Cemetery Stroll

2011-11-07

As long as I can remember, cemeteries have always held a certain fascination for me that I’ve been hard pressed to explain. Perhaps it’s the sense of history, the sense of finality, or the sense of perseverance in the face of the fact that we all meet the same fate no matter if we be prince or pauper, sinner or saint.

Gathering Leaves Before The Frost

2011-10-24

The leaves have been turning for a few weeks now, and my yard is fairly well full of leaves just eagerly waiting for someone to pick them up. I do love fall, but the whole “leaf raking” process is something I’m not incredibly fond of. Perhaps instead of viewing it as a difficult task, I instead need to look at the poetic side of this event like Robert Frost does in Gathering Leaves.

The Other Death Poem By Dylan

2011-10-17

An unexpected death the other day reverberated through our community and through my family. The deceased was a former coach of my son, a stalwart pillar of the community who had served as a coach and school board member for decades, and someone who I had been working with on a campaign for his local council seat. Sudden deaths are the worst because of all the ends that are left frayed and loose. Like everyone else, it’s happened to me before. For my son, however, this was the first time he had ever lost someone who played such a big role in his life in such an abrupt fashion. As I sat with him to talk about it he told me that “I just wish I could talk to him one more time”.

Hollow Be Thy Name

2011-10-10

The Hollow Men by TS Eliot is a work that is referenced throughout pop culture, from films (Apocalypse Now) to video games (Halo) to television (X-Files) and in literature (The Stand). There are probably a dozen other examples that can take the place of those above, but those were the first ones I came up with.

Paint Your Palette Blue and Grey

2011-10-03

A bit of serendipity tonight as I was sitting on the couch at 9 pm trying to determine what to share for this week’s Poetry Monday. Normally, I’m ready a few days in advance but this week has been oddly busy and I was really slacking off…up until the point when I sat down and looked on the wall to our print of Van Gogh’s Starry Night and suddenly remembered that there was an Anne Sexton poem that shared the same name.