Storm, passing

All kinds of things are happening to me.

Skin’s becoming scaly, forehead a terrain of anthills,

and my feet are stiffening as though belonging to a corpse.

Hair’s falling out of course. And there’s my mind.

I try to read, but words swirl

in little whirlwinds on the page;

even when they’re behaving, I feel

I’m gazing at some complicated log of random numbers.

Enough of this I say aloud, take to the beach –

perhaps it’s distance my eyes are seeking.

But there I find fish tumbling from the sky,

myself face up in a clump of seaweed

foamy wavelets eddying about me.

Almost blinding,

the light is different from what I’m used to.

and I wonder if I’m dreaming,

back in the southern hemisphere,

if this sinking will have a rising too.

The next cat out the bag’s

a female, fifteen or so,

standing, mouth ajar,

saying nothing.

A mackerel on my belly, flapping.

I see her stare,

want to reach a hand, see if I can touch her

but suddenly she’s not there, and I come to,

still lying in damp sand like a heavy log.

There’s nothing for it but to roll over,

watch the water gouge

a groove where my body’s been.

Back home, I make a cup of tea.

The kettle boils. I lift  a green mug from a hook

pour, and squeeze a lemon in.

So far, so good. I wash pots and plates, utensils.

Stare out at laundry, ponder.

The light is dimming and a rush of heat comes over me.

A massive bank of thunderclouds controls the sky.

I put on my headphones, turn up the volume,

dance until my body feels fifteen.

Rain pounds against the window. I close the blinds.

Digging

Jerry kicked off the poetry with this one. You can also hear Seamus Heaney read it here.

Between my finger and my thumb   

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound   

When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:   

My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds   

Bends low, comes up twenty years away   

Stooping in rhythm through potato drills   

Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft   

Against the inside knee was levered firmly.

He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep

To scatter new potatoes that we picked,

Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.   

Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day

Than any other man on Toner’s bog.

Once I carried him milk in a bottle

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up

To drink it, then fell to right away

Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods

Over his shoulder, going down and down

For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap

Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge

Through living roots awaken in my head.

But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I’ll dig with it.

House Carpenter

Well met, well met, my own true love

Well met, well met, cried she

I've just returned from the salt, salt sea

And it's all for the love of thee

I could have married a King's daughter there

She would have married me

But I have forsaken my King's daughter there

It's all for the love of thee

Well, if you could have married a King's daughter there

I'm sure you're the one to blame

For I am married to a house carpenter

And I'm sure he's a fine young man

Forsake, forsake your house carpenter

And come away with me

I'll take you where the green grass grows

On the shores of sunny Italy

So up she picked her babies three

And gave them kisses, one, two, three

Saying "take good care of your daddy while I'm gone

And keep him good company."

Well, they were sailin' about two weeks

I'm sure it was not three

When the younger of the girls, she came on deck

Sayin' she wants company

"Well, are you weepin' for your house and home?

Or are you weepin' for your babies three?"

"Well, I'm not weepin' for my house carpenter

I'm weepin' for my babies three."

Oh what are those hills yonder, my love

They look as white as snow

Those are the hill of heaven, my love

You and I'll never know

Oh what are those hills yonder, my love

They look as dark as night

Those are the hills of hell-fire my love

Where you and I will unite

Oh twice around went the gallant ship

I'm sure it was not three

When the ship all of a sudden, it sprung a leak

And it drifted to the bottom of the sea

-- Anonymous [Phil Nichols]

Tonight @ the MFA!  

http://www.masspoetry.org/mfa

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

--- W. B. Yeats [Jerry O]

Thoughts for March 11, 2017

What a joy that it is time for Poetry and Stout

T’would be good if I worked on a poem, no doubt

This party comes at a perfect time during the year

When a long winter is enough to bring this Californian a tear

“Genius” is what I call this noble tradition

I’d come even if it were considered sedition

Snow and temperatures that threaten to go below zero

for a plant to merely survive it should be considered a hero

The ground is inhospitable, hard and unforgiving

Thank heaven I don’t photosynthesize for a living

If you haven’t gotten the hint, I’m ready for spring

Unfortunately, patience is not part of the game I bring

So why not find something good to do with my indoor time?

Maybe I could do the investigative work to uncover a great crime

Maybe I could make a great contribution toward world peace

Maybe solve the problems between Turkey and Greece

Maybe I could do something to slow climate change

Somehow help our priorities to rearrange

Maybe these are a bit ambitious for a cold winter day

Cold or not, these are a tough bunch, anyway

Maybe I should embrace the bitter cold

Find something outside to do that is inspiring and bold

Maybe climb to some mountain top, or at least Spofford Gap

After giving it much though, I decided just to take a nap

-- Curtis Woodcock

Some inspiration for 2017!

