“Memories of President Lincoln”

I don’t share all of my posts from Your Book Group here, but this poem by Walt Whitman moved me. I’m posting here in honor of Presidents’ Day (US holiday). https://www.yourbookgroup.com/monday-morning-whitman-in-honor-of-abraham-lincoln/

Jim and Genevieve

I was thinking last evening that I miss the comfort of hearing the grownups talk – parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles laughing, sharing family news, playing cards while we kids / teenagers / young adults hung around the sidelines or listened from the next room. My father died in 2017 (in fact, tomorrow is the……

National Poetry Month! Natasha Trethewey

Natasha Trethewey was named the 19th US Poet Laureate in June 2012; read more about her HERE.  She is from Mississippi and previously served as that state’s Poet Laureate.  Listen to her read her poem “Give and Take,” below.  It hits home for me and I imagine it will do the same for many of……

Michigan Monday – Jim Harrison

I am planning on making the next several Mondays Michigan Mondays, in which I feature authors who were born in Michigan, spent a significant part of their lives here, and / or set their stories in Michigan. I won’t promise that I will hit this every single Monday – I do have a day job!……

National Poetry Month! Juan Felipe Herrera

I’ve been struggling with the perfect next post featuring a Poet Laureate, waiting for that connection that transcends words. I’m glad I waited; in the reading below, Juan Felipe Herrera speaks past my ears to my heart. Maybe he will do the same for you, and then maybe you will want more. He speaks for,……

Hymn – with an update at 10:41 pm est 4.14

I searched a long while for the right poem to share today. I never found it. Instead, listen to this profoundly comforting farmyard poem written by Garrison Keillor, set to a melody you will recognize. Give it 30 seconds; it’s kind of corny at first but is mostly sublime. Editing to add that I have……

Sir Patrick Stewart Reads Shakespeare

https://twitter.com/SirPatStew/status/1247312842321248257?s=09 Sir Patrick is reading #ASonnetADay, and this is Sonnet Number 18. Follow him on Twitter to catch up and follow along.

National Poetry Month! Poet Laureate Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo is the incumbent Poet Laureate (since 2019) and is also the first Native American Poet Laureate.  Click HERE for details.   I won’t repeat what you will discover as you listen and read, but I will say that when I was in eighth grade we had a school assignment to create a presentation of……

It’s National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month. Therefore, April’s posts will be supplemented with regularly featured USA Poets Laureate. Let’s start now, shall we? It’s already April 3. Billy Collins was Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003. He read some of his work to our store managers’ conference when I worked for a big box bookseller, and……