April 15, 2012
Living in Sin by Adrienne Rich She had thought the studio would keep itself; no dust upon the furniture of love. Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal, the panes relieved of grime. A plate of pears, a piano with a Persian shawl, a cat stalking the picturesque amusing mouse had risen at his […]
April 14, 2012
Beannacht by John O’Donohue On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you.
April 13, 2012
Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day; The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play. And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. . […]
April 12, 2012
Psalm and Lament by Donald Justice In memory of my mother (1897-1974) Hialeah, Florida . The clocks are sorry, the clocks are very sad. One stops, one goes on striking the wrong hours. . And the grass burns terribly in the sun, The grass turns yellow secretly at the roots. . Now suddenly […]
April 11, 2012
The Guest House by Rumi This being human, is the guest house. Every morning a new arrival! . A joy, a lament, a slight. A momentary awareness that comes in as an unexpected visitor. . Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are as a bunch of sorrows, who sweep your house […]
April 10, 2012
“My friend must be a Bird” by Emily Dickinson My friend must be a Bird– Because it flies! Mortal, my friend must be, Because it dies! Barbs has it, like a Bee! Ah, curious friend! Thou puzzlest me! This poem was selected by Callie B-W Poetry Copyright Notice
April 9, 2012
Digging by Seamus Heaney Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. . Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father, digging. I look down . Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years […]
April 8, 2012
On the Road Home by Wallace Stevens It was when I said, “There is no such thing as the truth,” That the grapes seemed fatter. The fox ran out of his hole. . You… You said, “There are many truths, But they are not parts of a truth.” Then the tree, at night, began […]
April 7, 2012
When I Was One-and-Twenty by A.E. Housman When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies But keep your fancy free.” But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me. . When I […]
April 6, 2012
Smile on the Edge by Nancy Etchemendy Don’t tell me not to smile when I contemplate the edge. You don’t know my mind, the flavor of the wind on this rocky plateau, how the horse between my thighs, povrecito, wants only to be free, how it strains in its rage and sorrow toward this darkness […]