My Ireland

In Memory of Molly Buckley

Molly Buckley set sail from old County Cork.
Tight quarters, rough seas hit the ship with true torque.
That lass was so sick,
She did not give a lick,
When she spied Lady Liberty in New York.

Well, this brave woman was Dorchester-bound
Where she hoped a good job could be found.
Her sis took her in,
She found some fun sin,

American drinking and dancing all ‘round.
Some Yanks – the Bayliss’s—needed a maid,
At 315 Commonwealth Ave where they stayed.
Molly swept and she dusted,
And with the ham served the mustard.
T’was the easiest job! She couldn’t believe she got paid.

There were loads of Irish in the Back Bay.
Brigid the cook was from Donegal, so far away.
She stole food for the men
Who worked the railroad and then
In payment, Irish music they would play.

One handsome man caught Molly’s eye.
In his fine uniform he began to drop by.
A mailman-steady job
Maurice had a few bob
For a husband he was perfect- educated, sober, and shy.

A wedding, then 6 kids during the Depression.
Two sets of twins left quite an impression
All of Dorchester would drop in,
To join the cousins and kin,
And watch a tiny TV - their only possession.

Sadly, Maurice died of heart troubles quite young.
While Molly had good genes – a lottery she sure won.
Her fatty diet was risky,
But her secret was daily whiskey,
Stubborn Molly lived to one hundred and one.

You see Molly always preferred laughter to tears.
Looking back, sad times were seconds, and good times were years.
Never missed parties or dances,
And bravely took chances.

Let’s all live like Molly, raise your whiskey, sláinte and cheers.

--Janice Hayes-Cha

Shout out to Joe Bergin, P&S's own Carpenter Poet of Jamaica Plain

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/03/16/love-letter-boston/uPdKklCl4RsMDLSEfjcaJM/story.html

Truro

Click here for Bruce Fulford's lovely poem!

Spring Training

My father died a week prior to P+S 2015. Carol Dougherty, my thoughtful and lovely friend, brought me a book of poems last spring that I've read many times since. The poet, Kevin Young, wrote many poems about grieving his own father, and one reviewer rightly called his Book of Hours "a compact daybook of grief." I planned to read this poem last night but never got around to it.

Spring Training

Like grass in rain
my dead grow

at an amazing rate.

Meet me,
won't you, I've managed

to lose the key.

Death, you've outdone
yourself.

The lawn a little lake.

-Kevin Young

Poetry & Stout

Curtis offered a first at P&S: a call and response poetry puzzle. He's no Will Shortz but a couple of Guinness' make it sound great.

Poetry & Stout

This party is so grind it has a name,
but does it reveal the reason we came?

Or it is something more tame?
Let's see if we can make it into a game.

So let's juxtapose poetry and beer
to ponder which is more dear.

In the game, rhyming is king
to fill in the blank is the thing

To start, a simple example should do:

Verse can serve to express
Beer I often drink to excess

Noble is the effort to produce witty rhyme
Drinking beer is unquestionably sublime

Poetry often explains ones troubles
Beer has such beautiful bubbles

Would I rather take to pen and ink
or simply stop and enjoy a drink?

A thoughtful verse is hard to rebut
Drinking too much adds to your gut

Poetry is often a sign of taste
Beer is something we should never waste

While poetry ploughs fertile ground
Beer simply makes the world go round

So between Poetry and Stout
Is my favorite in doubt?

Kind of like preferring rhyme over reason
to pick one approaches treason!

- Curtis Woodcock

My Cat Knocks Over the Perfume

And now my desk, alive with apricot-jasmine-tea,
refuses dreary tasks - the cat has dressed it up
in sticky notes and shiny tacks, paper clips dangling
from an open drawer, a smear
of Wite-Out winking. This cat's all freesia
and freedom. She's not just thinking sachet,
but away, away - sashay, as she glides
down the stairs - no work today. She's translucent.
She's dear, and furthermore, she's out of here.
Gone now,
till after dusk, strutting the streets in search
of leather and musk. That's it, I say in the morning
She only rubs a scented paw behind her
ear and yawns so wide I see her missing tooth
So much for beauty. So much for truth.

For Bruce Wallin

Steve Hodin went to his bookshelf for Elizabeth Bishop, but found his poem For Bruce written the spring after Bruce's death in 2010. Bruce, we all miss you so much. Steve, thanks for this.

