Tag Archives: Poetry

The Work of Happiness

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

THE WORK OF HAPPINESS by May Sarton I thought of happiness, how it is woven Out of the silence in the empty house each day And how it is not sudden and it is not given But is creation itself … Continue reading →

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To My Enemies

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Watching the nonstop maddening show of U.S. politics and culture these days, I have been reminded of the poem “To My Enemies” by the under-appreciated American poet Bert Meyers. Meyers was born in Los Angeles on March 20, 1928. The son of … Continue reading →

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from the pitcher to the bowl

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

 Wisława Szymborska’s epigrammatic poem “Vermeer” (translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanisław Barańczak from the Polish): So long as that woman from the Rijksmuseum in painted quiet and concentration keeps pouring milk day after day from the pitcher to the bowl … Continue reading →

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Dead Stars

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

DEAD STARS by Ada Limón Out here, there’s a bowing even the trees are doing. Winter’s icy hand at the back of all of us. Black bark, slick yellow leaves, a kind of stillness that feels so mute it’s almost … Continue reading →

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Amsterdam

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Amsterdam                                                                Sofia Elhillo Concentric ripple of the canals, little … Continue reading →

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the shape of what you lived

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

And you wait. You wait for the one thing that will change your life, make it more than it is— something wonderful, exceptional, stones awakening, depths opening to you. In the dusky bookstalls old books glimmer gold and brown. You … Continue reading →

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Good Books

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Good books are friendly things to own. If you are busy they will wait. They will not call you on the phone Or wake you if the hour is late. They stand together row by row, Upon the low shelf … Continue reading →

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The Forest Knows Where You Are

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Lost Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. … Continue reading →

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the songs of April were in my ears

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Youth and Age Kahlil Gibran In my youth the heart of dawn was in my heart, and the songs of April were in my ears. But my soul was sad unto death, and I knew not why. Even unto this … Continue reading →

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March Elegy

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

March Elegy by Anna Akhmatova  

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