Some Like Poetry

Posted on April 4, 2016 by tamolantern@gmail.com

Some Like Poetry

Some –
thus not all. Not even the majority of all but the minority.
Not counting schools, where one has to,
and the poets themselves,
there might be two people per thousand.

Like –
but one also likes chicken soup with noodles,
one likes compliments and the color blue,
one likes an old scarf,
one likes having the upper hand,
one likes stroking a dog.

Poetry –
but what is poetry.
Many shaky answers
have been given to this question.
But I don’t know and don’t know and hold on to it
like to a sustaining railing.

~ Wislawa Szymborska
(translated by Regina Grol)

Posted in Daily Offerings | 3 Comments

does it happen to you?

Posted on April 3, 2016 by tamolantern@gmail.com

So, does April sneak up on everyone like this, or is it just me? How can I be this caught off guard every year?! 🙂 In any case, here we are! Welcome back to the celebration! Hopefully it will not be as chaotic throughout as it feels to me now. Not to worry – I’ll hit my stride soon enough (I hope!).

Wonderful to have most everyone back. I’ve gotten a few bounce backs on the emails and I’m still trying to sort those out. Great to have a few new comers to the mix as well.

I hope you all have an amazing first week of April!

This April is pretty special, it marks the 20th Anniversary of National Poetry Month. National Poetry Month was started by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and has become the largest literary celebration in the world ~ I am grateful that we can share this small part of it together. If anyone celebrates this month in other ways, I would really love to hear about it.

Wishing you the best April yet….

  • your faithful poetry pimp.
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Making a Friend

Posted on April 1, 2016 by tamolantern@gmail.com 
 Making a Friend 

I made a friend out of what was there: 
The legs of a table, the arms of a chair, 
A big head of lettuce with two ears of corn, 
The seat of a sofa all tattered and worn, 
The mouth of a pitcher, the tongue of a shoe, 
The teeth of a comb just to help him to chew, 
The face of a clock and the spine of a book, 
The heart of an artichoke too tough to cook, 
The eyes of a tater through which he could see, 
The hands of a clock just for wavin' at me. 
And the fun that we'll have 
And the games that we'll play 
And the secrets we'll share 
And the prayers that we'll pray 
As here close together we sit in the shade - 
Me and this brand-new old friend I just made. 

~ Shel Silverstein
Posted in Daily Offerings | 4 Comments

The hour just before

Posted on March 29, 2016 by tamolantern@gmail.com

This is the hour just before the party ~ April is upon us once again. Has it been a whole year already?! It has been a crazy one for your poetry pimp, leaving me as certifiable as ever. For those of you that don’t know I was evicted by an evil landlord this past Autumn. In many ways, it truly was a blessing in disguise but at the time lead to some extremely frantic packing and moving. I had lived there for eleven years and needless to say there was a lot to be packed. Most of my things are still in boxes, housed in the homes of some amazing family and friends.

This of course means that I don’t have the easiest access to a lot of my source materials that were always on standby. But we are all here and together again, what could be more important than that?

It is April, and the poetry will find a way.

I’ll see you again on Friday my fellow fools.

Mwah.

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I Love the Hour Just Before

Posted on March 29, 2016 by tamolantern@gmail.com

I Love the Hour Just Before

a party. Everybody
at home getting
ready. Pulling
on boots, fixing
their hair, planning
what to say if
she’s there, picking
a pluckier lipstick,
rehearsing a joke
with a stickpin
in it, doing
the last minute
fumbling one does
before leaving for
the night like
tying up the dog or
turning on the yard
light. I like to think
of them driving,
finding their way
in the dark, taking
this left, that right,
while I light candles,
start the music softly
seething. Everything
waiting. Even
the wine barely
breathing.

~ Todd Boss

Posted in Daily Offerings, teaser/test/preview | 2 Comments

The First of May

Posted on May 1, 2015 by tamolantern@gmail.com

The First of May

The orchards half the way
From home to Ludlow fair
Flowered on the first of May
In Mays when I was there;
And seen from stile or turning
The plume of smoke would show
Where fires were burning
That went out long ago.

The plum broke forth in green,
The pear stood high and snowed,
My friends and I between
Would take the Ludlow road;
Dressed to the nines and drinking
And light in heart and limb,
And each chap thinking
The fair was held for him.

Between the trees in flower
New friends at fairtime tread
The way where Ludlow tower
Stands planted on the dead.
Our thoughts, a long while after,
They think, our words they say;
Theirs now’s the laughter,
The fair, the first of May.

Ay, yonder lads are yet
The fools that we were then;
For oh, the sons we get
Are still the sons of men.
The sumless tale of sorrow
Is all unrolled in vain:
May comes to-morrow
And Ludlow fair again.

~ A.E. Housman

Posted in Daily Offerings, Friday Bonus! | 2 Comments

Dance in Your Blood

Posted on April 30, 2015 by tamolantern@gmail.com

Dance in Your Blood

Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.

~ Rumi

(translated by Coleman Barks)

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Dust

Posted on April 30, 2015 by tamolantern@gmail.com

Dust

Someone spoke to me last night,
told me the truth. Just a few words,
but I recognized it.
I knew I should make myself get up,
write it down, but it was late,
and I was exhausted from working
all day in the garden, moving rocks.
Now, I remember only the flavor —
not like food, sweet or sharp.
More like a fine powder, like dust.
And I wasn’t elated or frightened,
but simply rapt, aware.
That’s how it is sometimes —
God comes to your window,
all bright light and black wings,
and you’re just too tired to open it.

~ Dorianne Laux

 

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Poem in Your Pocket Day!

Posted on April 30, 2015 by tamolantern@gmail.com

Last day!! Happy National Poem in Your Pocket Day!!!!! That’s right all you poetry readers! Today is National Poem in Your Pocket Day!

The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month, then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends and be sure to share it with me, your favorite poetry pimp!

This first started in NYC in 2002 and went national in 2008.

I am carrying a poem in each pocket today. One is kind of how I’ve been feeling and the other is how I would like to be feeling. Enjoy!

 

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Crossing the Bar

Posted on April 29, 2015 by tamolantern@gmail.com

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

~ Lord Alfred Tennyson

 

Posted in Daily Offerings | 1 Comment