-
A Poem for a Thursday #338
It’s been a while since I have featured a Mary Oliver poem and we all know she is one of my favorite poets. Today’s poem makes me think of my grandmother who definitely was someone who grabbed life with both hands well into old age. I hope I can be that kind of old lady. Also, my grandmother loved Cape Cod just as Mary Oliver did. I wish I was twenty and in love with lifeand still full of beans.Onward, old legs!There are the long, pale dunes; on the other sidethe roses are blooming and finding their laborno adversity to the spirit. Upward, old legs! There are the roses and…
-
Bookshop Visit//Cupboard Maker Books
Last weekend my kids and I were planning on going back to Connecticut to visit family and attend the Eastern States Exposition (the Big E) which is the largest fair on the east coast. We haven’t been to the Big E in years and were very excited about our trip. Then a nor’easter started brewing off the coast. After a week of watching the weather reports we finally canceled our trip. It ended up being the right decision but we were very disappointed. What do I do when I am grumpy about something? Buy book or go to the thrift store. I did both those things on Saturday when I…
-
A Poem for a Thursday #337
John O’Donohue was an Irish poet, philospher, and author. He was also a Catholic priest for a number of years. His writing is credited with helping to popularize Celtic spirituality. O’Donohue was also very involved with environmental activism. He died when he was fifty-two. Now you endeavorto gather yourselfAnd withdraw in slowAnimal woundednessFrom love turned sour and ungentle.When we love, the depth in usThrusts itself forward untilThe empty space betweenBecomes gradually wovenInto an embrace where longingCan close its weary eyes.Love can seldom end clean;For all the tissue is tornAnd each lover turned strangerIs dropped into a ruin of distanceWhere emptiness is young and fierce.Time becomes strange and slipshod;It mixes memories…
-
Ups and Downs
It has been a rough few weeks around here. We had to put our beloved cat to sleep. His name was Jack. He was about 17 years old. We got him from the shelter when he was about 2 years old so he has been a part of our lives for a large portion of my children’s lives. He was a good cat. He was definitely a little unusual. He didn’t realize human laps were for sitting on for at least 14 years. Jack couldn’t jump very well so I never had to worry about him being on counters or the kitchen table. He didn’t realize the outdoors was a…
-
A Poem for a Thursday #336
Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish Poet and Playwright. She was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2019. She says of her poetry, “I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way.” You like safe sounds:the dogs lapping at their bowls;the pop of a cork on a bottle of plonkas your mother cooks;the Match of the Day theme tuneand Doctor Who-oo-oo. Safe sounds:your name called, two happy syllablesfrom the bottom to the top of the house;your daft ring tone; the low gargleof hot water in bubbles. Half asleepin the drifting boat of your bed,you like to hear the big treessound like the sea instead.Safe…
