M Christine Delea's Blog, page 17

Love Song for Love Songs by Rafael Campo

Love Song for Love Songs

by Rafael Campo

(published on the Academy of American Poets website)

A golden age of love songs and we still

can't get it right. Does your kiss really taste

like butter cream? To me, the moon's bright face

was neither like a pizza pie nor full;

the Beguine began, but my eyelid twitched.

"No more I love you's," someone else assured

us, pouring out her heart, in love (of course)—

what bothers me the most is that high-pitched,

undone whine of "Why am I so alone?"

Such r...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Prompt

This week's prompt has 3 components.

I have never seen this Clint Eastwood movie (see the title of this prompt), but the title has such a great rhythm and--although it is iconic now--the title is also a bit mysterious. Sure, we all understand the connection between the good and the bad, but how do the ugly connect?

Plus, colors! I have the good fortune to have a yard filled with myriad flowers and plants with color for almost the entire year (January and most of February are not too colorful)....

Desirous of Her Liberty at This Time by Rhonda M. Ward

Desirous of Her Liberty at This Time

by Rhonda M. Ward

(published in Poetry, November 2021, in The Witness Stones Project portfolio)

Nancy Freeman

1771–1853

Baptized 1819, Excommunicated 1830

“ ... her life became increasingly troubled with alcohol.”

Was there ever a time when an enslaved woman or man

was not “desirous” of their freedom? Was the day before

these words were written or the years before that

a less “desirous” time? I carry the name of freedom

but not the fact of it.

...

Hope by Elsa Gidlow

Hope

by Elsa Gidlow

(from her 1923 book, On a Grey Thread)

You would win me, woo me, win me,

To be your lover, Hope!

You would lure me, charm me, lure me, 

With all your deathless youth!

You would have me worship, adore you, 

Build my life for you;

Mould my moments into hours 

Out of your careless smile!

How you pursue me, woo me, follow,

Like a light-headed girl.

All the world is your willing lover:

What do you want with me?

You are a wanton, lovely, perfect,

A dazzling thing like day,

Dra...

There Has to Be a First for Everything: Prompt

Today's poem on my blog, "Hope," was written by Elsa Gidlow and appears in her 1923 book, On a Golden Thread.

Here is what the Academy of American poets says:" Elsa Gidlow, born on December 29, 1898, was a poet and philosopher. Her book, On a Grey Thread (Will Ransom, 1923), is believed by historians to be the first collection of openly lesbian love poetry published in North America." (They say other things, too, which you can read here.)

And definitely read this, especially if you are an outd...

if time is queer/and memory is trans/and my hands hurt in the cold/then by Raquel Salas Rivera

if time is queer/and memory is trans/and my hands hurt in the cold/then

by Raquel Salas Rivera

(published in their 2021 book, x/ex/exis: poemas para la nación/poems for the nation, U of Arizona P, Bilingual Edition)

there are ways to hold pain like night follows day

not knowing how tomorrow went down.

it hurts like never when the always is now,

the now that time won't allow.

there is no manner of tomorrow, nor shape of today

only like always having to leave

from and toward the future's...

Elegy for Mr. Spock by W. Todd Kaneko

Elegy for Mr. Spock

by W. Todd Kaneko

(published in Split Lip Magazine, August 2018)

 

The first time you died, your friends

searched the universe to bring you home

because it’s easy to abandon logic

for grief. My father died a year ago

and I’m still writing poems to bring him back

to me—the son of a man from outer space,

the alien child of an earthwoman—nothing

makes complete sense. On television

the phasers are set for stun because there’s

no such thing as death for major characters,

wh...

None of These Things Are Like the Others (or are they?): Prompt

Today, after visiting two wineries, reading about some returning TV shows, listening to music, re-reading today's blog poem, and my brain's own strange tangents, I came up with this prompt:

Use all of the following in your piece:

alcohol

bear

middle

father

TV

horns

wild

space

bed

I will definitely be doing this one one myself, in large part because W. Todd Kaneko's poem, "Elegy for Mr. Spock," is so incredible good, it makes me want to write!

This is what all great poems do to me: first, I ...

Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer

Casey at the Bat

by Ernest Lawrence Thayer

(first published on June 3, 1888 in The San Francisco Examiner)

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:

The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,

And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,

A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest

Clung to the hope which springs eternal in the human breast;

They thought, "If only Casey c...

The Summer of George: Prompt

Thanks to the New York Times, I just went down a rabbit hole of summer themes. (See the article that started this here--it's gifted, so it's free to you, even without a subscription.)

Remember Seinfeld's 1997 "the summer of George"? Remind yourself here.

Care to check out the top songs of each summer, from 1958's "Volaré" to 2023's "Last

         Night"? See Billboard's lists here.

Need a definition suitable for all ages of 2019's Hot Girl Summer? Click here.

I am not sure I could expl...