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A Poem for a Thursday #108
It is pouring rain outside. The sky is grey and gloomy, the tree branches are bare, and the rain is coming down in sheets. That all sounds miserable but it is surprisingly cozy. I have nowhere to go and multiple cups of tea and books calling for me today. I searched for a poem about rain and this is what I found. It seems very appropriate. I have previously featured a poem by Raymond Carver here. Woke up this morning with a terrific urge to lie in bed all day and read. Fought against it for a minute. Then looked out the window at the rain. And gave over. Put…
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New Additions To My Shelves
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a book lover in possession of multiple copies of Jane Austen’s novels will always want one more. It is also a truth universally acknowledged that my husband is the best husband in the world. When these two pieces of universal knowledge combine then I end up with an absolutely wonderful copy of Pride and Prejudice. It was our thirtieth wedding anniversary earlier in the month and we weren’t able to do much to celebrate (thanks worldwide pandemic) and we both said we were fine with no gifts. However, he decided I needed a small gift anyway and this showed up in the mail.…
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A Poem for a Thursday #107
Danusha Laméris is an American poet. She has won several prizes and was the the 2018-2020 Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, California. She lives in Santa Cruz and teaches poetry. I've been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. Or how strangers still say "bless you" when someone sneezes, a leftover from the Bubonic plague. "Don't die," we are saying. And sometimes, when you spill lemons from your grocery bag, someone else will help you pick them up. Mostly, we don't want to harm each other. We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,…
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Feeling “Cool”
The other day my daughter asked me what I wear when I want to feel “cool” and confident. I had to stop and think for a moment. First of all, I wanted to appreciate the fact that my daughter actually believed there are moments in my life where I feel cool. Second of all, the answer didn’t spring immediately to mind. After all, the current world lends itself more to days spent in pajama pants and ratty sweatshirts rather than confident, go-get-em outfits. My daughter relies a lot on favorite outfits to give her confidence. She is a shy teenager and the current world does not do much to help…
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A Poem for a Thursday #106
Meghan O’Rourke is an American nonfiction writer, poet, and critic. She has worked for the Paris Review and The New Yorker as an editor and is currently the editor of The Yale Review. I liked this poem because it reminds me of my daughter who, like many young girls, went through a horse-obsessed age. I am sure she would still be in that stage if owning a horse was at all practical. Inventing a horse is not easy. One must not only think of the horse. One must dig fence posts around him. One must include a place where horses like to live; or do when they live with humans…
