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The Seasons Are Changing

I “power down” in early winter

By Gael Stuart
In the season of early darkness, I write lengthier journal entries and create memory books of photos from summer’s adventures. I find it relaxing to spend long evenings learning new tunes on the keyboard or creating cheery cards for friends, who just may need a reminder that they are loved. Read More >>


More Thoughts of Autumn

Loving the full cycle of seasons

By Gael Stuart
John Clare was an English poet from Northamptonshire. I have read only a few of his poems, but having just filled my birdfeeders and noting how much more they are being used since the bug count has diminished, I was enchanted with his words. He was very aware of nature’s autumnal transformations and thus my choice of poetry for today (pleasant old English and all). Read More >>


Autumn

“Go, sit upon the lofty hill . . .”

By Gael Stuart
By the end of September, the air has already changed the way we feel here in the Rockies. Metaphorically speaking, of course, we go from a sense of freewheeling summer to sober, mellow autumn. And, yes, it is the very best time to go sit upon the lofty hill and turn your eyes around. Read More >>


Blooms: The Last Rose of Summer

From a beautiful poem by Thomas Moore

By Gael Stuart
My friend, who lives a few miles south of me, has a lovely array of flowers in her garden. Her yellow rosebush is particularly prolific. Her beautiful variegated roses sometimes try to outdo their gorgeous yellow sisters. Personally, I think there is an unseen, secret flora competition among my friend’s blooms to determine who will be the last rose of summer once autumn has arrived with wind and shiver-inducing temperature drops. This year the winner is . . .  Read More >>


Leisure Passes, Time Passes, Life Passes

By Gael Stuart
Gavin Ewart was a comic poet of England—lesser known in the United States. Born in London and educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge, he grew up reading the classics and became a writer who penned inventive scenes and clever sonnets about family life, sex, (certain shops in Britain banned his more erotic verse) animals, and the indignities of old age. He wrote with a satirical edge and great insight. Read More >>


The Long and Short of It

Poetry on the Web

By Gael Stuart
I have been following an interesting poem online. It’s a poetic effort using the newest forms of electronic communication—texting and social networking—to form a poem known as “The Longest Poem in the World.” The brainchild of Romanian Web developer Andre Gheorghe, it’s a Web site creating a gigantic poem of “found” words. Read More >>


Dogs and Dancing Foxes

Life is a dance

By Gael Stuart
The barking was urgent—incessantly annoying. What could be happening at the bottom of my long dirt driveway to cause such a ruckus? The two 70-pound beasts, big dogs, romantically named Spencer and Kate, dared not cross the invisible fence boundary. They did, of course, challenge their buzzing collars (the warning they are too close) as skillfully as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers. Read More >>


Knock-Knock!

Stickiness is a good sign

By Gael Stuart
I recently heard an adult tell a knock-knock joke that left everyone in the room trying desperately to hold back a silly grin. I was suddenly a little girl again, leaning against my mother and waiting for her reaction to this. . . . Read More >>


Good Poems

Time slipping away . . .

By Gael Stuart
I have been reading Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems. I keep returning to a poem by Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), a much-married poet, essayist, and devotee of Asian poetry. Three of his poems are featured in Good Poems. Read More >>


Poetry Month

Celebrating poetry and its vital place in American culture

By Gael Stuart
In 1996, the American Academy of Poets established National Poetry Month to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. The vision was to bring the art of poetry, and an awareness of poetry, poetry readings, and the creative works of living poets, into the spotlight. April is the perfect spring month to add a book of poems to your personal library—or perhaps to suggest a favorite poem to the Silver Sage. Read More >>