For Bruce

I watched -- just the other day --
A small scrap of paper blow across Copley Square.
The wind was ferocious, unrelenting that afternoon,
Upturning garbage bins, tattering the mayor’s banners,
But there was no storm to speak of, no discernible engine or source.
The wind raged, unbridled, under a baby/clear blue sky --
Uncommon, almost mystifying,
Seemed to herald some event or untold finale.
From my vantage point beneath the vaulted arcade,
The wind-tossed scrap of paper (yes, that’s my topic, my organizing device)
Shot passed me and lodged
For a surprisingly prolonged moment on a hand-rail just to my right,
Suspended, inexplicably, as if grasping on to the wrought iron,
Held fast by the wind and the perfect angle of incidence.
Or was it my imagination and the slanting late afternoon light?
Rocking slightly, defying the laws of gravity,
It was a bank receipt, I noticed,
Like so many I have obtained and discarded over the years.
Not a talisman, such as some message in a bottle,
But a tally, a simple accounting in time and place,
A banal set of numerical facts.
No sooner had I turned to admire this extraordinary sight,
But the wind shifted slightly,
Or maybe the scrap of paper slackened its grip,
Either way, it disappeared overtop the fountain,
Dry now for winter,
And across Boylston Street,
Swelled, as always, with the haphazard traffic of our daily lives.
Turning back to the square, I witnessed my children,
Fashioning themselves into human kites,
Laughing,
Marveling at nature’s power, her impartial potency.
And I thought of the onrushing spring,
Ushered in, briefly, on the wings of this mighty wind,
And the unerring momentum of our lives.
We move on
because we must,
Neglecting from time to time to pen a get-well note,
To pause for a drink with a friend in some snug corner,
Out of the wind.

A question for you:
How do you balance or weigh a solitary soul,
Buffeted by gusts both fierce and mild, over the course of a lifetime?
By the days in the full blush of health, raucous and proud,
Or by the days unwell, contemplating your frailty?
By the scores (even hundreds) of students you taught to unravel the complexities of governance,
Or by the two of your own whom you taught to ride a bike and to be kind to animals?
By the profound, publishable thoughts, well-spun and persuasively cited,
Or by the idle chit-chat of the weather or the Red Sox, a little bawdy and uncouth?
Aye, it’s both;
Nay, it’s neither.
I suppose one precious life is entirely unlike a scrap of paper in the wind.
But I am just glad I was there
When you paused for that moment
On the hand-rail
Near to where I stood
In front of the church
On a windy day
In Copley Square.

16th Annual! (thanks RMc for video)

It was a good one. See you all March 12, 2017!

https://www.facebook.com/rebekah.mckinney.39/posts/10205789588124099?notif_t=tagged_with_story

Yeats is Dead

http://www.irishtimes.com/student-hub/yeats-is-dead-this-is-the-new-breed-of-irish-writers-1.2538237

Mass Poetry's 2016 publication of Common Threads includes seven poems by Massachusetts poets. See videos of them reading their poems here: http://www.masspoetry.org/mediapackage2016

Adam's Curse

While reading the final edition of the 2014-15 Boston Latin School Argo, I noted that Robert Pinsky had visited the School talk about his Favorite Poem Project. Which obviously needs to be linked here. Quoted in the piece, he offers that he has many favorite poems, but on the day of that interview it was Yeats' Adam's Curse. I thought that deserved a spot here as well.


Adam's Curse
We sat together at one summer’s end,
That beautiful mild woman, your close friend,
And you and I, and talked of poetry.
I said, ‘A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,
Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
For to articulate sweet sounds together
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
Be thought an idler by the noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
The martyrs call the world.’
And thereupon
That beautiful mild woman for whose sake
There’s many a one shall find out all heartache
On finding that her voice is sweet and low
Replied, ‘To be born woman is to know—
Although they do not talk of it at school—
That we must labour to be beautiful.’
I said, ‘It’s certain there is no fine thing
Since Adam’s fall but needs much labouring.
There have been lovers who thought love should be
So much compounded of high courtesy
That they would sigh and quote with learned looks
Precedents out of beautiful old books;
Yet now it seems an idle trade enough.’

We sat grown quiet at the name of love;
We saw the last embers of daylight die,
And in the trembling blue-green of the sky
A moon, worn as if it had been a shell
Washed by time’s waters as they rose and fell
About the stars and broke in days and years.

I had a thought for no one’s but your ears:
That you were beautiful, and that I strove
To love you in the old high way of love;
That it had all seemed happy, and yet we’d grown
As weary-hearted as that hollow moon.