Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and legend says she inspired Homer in his writing of the classics Odyssey and the Iliad. An anthology with her name is offering the Women Who Write 2013 International Poetry and Short Prose contest for a submission cost of $12 with a deadline of June 30, 2013. Continue reading
Sitting on my shelf is a worn, torn and colored Treasured Things children’s book with little poems to recite by poet, Annette Wynne. A telescope into the lives of children and adults in 1922.
Newspapers
If all the news gave out
And there should come a day
With nothing …. Continue reading
Beirut. One word that can conjure up so many intense reactions. Terry Douglas, a poet and author, lived in Beirut at the opening of the Civil War that lasted for well over a decade. His poem is on a sniper’s bullet, chaos of war and life.
“Fingering the burst of lead,
Shark rough after glancing the wall,
I contemplate my fate … . Continue reading
Native American prayer or poem. “O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me. I am small and weak; I need your strength and wisdom. ….” Continue reading
Haiku for Spring from A Net of Fireflies, Japanese Haiku and Haiku Paintings translated by Harold Stewart (1960) offers seasonal haikus with delicate brevity and warmth. Continue reading
“I sit on a rock at the end of the island, peeling off flakes of sunburned nose. Feet dangle in cool water; minnows nibble at toes. Overhead a broad-winged hawk sends a thin whistle…” Poetry by Douglas Wood in Paddle Whispers Continue reading
“In the transient clouds of early morning, I see only images of my native home; The warm south wind of late April also brings, Remembered fragrance of once familiar flowers … ”
Chinese poet and author, Hsu Yu wrote “Nostalgic Thoughts of Home” while living in Paris in 1937. Continue reading
One of my favorite poetry books is Fireflies by Rabindranath Tagore with decorations by Boris Artzybasheff published in 1928. On the opening page is the signature of BaiDzar Shalian, an old family friend who shared her library of treasures.
Tagore is a Bengali poet and winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize of Literature. His poems are magical. Here are a few favorites:
“Your smile, my love, like the smell of a
strange flower,
is simple and inexplicable.”
Fireflies by Tagore Continue reading
Constantine Cavafy, a Greek poet, would have celebrated his 150th birthday this year. The poem Ithaca on destinations strikes a cord on how to live life and to appreciate every moment. Continue reading
Poet Nicole Coonradt pushes the boundaries of connections, thoughts and in this poem – distance. Continue reading
