April is poetry month, and poets thither and yon are reading, writing, speaking, thinking, and honoring poets and poetry.  Last week I sat in on a gathering of like-minded souls to hear unknown and/or well-known poems read by the authors or poetry lovers. My future daughter-in-law, Erin Coffin, put the event together at The Bag Lady, owned by her mother, Karen Coffin.  Erin is headed for NC State in the fall to pursue a masters in creative writing.

Erin Coffin (left)                                 Karen Coffin(right)

Jon Phillips (aka Jon Lindsay) below

 

 

Son Jon, a singer/song-writer, who holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, also joined in.

Since I’ve been on the presenting side a bunch lately, it felt good to be a sponge for the evening. BUT, if I had spoken up, it would have been to chime in with three small ditties by three of my favorite poets.

THE MAN WHO HAS MANY ANSWERS

The man who has many answers

is often found

in the theaters of information

where he offers, graciously,

his deep findings.

 

While the man who has only questions,

to comfort himself, makes music.

by Mary Oliver

 

FAME

My book fell in a river and rolled

over and over turning its pages

for the sun.  From a bridge I saw this.

An eagle dived and snatched the slippery volume.

 

Now somewhere in the forest that book, educating

eagles, turns its leaves in the wind,

and all those poems whisper for autumn

to come, and the long nights, and the snow.

by William Stafford

 

METAPHORS

I’m a riddle in nine syllables,

An elephant, a ponderous house,

A melon strolling on two tendrils.

O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!

This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising.

Money’s new-minted in this fat purse.

I’m a means, a stage, a cow in calf.

I’ve eaten a bag of green apples,

Boarded the train there’s no getting off.

by Sylvia Plath

Readers, I would love to hear about your favorite poet or poem.  Hurry, before April slips away into May!!