Author Archives: wordcloud9

About wordcloud9

Nona Blyth Cloud has lived and worked in the Los Angeles area for the past 50 years, spending much of that time commuting on the 405 Freeway. After Hollywood failed to appreciate her genius for acting and directing, she began a second career managing non-profits, from which she has retired. Nona has now resumed writing whatever comes into her head, instead of reports and pleas for funding. She lives in a small house overrun by books with her wonderful husband.

‘The Hill We Climb’ – Poetry Returns to the Presidential Inauguration

Posted on January 19, 2021 by wordcloud9

Second inauguration of President Barack Obama There have been five poems delivered by their poets at inaugurations of U.S. presidents, all of them Democrats. It began when John F. Kennedy asked Robert Front to read his poem “The Gift Outright” … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, United States | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

TCS: The Starless Midnight and the Bright Daybreak

Posted on January 18, 2021 by wordcloud9

. Good Morning! ______________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early riserson Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum,so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole inyour brainpan, feel free to add a comment. ______________________________ Justice in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Rights, Poetry, The Coffee Shop | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Religious Freedom Day: A Humanist Activist Mystic Christian Philosopher

Posted on January 15, 2021 by wordcloud9

Religious Freedom Day was established on January 16th by the U.S. Congress in 1992. It celebrates the enactment in 1786 of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson, who asked that his tombstone recognize that he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Religion, Thomas Jefferson, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

TCS: Thank You Day – The Slant of Hope

Posted on January 11, 2021 by wordcloud9

. .Good Morning! ______________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early riserson Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum,so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole inyour brainpan, feel free to add a comment. ______________________________ Silent gratitude isn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, The Coffee Shop | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Notes on How to Be Old

Posted on January 8, 2021 by wordcloud9

Today is my 72nd birthday, so I’m taking a refresher course on being old from one of my favorite poets. May Sarton (1912-1995) was a prolific writer and poet. She did old age as well as anybody I ever knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Thoughts About the Attempted Insurrection in Washington DC

Posted on January 7, 2021 by wordcloud9

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.As nations become corrupt and vicious, theyhave more need of masters.”   – Benjamin Franklin “In questions of power, then, let no more be saidof confidence in man, but bind him down frommischief by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Fascism, History, Presidential Elections, United States | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

TCS: A Certain Slant of Light – 2021

Posted on January 4, 2021 by wordcloud9

Good Morning! ______________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early riserson Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum,so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole inyour brainpan, feel free to add a comment. ______________________________ In the depths of … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, The Coffee Shop | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Poem for January

Posted on January 2, 2021 by wordcloud9

Ted Kooser (1939 – ) was born in Ames, Iowa. He was a two-term Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry chosen by the Librarian of Congress. He used his time as laureate to further the cause of poetry with American readers. Partnering with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged | 1 Comment

New Year’s Day 2021

Posted on January 1, 2021 by wordcloud9

“As wave is driven by waveAnd each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,Always, forever and new. What was beforeIs left behind; what never was is now;And every passing moment is renewed.” ― Ovid, Metamorphoses ________________ … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Poem for the End of a Hard Year

Posted on December 31, 2020 by wordcloud9

Richard Hoffman (1949 – ) is the author of the poetry collections Without Paradise: Poems, and Gold Star Road, which won the Sheila Motton Award from the New England Poetry Club. He is also the author of the memoir Half the House, and a collection of short … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , | 6 Comments