Marcelline (Marcy) Burns is an author-friend I made through her response to “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” and continued penpal correspondence with both my father and myself. She is one of my role models I use when answering the question, “What kind of old woman do I want to be?” This was a question posed to…
Put a Poem in Your Pocket and share it. What a great idea…on this day, or any day. Poets. Org lists 30 things to do to celebrate poetry month (April, right?). 31) But, here’s one they haven’t thought of. My father, Erwin A. Thompson, encloses a poem along with his bill to the Great Central…
There’s lots of great poet participation going on over at Poetic Asides blog. Robert provides a poem and poetry prompt each day in April for National Poetry Month.
As a candidate for my masters degree in English literature at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in the early 1970s, I co-edited the literary journal there, “Sou’Wester.” One of my poems that appeared there (juried of course by my co-editor) was “Under Mama’s Yew Tree.” Somehow it came to William Stafford’s attention across the country…
My father while going through 100s of hours of recorded music tapes (one of his projects this winter is re-recording), he got fed up with all the “cheating” songs. He thought he would put in his version. He stayed up until Midnight writing it and this note that goes along with it. —JGR Erwin A….
Milou, a 9 year old student from Buenos Aires, put up this blog as a place to share poems for e World Poetry Day (March 21st). On the blog “students, kids and poets, writers and artists from all over the world post a contribution for Earth Day.” Click here to see what they posted to…
Earlier this year Nigerian poet Obi Nwakanma filled my Gathering Room with talk that made the world right for the hours he shared himself and conversation. We exchanged poetry books at the end of our time together. I sent some of Daniel’s hardworking roses home for Obi’s wife. In the days that followed our encounter,…
When I lived in Northern California, one of my great treats was to hear Gary Snyder perform his poetry with musicians in a cozy old-fashioned theatre…and another time….to hear him read and speak at the University of California at Davis. What remains of his presence for me is a sense of dignity…integrity…and a man of…
Late Self-Portrait by Rembrandt by Jane Hirschfield from After The dog, dead for years, keeps coming back in the dream. We look at each other there with the old joy. It was always her gift to bring me into the present— Which sleeps, changes, awakens, dresses, leaves. Happiness and unhappiness differ as a bucket hammered…
The Kindness of the Blind by Wislawa Szymborska (Nobel Prize in Literature 1996) Translated from the Polish by J. Kostkowska A poet is reading to the blind. He did not suspect it was so hard. His voice is breaking. His hands are shaking. He feels that here each sentence is put to the test of…