Continuing last week's theme of empathy and kindness:  An Interruption by Robert S. Foote A boy had stopped his car To save a turtle in the road; I was not far Behind, and slowed, And stopped to watch as he began To shoo it off into the undergrowth— This wild reminder of an ancient past, Lumbering to some Late Triassic bog, Till it was just a rustle in the grass, .... (Read the rest here.)  ~~~~~~~~~~ Kind and wonderful Janice Scully is hosting the Poetry Friday round-up this week at Salt City Verse.  Photo thanks to giorgos250 at Pixabay.  ..read more

Empathy is not a weakness. Empathy is never weakness.  Empathy for other human beings is the heart, mind, and soul of genuine strength and leadership.  Make America empathetic again.  Kindness  by Naomi Shihab Nye  Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness. .... (Read the rest here, at Poets.org.) ~~~~~~~~ The ..read more

This month's challenge to and for the Poetry Peeps was to write  "____ is A Word Poems" (a wordplay exercise created by poet Nikki Grimes and shared here by Michelle Barnes.)  I didn't have time to rise to the challenge, but I'm sharing a poem about meeting new poets, which is one of the things I love about Poetry Friday. Denise Krebs at Dare to Care is hosting the Poetry Friday round-up this week, and she's daring to care about the state of our country and some rapidly vanishing liberties. Thank you, Denise.  A New Poet  by Linda Pastan  Finding a ..read more

I wanted to share this one by Naomi Shihab Nye for a few reasons:  It's Naomi Shihab Nye.  It's about goats. I've always liked goats, and now they make me think about Severance, and I'm obsessed with Severance.  It's Naomi Shihab Nye.  So. Poetry. Goats. Severance.  You're welcome.  300 Goats by Naomi Shihab Nye In icy fields. Is water flowing in the tank? Will they huddle together, warm bodies pressing? (Is it the year of the goat or the sheep? .... (Read the rest of this short, delightful poem here, and you can listen to the poet reading it here.)  ..read more

This ("Sabbaths, 2005, VII") is a beautiful one from Wendell Berry.  It begins like this: I know I am getting old and I say so, but I don't think of myself as an old man. I think of myself as a young man with unforeseen debilities.  and ends like this:  ...And you, who are as old almost as I am, I love as I loved you young, except that, old, I am astonished at such a possibility, and am duly grateful. And now you must go here to read the dozen or so lines between that exquisite beginning and that sublime ending.  ~~~~~~~~~~ Carol Varsalona has the Poetry Fri ..read more

Atticus and I celebrated our 41st anniversary this week.  And all those skeptics thought we'd never make it, (tsk, tsk.) But here we are, and here we'll stand, and here we go, shooting for another forty-one. (Well, umm, maybe at least another 30? We'll take what we can get, I suppose.)  Here's a poem I wrote quite a while back, one I sometimes recycle on our anniversary.  Happy anniversary, Atticus. Thank you for the bread and promises.  Sustenance by Karen Edmisten  Bread, like marriage, requires the promise of leavening. There is flour and water — foundatio ..read more

Photo: Wikimedia Commons Poetry Friday crept up on me this week, so I jumped into my archives and pulled this one out. I wrote this (well, found it — it's a found poem made up of Bob Dylan song titles) in 2008, for Jama Rattigan, who was celebrating (as she is often wont to do) the freewheelin' Dylan.  Have you seen A Complete Unknown? Atticus, Ramona, and I saw it earlier this month. Timothée Chalamet was marvelous as Dylan, of course, but if Edward Norton doesn't get the supporting actor Oscar for his uncanny portrayal of Pete Seeger, I'll storm out of the ceremony. (Oh, wait ..read more

Photo by Markus Spiske When it's time to choose a guiding/inspiring/motivational/comforting/perfect (aye, there's the rub) word to take me through the upcoming year, I do what I do with everything: Overthink it and paralyze myself.  (Do you think that little "perfect" requirement has anything to do with that? Naaaaah.)  For 2024, I chose "Hope" but also stre-e-e-etched Hope out, seeking maximum mileage:  Healing Overcome Patience Emerge  Hope, healing, overcoming, patience, emerging: it was good advice to myself. I needed all that and more in and from 2024. 2023 a ..read more

I've got a little more Emily Dickinson for you this week — a well-known classic that I turn to often. It's the perfect way for me to kick off 2025, a year in which we'll need lots of hope perching in our souls to keep us motivated and moving forward. As one wise woman often says, "Don't agonize, organize."  “Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - (Read the rest here, at The Poetry Foundation.)  ~~~~~~~~~~ The incredible Mary Lee Hahn (s ..read more

I was whining earlier today that I didn't know what to do for Poetry Friday this week. I'm currently a zombie because I'm suffering — as I always do — from Christmas Sugar Syndrome. I lumber around in a stupor for several days because we indulge in too much delicious, mind-numbing sweetness.  So, Ramona quickly composed this haiku and suggested a postponement:  I had too much fudge.  Come back next week for a poem.  I'm on Christmas break.  That was tempting. (As tempting as the chocolate itself.) But then, she also said, "Why not some Emily Dickinson?" For Chri ..read more