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#poetry
review
BarbaraJean
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Pickpick

Years ago, I came across the poem “The Taxi” by Amy Lowell, and its final line has lived in my brain ever since: “Why should I leave you, / To wound myself upon the sharp edges of the night?” I‘ve meant to read a collection of her poetry ever since, but we all know how the TBR intentions sometimes go. So when it became apparent that in spite of my best intentions in January, I definitely wasn‘t going to get around to reading any (let alone all ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …three volumes) of Dante‘s Divine Comedy by the end of March for the #ClassicsChallenge2025, I decided to read some Amy Lowell instead.

This collection, published in 1919, is made up of two halves. The first is filled with tiny, exquisite poems that play with Chinese and Japanese forms, creating gorgeous crystal-clear images in word pictures. I had a hard time putting it down, savoring bite-sized poem after poem. ⤵️
32m
BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) The second half is more lyrical, moving away from the Asian-inspired images and into English cities and the countryside. While I preferred the imagery of the first half, there were still some gems in the second half. I‘m glad I finally immersed myself in Amy Lowell‘s poetry, and I‘ll definitely be seeking out more of it!

Link to her poem “The Taxi” (which isn‘t in this collection): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42984/the-taxi
30m
3 likes2 comments
blurb
Kshakal
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Eggs Excellent 👌🏼 🎶 6h
22 likes1 comment
review
Bookwomble
Much with Body | Polly Atkin
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Pickpick

A collection by Lakes poet, Polly Atkin (pic), which draws on the landscape of fells & water, on the diaries of Dorothy Wordsworth, on the author's chronic illnesses & (as background, not foreground), the COVID pandemic, during which the poems were written. I really enjoyed them, and she's won awards and was a writer in residence at Gladstone's Library, if other recommendation is needed 🙂
The cover is by painter and wild swimmer Nancy Farmer 👇

Bookwomble ... (not the children's fantasy author), which put me in mind of the cover for Undercurrent, a 1962 album by Bill Evans and Jim Lee, by photographer Toni Frissell. I loved Farmer's paintings of swimmers on her active website:
🏊🏻‍♀️ https://waterdrawn.com/
and her paintings of fairies, devils and untoward shenanigans on her archive site:
🧚🏻‍♀️ http://nancyfarmer.net/
A good read in and of itself, and I liked the side paths it took me down.
8h
21 likes1 comment
quote
Bookwomble
Much with Body | Polly Atkin
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"Everyone everywhere is talking about the moon."
- Full Wolf Moon (Grasmere, January 2020)

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

blurb
Susanita
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It was a particularly stinky week IRL but there was still joy to be found.
1. While walking in the woods, I ran into someone I knew, and we noticed this sweet little flower next to the path.
2. The library held Tolkien Reading Day event with the editor of the tagged book.
3. The PetSmart cashier and I were both singing along with Bruno Mars on the PA.
4. I had shepherd‘s pie with Impossible “meat,” and it was delicious. ⬇️
#5joysfriday

Susanita 5. The result was NOT what I wanted, but it was still a joy to attend Opening Day. 1d
Bookwormjillk Gore was so good. I‘m holding on to that and ignoring the ending. 1d
Aims42 It was indeed a stinky week for me too. Glad it‘s Friday!! 💛🧡🩷 1d
TheBookHippie This week was ROUGH. Love your lists! 1d
dabbe @Susanita We attended ours, too, with the same results. ♥️⚾️🖤 1d
33 likes5 comments
quote
BarbaraJean
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SEPTEMBER, 1918

This afternoon was the colour of water falling through sunlight;
The trees glittered with the tumbling of leaves;
The sidewalks shone like alleys of dropped maple leaves,
And the houses ran along them laughing out of square, open windows.
Under a tree in the park,
Two little boys, lying flat on their faces,
Were carefully gathering red berries
To put in a pasteboard box.
⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d)
Some day there will be no war
Then I shall take out this afternoon
And turn it in my fingers
And remark the sweet taste of it upon my palate
And note the crisp variety of its flights of leaves
Today I can only gather it
And put it into my lunch-box
For I have time for nothing
But the endeavour to balance myself
Upon a broken world.
2d
22 likes1 comment
quote
Trashcanman
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And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

LapReader Have you watched So long Marianne? 3d
Trashcanman @LapReader No, I‘ve never heard of it. What is it? 3d
LapReader A series about Leonard Cohen. I loved it. 3d
Cathythoughts ❤️ 2d
26 likes4 comments
blurb
BekaReid
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Just a little local library love this evening. 📚☕

review
underground_bks
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Pickpick

Don‘t let the serene cover fool you—nor the accessibility or beauty of Mary Oliver‘s poetry—this celebration of the beloved poet is as multifaceted, wry, sharp, and fearless of the depths as Mary Oliver was herself. The reverent, nature-loving, queer, chain smoking mystic of forest, stream, and shore is vividly remembered in this gift of an audiobook, featuring celebrated poets, Mary Oliver‘s students, stars, activists, and more.

24 likes1 stack add
blurb
Daisey
Lays of Beleriand | J R R Tolkien
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lissom: thin, supple, and graceful (adjective)

#WeirdWords #WeirdWordWednesday #FellowshipOfTolkien

CBee Lovely! 3d
36 likes1 comment