“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.” Emily Dickinson On August 10, 1847, Emily Dickinson graduated from Amherst Academy, where she studied English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, “mental philosophy,” and arithmetic. The study of “mentalContinue reading “Milestones: Emily Dickinson”
Category Archives: Poetry
Milestones: In Flanders Fields
May 3, 1915, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, soldier, surgeon, artist, and poet, writes “In Flanders Fields.” This poem is read on Remembrance Day November 11th. Join me in reciting “In Flanders Fields.” In Flanders Fields By John McCraeIn Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in theContinue reading “Milestones: In Flanders Fields”
Celebrating Ireland with Armergin
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Tradition maintains that on March 17, in the year 432, Saint Patrick, at the young age of 16, was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain and taken as a slave to Ireland. Little did the pirates know that this young man would be an agent for changeContinue reading “Celebrating Ireland with Armergin”
Celebrating National Hat Day 2021
Celebrating National Hat Day with Jean-Jacques Fournier with his poem, The Gift of a Day
Jean-Jacques Fournier, LOVE by any Definition
In the first week of March, when Spring was awakening and the chill of winter was softening, enticing the earth to bring forth new growth, I received Jean-Jacques Fournier’s 16th book of poems, “Love – by any definition.” The timing of publishing in January welcomed a new year and a new decade of wonderful possibilities.Continue reading “Jean-Jacques Fournier, LOVE by any Definition”
The Flower at My Window
Aristotle declared that “Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.” And with that quote in mind, I looked back into public domain poetry in search of the voices of poets from past generations that will add to my poetry experience. Today, I am recitingContinue reading “The Flower at My Window”
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
“Truly fine poetry must be read aloud. A good poem does not allow itself to be read in a low voice or silently. If we can read it silently, it is not a valid poem: a poem demands pronunciation. Poetry always remembers that it was an oral art before it was a written art. ItContinue reading “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”
Let It Be Forgotten
It was in late February, early March when I recited Sara Teasdale’s poem, “Let It Be Forgotten” on the Vancouver Seawall. It was only a few weeks before the world changed and we entered a time of solitude. This is a favourite poem of mine for it reminds me that time is a kind friendContinue reading “Let It Be Forgotten”
Roads, Journeys, Memories
My recent thoughts have been on what is remembered and what is forgotten in the collective consciousness. Why do we remember specific events when those events, at the time, seemed ordinary and easily pushed to the recesses of memory? We are defined by moments that follow us wherever life takes us. We become a compilationContinue reading “Roads, Journeys, Memories”
Dancing with Daffodils
April 7, 2020. I am having tea with the poet, William Wordsworth. Today marks his 250th birthday and I’m inviting you to our celebration. English Breakfast tea is steeping nearby, a fitting choice for meeting up with an important Romantic English poet, who was destined to become the British Poet Laureate. Ah, English Breakfast blendsContinue reading “Dancing with Daffodils”
On The Road Book Club 