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Good afternoon Saloners – and Happy Mothers Day to the moms out there. Last week Maxine prompted a lively debate when she questioned whether the Salon had moved away from its roots so this week I thought I’d make a conscious effort to write about reading.
I’ve recently been lucky enough to receive some ARCs – mostly novels – but one; “Pardon Us Ms. Writer” is a compilation of poems by Megan Easley-Walsh.
I have to admit that I’ve never really been a big fan of poetry. We read some contemporary poetry at school that I really could not get my head around. We studied a couple of Coleridge’s finest too, and though at the time I didn’t really understand what all the fuss was about I’m surprised to be able to remember some of the first verse of Kubla Khan:
A stately pleasure dome decree
Where Alph the sacred river ran
through caverns measureless to man
down to a sunless sea”
Or something like that…
Oh and then there was the Ryhme of the Ancient Mariner – now I did like that poem:
“The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!”
I can no longer remember what the poem is about, but I recall that particular verse because it is so descriptive, you can hear the ice breaking and feel the chill…
It’s been years since I’ve read any poetry – in fact thinking about it I don’t think I’ve ever read any for pleasure – so I’m pushing my comfort zone a bit with Megan’s works.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed some of the poems – here are some of my favourite verses.
From a poem titled; Life’s Not Static:
“Life’s not static
Does not contain itself
In separate capsules
Up on some old shelf”
“Life’s not static
Not left to the confines
Of black and white
Inside the lines”
From Dunmore Ocean:
“Plush carpets of green Eire
Sculptuous clouds in twilight’s desire
Winter landscape so pristine
Ocean dazzling, beauteous scene”
From Uniquely Me:
“You don’t get to decide what I’m worth
You don’t get to reason what can’t be
You simply get to be you
And quite happily I get to be me”
If this has whet your appetite and you’d like to read more of Megan’s poems you can buy a copy of the book at Target.com.
Are there any poetry lovers out there? Am I missing out on some great experiences by sticking resolutely to novels? What are your favourite poems or poets?
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I still read out loud Kubla Khan for my mom. She loves hearing it from me. We have kind of memorised it!
I love Ancient Mariner too.
gautami tripathy’s last blog post..Sunday Salon II—–Tintin: The Black Island
I am not a huge fan of poetry, I admit. Most of the time it goes over my head, but I do have my favorites just the same. The end of last year, I had the opportunity to read and review a book written in verse, which I liked quite a bit.
Literary Feline’s last blog post..Sunday Salon: Typos and The Next Book
How interesting that we both wrote today about struggling with poetry and trying to push our edge with it! It was nice to read that I’m not alone in my challenge with it. It’s very puzzling to me, since I love words so much. I have a much easier time with contemporary poetry than I do classical. Try Mary Oliver — she’s stunning.
Terri
Terri’s last blog post..The Sunday Salon: Poetry #2 – William Stafford
I don’t really get poetry either. So far out of 250 or so books on my site, *one* of them is poetry. I would love to understand and enjoy it, but I usually am just scratching my head.
King Rat’s last blog post..Top reviews
I’m so glad to read that I’m not alone with this poetry thing! I think my brain just isn’t cut out for it *lol*
Terri – I’ll certainly check out Mary Oliver – thanks for the tip
I’m in the same boat here … For the most part, I just don’t get poetry although I have read a VERY few poems that I really enjoyed. Actually, I posted about it recently http://age30books.blogspot.com/2008/05/national-poetry-month.html
Oh, can anyone tell me how to use that href thing to make my link into a phrase?!
Heather’s last blog post..Elantris (May ’08)
Thanks for the link to your post Heather – I’ll come take a look.
Here’s how you do the href thing – just remove the spaces next to the < and >
< a href="insertlinkhere" >Insert text here < /a >
Mrs S – THANK YOU for the help! I’ve added you to my blogfeeder so I can keep up with your reads. Oh, and I love that you are a huge Disney fan, ’cause I am too! I was just there 2 weeks ago.
Heather’s last blog post..Reading Lolita in Tehran
Two weeks ago?? How green with envy am I!