetti THE hope I dreamed of was a dream, Was but a dream; and now I wake Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old, For a dream’s sake. I hang my harp upon a tree, A weeping willow in a lake; I hang my silenced harp there, wrung and [...]
