Laura Hershey

Laura Hershey

Laura Hershey was more than just a poet. She was a tireless activist and advocate for the disabled. And a vocal critic of the patronizing methods used by Jerry Lewis in his well-intentioned attempts to raise money for folks with muscular distrophy.

Starting Today: poems for the first 100 days of President Obama's presidency

But here is inspiring poetry: Starting Today: poems for the first 100 days - poetry for the first 100 days of President Obama!

Hundred White Daffodils by Jane Kenyon

This is collection of essays by and interviews with Jane Kenyon. She has some beautiful things to say about Spirituality, as well as the role of poetry in our lives, and of poets in our society.

Renewed Attention to Poetry (It is April, after all!)

I started this blog the year before my first child was born, in 2005. I posted every poem I had written up to that point, and created a small selection of my favorite poets and some websites with collections of poetry. Then, over the years I wrote a series of "I'm really going to start writing again! Check back soon!" posts, that never lead to anything. LOL! (I've deleted some of those - 😂). But recently, I've joined an virtual spiritual space where one of the many conversations is around poetry and there's a great group of writers who meet once a week just to write. Not to critique one another, just write. And its inpsired me. I've written for 20 minutes a week since I joined. Not much, but a start. And I've come away with what Anne Lamott would call "shitty first drafts", but hope to slowly turn them into poems. (I suppose I really should have waited to write that last line in the past tense AFTER having written them, to avoid having to delete again, but here we are.)

 I've discovered several new poets over the years, some of my favorites being the late Andrea Gibson, and her widow, the gifted and genrous and gracious Megan Falley. (I highly suggest you visit her Instagram and find the reels she's made with short and sweet and utterly lovely tips for refining your poetry. (If you haven't seen Come See Me In The Good Light, you must! You can get a free trial of Apple TV for a week. But you'll want to renew it to watch this documentary about the last year of Andrea's life over and over. (I've also watched every interview and panel every single one of the people involved with the movie have done!) Sara Bareillis and Brandi Carlile gathered some of Andrea's last pieces of poetry to compose a beautiful song that plays at the end of the movie, Salt,Then Sour,Then Sweet . 

I'm also quite tickeled to be from Massachusetts, where our poet laureate (we finally have one!) is Regie Gibson. Seeing him at an event recently, and then getting to talk to him about many things, including his friend Andrea Gibson, has also helped renew my love for poetry. If anyone is reading this, I'd love to know who your favorite poets are! And if you have poetry of your own online, drop a link in the comments! Happy Poetry Month!

Violet

This is a "mimic" poem on Denise Levertov's "Stepping Westward". Apologies in advance to Denise Levertov fans. ;-) - Amy Violet What is violet in me Deepens, amethyst. All is royalty passion, sensuality. To be a wild woman, Of freedom, of fantasies, And love. Stroking skin, Crushed velvet Soft and supple.

Sharon Olds

Sharon Olds has long been one of my favorite poets. You can find links to her poems and biographical info. on my old website, but since she's one of my favorite poets I thought I should devote one blog entry just to her. My favorite poems of Olds (right now anyway), are The Clasp, and "Bathing the newborn".

I read about her again recently, when she declined an invitation to the White House from Laura Bush. Here's an article with the letter from Olds. You can read more on my opinion on this at my blog. Needless to say this act of protest made me respect Sharon Olds even more!

Wage Peace by Judyth Hill

My friend Jessie put a copy of Wage Peace by Judyth Hill in her Christmas cards in 2001. I felt blessed by it. So when I ran across it today, and thought about what a sadly timely poem it stil is, I thought I ought to blog a link to it. Read the poem there, and then explore the rest of the site, and other peace sites on my blog and my website. Warm Prayers of Peace, Amy