Holds Upon Happiness

When I first read today’s poem I immediately thought of this photo that I took a few years ago when my sister and niece were visiting. We rented kayaks and spent a couple of hours puttering around on a nearby lake. It was lovely and so were the water lilies. Sarah Teasdale was born in Missouri in 1884. Her first poem was published by the local newspaper. She went on to publish collections of poetry that were well-received for their “lyrical mastery and romantic subject matter.” Teasdale won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1918. If you have forgotten water lilies floatingOn a dark lake among mountains in the afternoon…

I have featured Tony Hoagland’s poetry a few times over the years. I love the way his poems provide such a clear mental image of a moment. This one makes me think of the farmhouse in New York where we used to vacation with our kids. There were always five million dragonflies buzzing around. Once, in the cool blue middle of a lake,up to my neck in that most precious element of all,I found a pale-gray, curled-upwards pigeon featherfloating on the tension of the waterat the very instant when a dragonfly,like a blue-green iridescent bobby pin,hovered over it, then lit, and rested.That's all.I mention this in the same waythat I…

This poem taught me a new word. A quaich is a two-handled drinking cup from Scotland. Highland clans originally used them to offer guests a welcoming drink. On the other side of the world,you pass the moon to me,like a loving cup,or a quaich.I roll you the sun.I go to bed,as you're getting upon the other side of the world.You have scattered the starstowards me here, like seedsin the earth.All through the night,I have sent youbunches, bouquets, of cloudto the other side of the world;so my love will be shadewhere you are,and yours,as I turn in my sleep, the bud of a star.WorldCarol Ann Duffy