Category Archives: poem

Apr9

dipped in words and art.

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a beautiful, beautiful book

 what is a poem, really, and what exactly is its use?

Every once in a while, you stumble upon something so lovely, so unpretentiously beautiful and quietly profound, that you feel like the lungs of your soul have been pumped with a mighty gasp of Alpine air. This is a Poem That Heals Fish  is one such vitalizing gasp of loveliness — a lyrical picture-book that offers a playful and penetrating answer to the question of what a poem is and what it does. And as it does that, it shines a sidewise gleam on the larger question of what we most hunger for in life and how we give shape to those deepest longings.

Written by the French poet, novelist, and dramatist Jean-Pierre Simeón, translated into English by Enchabnted Lion Books founder Claudia Zoe Bedrick (the feat of translation which the Nobel-winning Polish poet Wislawa Syymborska had in mind when she spoke of “that rare miracle when a translation stops being a translation and becomes … a second original”), and illustrated by the inimitable Olivier Tallec, this poetic and philosophical tale follows young Arthur as he tries to salve his beloved red fish Leon’s affliction of boredom.

i read the above review by maria popova, and simply had to find it

i read it three times and looked closely at the details

i so agree with her.

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in honor of national poetry month

and every day of every month

read a poem. 

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“great children’s books are wisdom dipped in words and art.”

-peter h. reynolds

 

 

‘

 

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credits: maria popova, marginalian, enchanted lion books

Sep6

september days.

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“by all these lovely tokens,

september days are here. 

with summer’s best of weather,

and autumn’s best of cheer.”

-helen hunt jackson

 

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art credit: debi hubbs, folk art painting

Aug20

so, how’s a poet to even try to keep their days straight?

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yo!

rainbow

hello

don’t go!

 

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an original, in honor of bad poetry day

which i just missed 

but now

it’s very nearly national poets day

and before too long will be national poetry day.

and so

see below.

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Hard on the heels of Bad Poetry Day on August 18

Comes National Poets Day on August 21

Presumably we celebrate good poets for this day.

Although Poets Day could certainly refer to any poets, good or bad.

It could even mean you! If you’re a poet …

So on August 21, celebrate the poet in you. Or in your friend. Or your favorite poet. It’s all up to you.

This day is different from yet another day celebrating poets and poems: National Poetry Day in October.

Mar21

listen, earth sings.

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May be an image of flower, nature and body of water
 Claude Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France
 “Spring has returned again.
The Earth is like a child
that knows poems by heart;
so many poems, so many verses,
patient toil winning her prizes at last.
Strict, the old teacher.
We loved the whiteness in the old
gentleman’s beard,
its bright snow.
Now when we ask what the green,
what the blue is,
Earth knows the answer,
has learned it.
She knows.
Earth, you’re on holiday,
lucky one: play now!
Play with us children!
We’ll try to catch you.
Glad, joyous Earth!
The gladdest must win.
Every lesson the old teacher
taught her,
all that is printed in roots
and laborious stems:
now she sings it!
Listen, Earth sings.”
– Rainer Maria Rilke
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“The inspiration for this sonnet came from
a visit to Ronda, in southern Spain, in the
winter of 1912-13. Rilke had overheard a
group of schoolchildren singing in the Convent
of Santo Domingo, accompanied only by a
triangle and tambourine. He didn’t know what
their song meant, but the light-hearted
animation of their singing is reflected in the
cadences of the second and third stanzas.”
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on international poetry day
Apr9

as poetry.

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“some of us don’t want to be tough alpha leaders.
some of us just want to write
and wander
the garden
and breathe in the sky
and nourish and nurture
and quietly create
new pathways
and live our
lives as art.
to know the earth
as poetry.”
-victoria erickson, rhythms and rhymes
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in honor of national poetry month
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art credit: Edgar Degas | Landscape | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Apr23

wondrous.

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thank you sarah freligh, for your beautiful poem

in this national poetry month and every month. 

Jan3

lovely.

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Dec1

the timeless power of poetry and love.

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take a moment out of your day to be moved by this very short film

20-year-old filmmaker wins award for powerful 1-minute film about marriage

 

 

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credits: aleteia, barr pictures, open hands open hearts

Apr17

can u haiku?

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make way on the path

 stepping creeping lime grows close

foot of goliath

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in honor of international haiku poem day

why not take a stab at it?

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“poetry is news brought to the mountains by a unicorn and an echo.”

-czeslaw milosz

 

 

 

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scio woods, ann arbor, michigan, usa – spring 2020

Mar21

to the poets.

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Wole Soyinka, playwright, poet and Nobel Laureate, reads an original poem written for children at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Celebrating the linguistic expression

of our common humanity

Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings. Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.

In celebrating World Poetry Day, March 21, UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.

A decision to proclaim March 21 as World Poetry Day was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999.

One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.

The observance of World Poetry Day is also meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, to support small publishers and create an attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and assert its identity. As poetry continues to bring people together across continents, all are invited to join in.

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“poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”

-robert frost

 

 

 

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credits: photo: UN Photo/Mark Garten, UNESCO