Category: poetry

poetry, poetry appreciation

different pictures of happiness

Dec 11, 2024 #acceptance, #assumptions, #calm, #Christmas, #fear, #happiness, #hope, #leneliness, #mindfulness, #Minnie Bruce Pratt, #nature, #poem, #poetry, #presence, #satisfaction, #solace, #solitude, #the sound of one fork by Lucy Crispin

It’s that time of year when I start fulminating, inwardly or out loud, about DFS ads and the Family Merrie Christmas Ideal as perpetuated therein. I don’t know why it’s DFS in particular that gets the sharp end of my tongue—everyone’s at it—but there’s just something about those cosily-jumpered families laughing and snuggling on their spanking new sofas which gets my goat. The latest iteration has caused me, as it does every year, to think about families, the different shapes happiness can take, and the difference between loneliness and solitude. I like the way this poem by Minnie Bruce Pratt explores that difference (among other things). Here is ‘The Sound of One Fork‘.

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news, poetry, publications
poetry, poetry appreciation, reflection

clamouring toward it

Nov 12, 2024 #despair, #election, #halleluiah, #hope, #love, #Mary Oliver, #poem, #poetry, #Sheenah Pugh, #sometimes by Lucy Crispin

A poem, today, to remind us that good things can happen. No, not Sheenag Pugh’s ‘Sometimes‘. Although I’m always happy to revisit that, line 6 is a bit close to home at the moment. Instead I offer you a poem by the wonderful Mary Oliver which someone brought to a poetry group I facilitate (on 6th November. A lot of poems reminding us to be hopeful were brought that day!). See what you make of Mary Oliver’s ‘Halleluiah‘.

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news, poetry, publications
events, poetry, poetry appreciation
poetry, poetry appreciation
poetry, poetry appreciation
news, poetry, publications

cheerful news

Sep 16, 2024 #getting the summer clothes out of storage, #poem, #poetry, #Shelley Memorial Prize by Lucy Crispin

Hello dear readers. It’s very cheering to be able to say I won a prize in a competition (although you have won third prize in a competition sounds very much like Monopoly!). ‘getting the summer clothes out of storage’ is one of the poems from the new book (light-of-day date as yet unknown), but you can read it here, if you’d like to.
Usual post will be up tomorrow. See you then.

poetry, poetry appreciation

our small durance

Aug 20, 2024 #affection, #attachment, #bipolar, #bipolarity, #comfort, #depression, #despair, #fear, #Gerard Manly Hopkins, #hope, #insomnia, #intertextuality, #Leontia Flynn, #love, #maternal, #mother, #mum, #No worst there is none, #Scieszka, #The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Lucy Crispin

Oooooh I do like me a nice bit of intertextuality.* When this poem plopped in my inbox I was very glad to meet it. I’d be very interested to see what you make of ‘Gerard Manley Hopkins‘ by Leontia Flynn. For ease of reference, here’s the poem with which Flynn’s poem has such a close relationship.

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poetry, poetry appreciation, reflection

talking or lying…?

Aug 6, 2024 #connection, #courage, #despair, #fear, #honesty, #intimacy, #isolation, #Larkin, #Philip Larkin, #poem, #poetry, #relationship, #Talking in Bed by Lucy Crispin

A friend of mine recently dealt with a potentially tricky situation between us with tremendous grace and courage. Their honesty brought to mind this poem about its opposite—a poem I have long loved with a deep sense of melancholy, fearing that it spoke The Truth. It’s always a great relief when I remember the poem speaks the poet’s truth, with which we all may resonate sometimes, but which need not be The Whole or Only. See what you think about Larkin’s ‘Talking in Bed‘:

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