Writing poetry is like . . .
From Poetry Ireland -- "Writing poetry is like trying to catch a black cat in a dark room." -- Robert Greacan
From Poetry Ireland -- "Writing poetry is like trying to catch a black cat in a dark room." -- Robert Greacan
The National Portrait Gallery presents a beautiful online exhibition about poet Walt Whitman. A very nice mix of pictures and poems.
This stanza by Emily Dickinson was quoted in an essay I read a few days ago --
Some keep the Sabbath going to church;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.
The complete poem is available at the marvelous Bartleby site.
A brief but magical poem on how to live, and how to die, by Carl Sandburg --
Gather the stars if you wish it so.
Gather the songs and keep them.
Gather the faces of women.
Gather for keeping years and years.
And then . . .- Loosen your hands, let go and say goodby.
- Let the stars and songs go.
- Let the faces and years go.
- Loosen your hands and say goodbye.
Ted Kooser is the current Poet Laureate of the United States. As part of his mission to make poetry more available to Americans, he writes a very brief "column" on a single short poem each week.
The columns are published at the American Life in Poetry site. As of this date, the site archive holds fifty-three columns.
Hey, you can learn about poetry direct from the U.S. poet laureate!Did you know that you could invite John Keats to join you for breakfast? and that he would accept?
Read all about it in the marvelous poem Oatmeal, by Galway Kinnell.
Not long ago Garrison Keillor read the poem How to be a Poet, by Wendell Berry, and it's been on my mind ever since. These three lines make me just about swoon --
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
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