Blog o' Gnosis » Poetry

R.I.P. Adrienne Rich

Anne — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:02:17 +0000

When I read the news today that the poet Adrienne Rich had died, I immediately thought back to my early days at UC Santa Cruz. I majored in Women’s Studies (now Feminist Studies) when the department and the major were still very young. Staffing and funding were precarious, office space was cramped, and the faculty brilliant. [...]

Brigid Poetry Festival, Year Seven

Anne — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:11:03 +0000

How did that happen? How has it been seven years since we started doing a Silent Poetry Reading for the Goddess Brigid (patron of poets, healers and midwives) on our blogs? The answer to this question is generally uninteresting to anyone save the questioner, so I will spare you my thoughts about the passage of [...]

Poems for the Return of the Light

Anne — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:11:31 +0000

I have two poems to offer this year: an invocation by Leonard Cohen, and an elegy by Rumi. Both of these I read at my nephew’s funeral last Fall. Both I think deserve wider reading. So here they are, in honor of Brigid, the poet’s muse. May the light return to us all. - Holy [...]

6th Annual Brigid Poetry Festival

Anne — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:20:10 +0000

It is that time of year again, when bloggers around the world post a favorite poem in honor of Brigid, the Irish goddess and patron saint of smithcraft, poetry, and healing. Brigid’s feast day is February 1st, so between now and then is the perfect time to publish a poem to celebrate. Last year many [...]

A New Poem for Brigid

Anne — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:44:08 +0000

This poem may not be finished—I have spent the evening taking it apart and putting it back together, and still have some tinkering to do around the edges. But what fun to have a new poem to share for Brigid! And to be writing poetry again. The stress of the past few years must be easing [...]

5th Annual Brigid Poetry Festival

Anne — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:05:10 +0000

I had to go back to this post to find the earliest reference (Reya’s original blog post is lost in the mists) to the now annual Silent Poetry Reading in honor of Brigid (Saint or Goddess, as you prefer). And while the first invitation was for a single day’s blogging event, watching the misty full moon tonight got me thinking of [...]

Family Relations

Anne — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:34:53 +0000

My dad said he was a diamond in the rough. Forty years and no diamond. Your children inherit a chisel.

Poetry for St. Brigid’s Day

Anne — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:07:48 +0000

Has it really been four years now that we have been doing a virtual poetry reading for Brigid? Apparently so. Here is one then, in honor also of the great Hermes: Trismegistus O Egypt, Egypt—so the great lament Of thrice-great Hermes went— Nothing of thy religion shall remain Save fables, which thy children shall [...]

Early Poetry for Brigid

Anne — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:53:10 +0000

Are we bloggers going to do another poetry fest in honor of St. Brigid? Her day is less than a week away, and I've had an old poem rattling around in my brain lately, so I figure I'll beat the crowds and post it a few days early.

A Poem for the End of the Year

Anne — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:41:42 +0000

Another year of losses, of big questions that elbow their way into the room and refuse to leave. A young man who grew up down the street and went to school with my kids was stabbed to death at a party this weekend. Two young men charged with his murder had a brother killed in Iraq at the beginning of the war.

What happens to kids? What makes one succumb while another one thrives? I don't understand it, and all my pat answers, fears and suspicions merely mask the fact that I simply don't know. I can't keep my kids safe now that they're grown, and the more beautifully they blossom the more I am aware of how fragile our hold is on this life we cherish.