poem elf

A Greater Self, a not-so-nice Poem Elf

December 2012, a friend turning fifty hosted a celebratory tea at an elegant hotel, and I misbehaved.  I had no reason to be disagreeable—every element of the afternoon was to my liking.  My friend is British (I’m a sucker for Brits), a woman with the effortless good manners I associate with her country and the […]

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Walt Whitman goes to the polls

  As a rule, Poem Elf works in secret, but today I made an exception.  In broad daylight I handed the Walt Whitman election poem to campaigners outside my local precinct. I was nervous, but there was no need to be.   I had expected more crowds and more last-minute campaigning, but outside the high […]

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Caroline on the brain

The week before Halloween seems the right time to share an image that’s haunted me since I first saw it a few years ago.  “Caroline” is a mixed media photograph created by my old friend Trish Rawlings, an artist and writer living in Baltimore. The photograph is taken from a series called Revenant, meaning “one […]

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All aboard

The Ticket by Anne Porter On the night table Beside my bed I keep a small Blue ticket – One day I found it In my pocket-book I don’t know how It got there – I don’t know What it’s for – On one side There’s a number 98833 And INDIANA TICKET COMPANY – And […]

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Homesick

I’m in love.  I’m reading Parrot & Olivier in America by Australian Peter Carey.  I’m thinking about the book all the time, taking it to bed, and not wanting our relationship to ever end.  Carey’s books have a crazy reckless energy that I associate with Australians in general (oh, my old friend Pippi Woodger!), and this […]

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Love Shack

    Come, Let Us Find by William Henry Davies Come, let us find a cottage, love, That’s green for half a mile around; To laugh at every grumbling bee, Whose sweetest blossom’s not yet found. Where many a bird shall sing for you, And in your garden build its nest: They’ll sing for you […]

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