Tag Archives: Poetry

“Time is the school in which we learn, time is the fire in which we burn.”

- Delmore Schwartz
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“The Laughing Heart” by Charles Bukowski

Simple acknowledgment of mortality inspires deep clear living

American poet Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) is well-known in the literary world as an irreverent, tell-it-like-it-is kind of writer who spoke his truth — his whole truth — even when it was overtly opinionated, and especially when it would offend the … Continue reading

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“Variation on the Word Sleep” by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood's "Variation on the Word Sleep" journeys beside and within another's grief

In her poem “Variation on the Word Sleep“, well-loved Canadian poet Margaret Atwood (1939-) uses sleep as a metaphor for the highly personal, often isolating and poorly rehearsed journey of loss and transformation that is generally called grief in the … Continue reading

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“A Dog Has Died” by Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda's factual ode weeps through wide-open eyes

Pablo Neruda is a great master of understatement, weaving the sparest details around the complexity of loss with a cry that carries its own weight and does not ask to be comforted. The first four lines of his poem “A Dog … Continue reading

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“Warning” by Jenny Joseph

Poet Jenny Joseph has inspired many generations

The poem I have chosen to look at today is “Warning” by British poet Jenny Joseph. Some people also refer to the poem by its first line, “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple.” The poem deals … Continue reading

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“For the Anniversary of My Death” by W. S. Merwin

A poet ponders the world without him in it

In “For the Anniversary of My Death,” American poet W.S. Merwin muses on life and his transient place in it. The poems beings, Every year without knowing it I have passed the day When the last fires will wave to … Continue reading

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