Recently I wrapped up a unit on poetry both for my ninth graders and tenth graders. I’m going to rag on them a bit (they know how much I love them–I often joke that sarcasm is my love language, so if I don’t sass you, we’re probably not too close). The reason is that IContinue reading “Why Poetry Is Still Important (Period).”
Category Archives: poetry
My First Published Poem
Really, this is late news, but last fall a poem of mine was selected to fill the pages of Glass Mountain, “a literary journal edited by undergraduate students at the University of Houston” and “dedicated to showcasing the works from undergraduate and emerging artists.” This, of course, is a humble achievement (I wasn’t exactly publishedContinue reading “My First Published Poem”
Poetry Wednesday: Shel Silverstein
Nearly everyone has been exposed to some of the fun, whimsical poetry of Shel Silverstein: The Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up, and The Giving Tree are some of his most notable works. His writing–targeted primarily at children–shows itself to be both entertaining and often quite surprisingly deep. Today I wantedContinue reading “Poetry Wednesday: Shel Silverstein”
Poetry Wednesday: “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time”
C.S. Lewis (the author who first cultivated my love of literature with his Narnia chronicles) once said about the Irish poet, essayist, and playwright William Butler (W.B.) Yeats, “I am often surprised to find how utterly ignored Yeats is among the men I have met: perhaps his appeal is purely Irish–if so, then thank theContinue reading “Poetry Wednesday: “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time””
a little bit of love, E.E. Cummings and Damien Rice
The thing about poetry is that its power and brilliance lies in its weakness. There are only a handful of universal themes, but poetry takes that vague generality and fractures its meaning and its telling (its story) into a thousand-million little tributaries which break off from the complete thing and then eventually find themselves comingContinue reading “a little bit of love, E.E. Cummings and Damien Rice”
Poetry: Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road”
First of all, can we just acknowledge how cool Walt Whitman looks? I mean, like the original mountaineer hipster guy. Okay good, glad you agree. I first came across Whitman in college quite by accident. I honestly can’t remember how I found his poem “Song of the Open Road,” but it was while compilingContinue reading “Poetry: Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road””
Poetry Wednesday: “The Story-Teller”
Mark Van Doren was a poet, critic, and professor born in Hope, Illinois (a couple hour drive from where I grew up). Educated at the University of Illinois and later Columbia University (where he would later become professor), he won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1940. Highly influential, I first came across Van Doren’sContinue reading “Poetry Wednesday: “The Story-Teller””
Poetry Wednesday: Abandoned Farmhouse
Ted Kooser, 2004 and 2005 US Poet Laureate, visited my small, Midwestern university back in 2009. Unfortunately I was not able to attend his poetry reading at the time. Nevertheless, I became slightly acquainted with his poetry. Ted Kooser, born in 1939, is a pastoral, Midwestern poet of sorts. He focuses on rural landscapes andContinue reading “Poetry Wednesday: Abandoned Farmhouse”
Poetry Wednesday: “She Walks in Beauty”
Though his love life was notorious, even infamous, Lord Byron’s ability to speak of the aesthetics of love is nothing less than profound. Thus, this week’s poem is a good ol’ fashioned love poem. Lord Byron (1788-1824) was an English poet and a leading writer in the Romantic movement. Though in life he may haveContinue reading “Poetry Wednesday: “She Walks in Beauty””
Poetry Wednesday: “God’s Grandeur”
Sometimes “religious” poem smacks of over-sentimentality. In that case, this isn’t a religious poem. Gerald Manley Hopkins is a master with words, a Victorian poet who reminds us of the “bright wings” of the world. And check out the reading by Stanley Kunitz, another poet. [Note: For some reason I was having difficulty with theContinue reading “Poetry Wednesday: “God’s Grandeur””
a great, real place 