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A Poem for a Thursday #38
I am in New Hampshire on vacation this week and everywhere there are lupins in bloom. They are planted in gardens and growing wild and neglected by the side of the road. They are beautiful. I went looking for a poem about them and found this by Seamus Heaney. They stood. And stood for something. Just by standing. In waiting. Unavailable. But there For sure. Sure and unbending. Rose-fingered dawn’s and navy midnight’s flower. Seed packets to begin with, pink and azure, Sifting lightness and small jittery promise: Lupin spires, erotics of the future, Lip-brush of the blue and earth’s deep purchase. O pastel turrets, pods and tapering stalks That…
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Peace and Quiet
Quiet mornings with my book and a cup of tea. A walk by the lake with my husband. Sitting on the deck with only the sound of the breeze through the trees. Chat, just chat, with all stressful subjects banned for the week. A drive up the road looking for moose; we haven’t seen any yet but I live in hope. Cell phones that don’t work here. A game of cribbage or two. Conversations that don’t have to be edited for the ears of teenagers who hear everything except what you want them to hear. Puttering around with my camera. The slow letting go of the constant anxiety that has…
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A Poem for a Thursday #37
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash W. H. Auden was a British-American poet. I first read his poetry in high school when we were assigned “Funeral Blues.” I loved it when I first read it and I love it still but, since it is one of his most well-known poems, I was going to use something else. However, nothing else seems to be quite right today so “Funeral Blues” it is. Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky…
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Lazy Days
Monday was the first day of summer. I know this because my daughter’s alarm did not go off at 5:30 a.m. School ended the week before and now we have ten glorious weeks without homework, rigid schedules, and last minute panic about gym clothes that should have been washed but weren’t. Summer doesn’t start based on a calendar or the weather. Summer starts when school ends. I’m relishing the summer because I know the days are numbered where I will have a kid with the summer off; a kid who wants plans and trips to the beach and who is happy to have me involved in these plans. Thankfully, my…
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A Poem for a Thursday #36
Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash It is Wednesday evening as I am writing this and this week feels like it has been five million years long. Five million years filled with niggling annoyances, small disappointments, and way too many trips to the grocery store. Also, I’ve been waking up at 3:00 in the morning with my brain absolutely convinced I need to worry about absolutely ridiculous things. Who needs sleep when you can revisit every awkward or unpleasant conversation you have ever had in your life? I meant to write a nice, chatty post earlier this week but my laptop died (see previous paragraph about annoyances and disappointments) so I am only…
