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Category Archives: Poetry
Word Cloud: PARADOX
by NONA BLYTH CLOUD “Cut off from the sight of God, modern man wanders about in his Land of Unlikeness, driven by greed and cruelty.” – Jerome Mazzaro, commenting on Robert Lowell’s first poetry collection Land of Unlikeness Robert Lowell (1917–1977) was … Continue reading
Word Cloud: PROFANITY
by NONA BLYTH CLOUD Please take this week’s title as a warning. If you find profanity offensive, this installment of Word Cloud is one you may want to skip. An article I skimmed for this week’s post was called Poets Nobody Reads, which … Continue reading
Word Cloud: ESSENCE
by NONA BLYTH CLOUD Essence – ‘the indispensable quality of something that determines its character’ – I consider it poetry’s holy grail. Taking language down to just the exact words needed, eliminating anything that could distract from what’s essential. Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) is a master of essence. … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Word Cloud
Tagged Black History Month, Charlie 'Bird' Parker, Essence, Langston Hughes, Lucifer, Lucille Clifton
9 Comments
Word Cloud: EMPATHY
by NONA BLYTH CLOUD I’ve read a lot of statements by writers about writing, and they are all true, but many of them are only true for that one writer and their particular ‘process.’ I like this comment by Nikki … Continue reading
Word Cloud: DISPLACED
by NONA BLYTH CLOUD Illegal Immigrants. Refugees. Slave Trafficking. Ugly words that represent an explosion of desperation among the world’s most vulnerable peoples. The number of “forcibly displaced” people in the world is at the highest level on record. We … Continue reading
Posted in Mexico, Poetry, Syria, Word Cloud
Tagged Displaced, Jose Felipe Herrera, Mahmoud Darwish, Naomi Shihab Nye, Solmaz Sharif, Warsan Shire
4 Comments
TCS: Gold Mountain, Golden Door
Good Morning! ___________________________________________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early risers on Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum, so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole in your brainpan, feel free to add a … Continue reading
Posted in Immigrants, Poetry, Racism, Short Video, The Coffee Shop
Tagged America, Bigotry, Gold Mountain Golden Door, Naomi Shihab Nye, TCS
9 Comments
Word Cloud: JOCUND
by Nona Blyth Cloud Survival sometimes hangs on unlikely skills. The Basilisk Lizard (Basiliscus basiliscus) has been dubbed ‘The Jesus Christ Lizard’ because it can run short distances on the surface of water when escaping from predators. The Greater Wax Moth … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Word Cloud
Tagged Denise Duhamel, Dorothy Parker, Edward Lear, Gelett Burgess, Jocund, Langston Hughes, Mother Goose, Shel Silverstein
6 Comments
Word Cloud: ODYSSEY
by NONA BLYTH CLOUD Jane Kenyon (1947-1995) made a long journey in a short life, before she died from leukemia a month and a day before her 48th birthday. In the years prior to her death, she published four volumes of … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Word Cloud
Tagged Death, Donald Hall, Dysthymia, Farm, Jane Kenyon, Leukemia, New Hampshire, Odyssey
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Word Cloud: STONECRAFTER
by NONA BLYTH CLOUD Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962) was twenty-six years old when he found his place in the world. The son of a Presbyterian minister and biblical scholar who took the family on frequent research trips to Europe, young Jeffers attended … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Word Cloud
Tagged Carmel, Finland, inhumanism, Robinson Jeffers, Stonemason, Tor House and Hawk Tower, WWII
2 Comments
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Flowers For Socrates 