Eugene Field was an American poet who lived in the late 1800s. He was often called the “poet of childhood.” His poetry tends to be a bit sentimental for the modern reader; the poem Little Boy Blue is about toys waiting on the shelf for their young owner who has died. However, it was very popular in his day and Little Boy Blue was one of his most requested readings. While much of his poetry was aimed at children he did privately print some ribald poetry designed for a male audience. Field also worked as a journalist for a number of newspapers. If you want a bonus poem for the…

My son walked by and asked what I was writing about. I told him I was writing my 118th (this was last week) Poem for a Thursday post. He looked vaguely baffled and asked if I had really been able to come up with 118 poems that I like. Why yes, yes, I have. I am just as surprised by that as he is. Actually, I have an entire list of poems saved that I would like to feature one day. What has happened to me and where has my previously poem-neutral self gone? Today’s poem caught my attention because of the phrase “the small applause of rain.” I really…

As soon as I read this week’s poem I thought of this photo I took when we were on vacation in New York a few years ago. I wrote a whole post about our vacations at this farmhouse. You can read it here. I would give a lot to be back there enjoying the peace, quiet, and absolute joy of those vacations. If things had happened differently, Maine or upper Michigan might have given me a sense of place-- a topic that now consumes 87% of all commentary on American literature. I might have run naked by a bayou or been beaten near a shrouded cove on a coastline. Arizona…