Tag Archives: Poets

I am thinking now of grief, and of getting past it;

Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver Chunky and noisy, but with stars in their black feathers, they spring from the telephone wire and instantly they are acrobats in the freezing wind. And now, in the theater of air, they swing … Continue reading

Posted in Books, USA, Writing | Tagged , | 3 Comments

For the sake of a single poem, you must see many cities

Rainer Maria Rilke // “Ah, poems amount to so little when you write them too early in your life. You ought to wait and gather sense and sweetness for a whole lifetime, and a long one if possible, and then, … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

the path to individuality and personal conscience

“Great poets feel into the future with most sensitive antennas, and live out ahead of us, a piece of future development, and yet unrealized potential. Poets and philosophers, if they do not sell out to please, but have the courage … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

like a downhill brakes-burned freight train

AND STILL IT COMES Thomas Lux like a downhill brakes-burned freight train full of pig iron ingots, full of lead life-size statues of Richard Nixon, like an avalanche of smoke and black fog lashed by bent pins, the broken-off tips … Continue reading

Posted in USA, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Live Your Way Into The Answer

Rainer Maria Rilke // “Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them…the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Europe, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

August Everything Is Wrong

“August” by Mary Oliver Our neighbor, tall and blonde and vigorous, the mother of many children, is sick. We did not know she was sick, but she has come to the fence, walking like a woman who is balancing a … Continue reading

Posted in Art, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

the days slip by

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ezra Pound, Venice  1971 And the days are not full enough And the nights are not full enough And life slips by like a field mouse Not shaking the grass. Ezra Pound, “And The days Are Not Full … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Europe, Photography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What Kind of Times Are These

“What Kind of Times Are These” by Adrienne Rich There’s a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted who disappeared … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Except that the goal falls short of the reach

I may have mentioned once or twice that I am a huge fan of the late poet and singer Leonard Cohen. Those of us who value his work were greatly saddened by his passing. Last week the first cut from … Continue reading

Posted in Canada, Music, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Carrier of Ladders

This week the two-time Poet Laureat of the U.S. and two-time Pulitzer prizewinning poet W.S. Merwin died at the age of 91. One of America’s best known and loved writers, Merwin managed to weave themes of spirituality, politics, relationships, and … Continue reading

Posted in Books, USA, Writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment