-
A Poem for a Thursday #311
I featured one of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poems last October and was determined to read more of his works. That hasn’t happened even though I picked up a volume of his poems at a library book sale. What can I say? My intentions are good but my follow-through is singularly lacking. I stumbled across today’s poem and have reaffirmed all my resolves to read more of his poetry. We shall see. Understand, I'll slip quietly away from the noisy crowdwhen I see the pale stars rising, blooming, over the oaks.I'll pursue solitary pathwaysthrough the pale twilit meadows,with only this one dream:You come too.PathwaysRainer Maria Rilke
-
Book Review//Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
I requested Jane Austen’s Bookshelf from the library with no intention of writing about it. Frankly, I am doing an absolutely terrible job of reviewing books these days. However, I read it, I loved it, I bought my own copy, and I am here to tell you to do the same. Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer and a devoted fan of Jane Austen. As with many of us who love Austen’s works, she read them over and over and yearned for more. This sparked her curiosity about the books Austen herself would have read. What books would have been on Austen’s own bookshelf? Some authors are easy to…
-
A Poem for a Thursday #310
Many of the poems featured here are new to me. I wasn’t much of a poetry person before I started this feature on my blog, which was the whole reason I started doing this. I wanted to become a lover of poetry. However, there are a few poems that I remember reading and loving years ago. Today’s poem is one of those. To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,One clover, and a bee.And revery.The revery alone will do,If bees are few.To Make a PrairieEmily Dickinson
-
A Poem for a Thursday #309
Langston Hughes was a part of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a poet but also wrote novels, short stories, essays, and plays. Hughes tried to portray the realities of working-class Black lives. He said, “We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.” Dream-singers,Story-tellers,Dancers,Loud Laughers in the hands of Fate— My people.Dish-washers,Elevator-boys,Ladies' maids,Crap-shooters,Cooks,Waiters,Jazzers,Nurses of babies,Loaders of ships,Rounders,Number writers,Comedians in vaudevilleAnd band-men in circuses—Dream-singers all,—— My people.Story-tellers all,—My people. Dancers—God! What dancers! Singers—God! What singers!Singers and dancersDancers and laughers…
-
A Poem for a Thursday #308
I have featured Wendy Cope’s poetry a few times before. I always enjoy her writing when I stumble across it, so I should make an effort to read more of her works. Maybe I need to buy a volume of her poems. Buying a book is always a good idea. She is known for her “remarkable talent for parody, word play, dexterity with received forms, and the use of humor to address grave topics.” Today’s poem made me smile and sometimes that is all we need. People tell you all the time,Poems do not have to rhyme.It's often better if they don'tAnd I'm determined this one won't.Oh dear.Neve mind, I'll…
