This flash fiction of 3 parts, or panels, was originally published in The Portland Review. I’m posting it on Riehlife in three parts. “Triptych: Jeweled Bones” links to an on-going theme of how the land nurtures us as writers and creative people. Arletta Dawdy found inspiration in this piece and I’ll be posting her story-poem…
When I was growing up we still put up hay by hand, rode horses, milked cows, butchered, gardened and put up our own food, and sewed up ruptured hogs. But, most of all, when I was growing up the land nurtured me as a dreamer. The land raised me as a poet and writer. I…
Persimmon, sasafrass, and ash Reclaim the land that once was theirs. “Submarginal”, the experts say. Once, hillside plows were used to turn The fertile ground. It nurtured, and produced the crops, Sustained, with money crops, and food The pioneers. They didn’t have a guarantee of annual wage. Their maps, drawn out with pointed sticks In…
Mother died at 90 last May Day. It seems like an ocean of time and then, hardly any time at all. You can read more about my mother on the “Sightlines” portion of this site on the Sweet Little Dove page including: * Ruth Thompson Life Story * Mother’s Memorial Service And the poems: *Under…
Last year we were witnessing for my mother as she slipped out of the world, one breath at a time. Ruth Evelyn Johnston Thompson, ah, what a gal! We all dropped by her bedside to witness with her. We brought what we could and we said our good-byes. My father said his with love songs…
Lucretius (c. 99 – c. 55 BCE) from the philosophical epic De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of the Universe) as translated by Anthony M. Esolen There’s more: Nature dissolves all things into Their atoms; things can’t die back down to nothing. …Never can things revert to nothingness!
Watching Northfork again recently, I was moved by Nick Nolte’s testimony to the power of witnessing in one of the DVD extras. Nolte said he felt witnessing is what gives meaning to our lives. Nolte sat with his mother during her last four days, and watched her die–helped her die, by witnessing her death. From…
Jorge Luis Borges is one of my favorite authors. Here are quotes on the art of living and writing poetry. Also, please check out this South American blog Artevirgo with its post of “Arte Poetica de Jorge Luis Borges.”–JGR The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library . . . Poetry…
My friend Stephanie Farrow, a marvelous poet in her own right, sent me this poem today, as one she enjoys. I thought you might enjoy it as well. Atlantis—A Lost Sonnet by Eavan Boland How on earth did it happen, I used to wonder that a whole city—arches, pillars, colonnades, not to mention vehicles and…
Last year I met Eamon Grennan’s poetry through the Lannan Literary videos, a marvelous resource that deserves a post of its own. Eamon Grennan quickly became one of my favorite poets. Former U. S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins says of Grennan: Few poets are as generous as Eamon Grennan in the sheer volume of delight…