We Skim the Water

During our March gathering we focused on water at Dan and Gloria’s house. Water–still pools, oceans, rain-filled potholes, clinking ice cubes, delivered by garden hose, a crystal glass, wooden buckets, water coolers, water guns, whatever.

Geraldine Clinton Little (1925-1997) – bio

Creek Rites – This poem is published in The Poets of New Jersey: From Colonial to Contemporary  edited by Emanuel di Pasquale, Sander Zulauf, and Frank Finale. I couldn’t find Creek Rites anywhere on the Internet. If you’d like the full poem, leave a comment and I will get it to you.

Robert Pinsky (1940- ) – bio

Jersey Rain

Richard Hughes (1900-1976) – bio

The Singing Furies (scroll down to the middle of the page, you’ll find the poem)

Mary Oliver (1935- ) – bio

At Blackwater Pond

Robert Frost (1874-1963) – bio

Spring Pools

Natasha Trethewey (1966-), 2007 Pulitzer winner –  bio

Theories of Time and Space – audio version, video of the poet reading this poem, interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air

William Stafford (1914-1993) – bio

Listening to the Tide
Ask Me
Being a Person

Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) – bio

There is weeping in my heart both the original French version and the English translation. This poem can be found in a variety of musical settings. Here’s is Buddy Holly’s interpretation which he called “Raining in My Heart”

Marilyn Taylor – bio

The Blue Water Buffalo

Charles Simic (1938-) – bio

Watermelons

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)- bio

Under the Waterfall

Howard Nemerov (1920-1991) – bio

The Goose Fish

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We Get Dressed

On January 20 we gathered at Jan’s to share our poems about clothing. As Jan says,

Poetry has always been drawn to the subject of dress and undress…

Thus it’s the topic I’ve chosen
be it tunics or robes
or blouses of silk
pantaloons, trousers or lieder hosen.

Poets, it seems, have indeed had a lot to say about what we wear. If it weren’t so, our meeting would not have run so long. We almost didn’t have enough time to give each contribution its due.

Honor Moore (1945- ) – bio – essay by Meghan Cleary about shoe poems

New Shoes

Red Shoes

Charles Simic (1938- ), current Poet Laureate – bio from the Library of Congress

My Shoes

Anonymous – Although this poem, which criticizes Black people for buying clothing from racist companies, has been attributed to Maya Angelou, her Web site claims she has no affiliation with it.

Clothes

Marge Piercy (1936- ) – bio

My Mother’s Body – We read section 3.

Donall Dempsey – bio – haiku entitled “Divesting Oneself of One’s Clothing”

Tree does a striptease
the dance of the thousand leaves
naked in sunset.

Pablo Neruda – (1904-1973) – bio

Ode to Clothing

Anne Sexton – (1928-1974) – bio

Woman with Girdle

The Red Shoes (scroll about halfway down the page)

Robert Herrick (1591-1674) – bio

Upon Julia’s Clothes

Judith Viorst (1931- ) – bio

Sad Underwear

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) – bio

The Sicilian’s Tale; King Robert of Sicily

 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) – bio

Hamlet
Act I. Scene III
Polonius to Laertes
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.

Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)

Tryin’ On Clothes

Robert Pinsky (1940- ) –bio

Shirt

Anne Waldman (1945- ) –bio

Makeup on Empty Space

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We Hear About Poets Laureate and Jazz

I was happily eating my breakfast this morning while perusing the morning’s headlines on-line, when I noticed a Twitter post about jazz and poetry. What? Huh? Wait, more caffeine please! I must still be dreaming.

Of course, curious poets need to know…so I clicked on the link which took me to a NY Times article entitled “A Breezy Exchange Between Old Friends (Jazz and Poetry)”.

 It seems that current United States poet laureate Charles Simic and former United States poet laureate Robert Pinsky were on stage last night at the Jazz Standard in New York City.  They read poems while accompanied by a jazz trio…how COOL was that?? If only I had known in advance, I would have made an attempt to go…I hope they do a repeat performance soon.

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