Ellie@Home by Nicole Kapise-Perkins

Tonight is Beltane Eve, Walpurgisnacht, May Eve! To wrap up National Poetry Month, I give you Beltane-themed poems. Blessed be! "Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfill." -   Robert Frost, A Prayer for Spring The Blossom On The Bough Two sonnets for May, and my muse The ...

  Hello! Today is Administrative Professionals Day, and my friend Devon is the best there is! I bought her orchids to say "Thanks for being awesome!" In honor of Dev, I give you these beautiful pomes. All have been found on Poemhunter.com.  If I have a moment to meditate, I may add one of my own to this. "Orchids for Devon" is the perfect title for a poem..... Court Orchids - Poem by Luo Zhihai Drizzle fluttering the ink rhyme Spring light shining the poetic field Snow melted, pond willows were soft green Wind passed, court orchids were fragrant and sweet *** The Simple And Elegant Orchids - Poem by Luo Zhihai Before the desk, an ink stone of the tender moon Under the brush, several branches of the simple and elegant orchids The past of life light like the smoke In the dust world, undeserved reputation like catkins *** Jade Orchids - Poem by Luo Zhihai Life is too short Time is long Golden phoenixes are tender Jade orchids are fragrant ...

     I read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar last night, I've never read it before. Plath's early death took a literary great away from this world. I wonder, if she had been born at a later date, if she would still be here, society being more willing to recognize the emotional needs tied to the literary genius. The Moon and the Yew Tree Sylvia Plath                This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary The trees of the mind are black. The light is blue. The grasses unload their griefs on my feet as if I were God Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility Fumy, spiritous mists inhabit this place. Separated from my house by a row of headstones. I simply cannot see where there is to get to.   The moon is no door. It is a face in its own right, White as a knuckle and terribly upset. It drags the sea after it like a dark crime; it is quiet With...

...and I would like to sleep. I am at work, so I cannot do that. Instead, I will take a few moments to read and share these lovely sleepy poems, and think of how much I wish I was sleeping right now. Variation On The Word Sleep by Margaret Atwood I would like to watch you sleeping, which may not happen. I would like to watch you, sleeping. I would like to sleep with you, to enter your sleep as its smooth dark wave slides over my head and walk with you through that lucent wavering forest of bluegreen leaves with its watery sun & three moons towards the cave where you must descend, towards your worst fear I would like to give you the silver branch, the small white flower, the one word that will protect you from the grief at the center of your dream, from the grief at the center I would like to follow you up the long stairway again & become the boat that would row you back carefully, a flame in two cupped hands to where your body lies beside me, and as you enter it as easily ...

Specifically, my favorite flower, the lily of the valley. The first poem was written by the composer Tchaikovsky in 1878; the second by Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1913; and the last is the sweet Lily of the Valley Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker. Lilies of the Valley  by Tchaikovsky When at the end of spring I pick for the last time My favourite flowers— a yearning fills my breast, And to the future I urgently appeal: Let me but once again look upon the lilies of the valley. Now they have faded. Like an arrow the summer has flown by, The days have grown shorter. The feathered choir is still, The sun more charily grants us its warmth and light, And already the wood has laid its leafy carpet. Then when harsh winter comes And the forests don their snowy cover, Despondently I roam and wait with new yearning For the skies to shine with the sun of spring. I find no pleasure in books, or conversation, Or swift-rushing sledges, or the ball's noisy glitter, Or Patti , or the the...

       Tuesday is my birthday, so yesterday I took myself on a whale watch. I have wanted to go on one since I was a child. I have always loves those beautiful giants, I read everything I could get my hand on when I was younger and at one time I wanted to be a lawyer for Greenpeace. (I assume they have their own lawyers, but as I did not pursue a career in law, I really have no idea.) Sadly, I did not get to see even one whale yesterday, but it was still an amazing trip out on the Atlantic.      My poems today are kind of about whales; I had a very hard time finding what I was looking for, and only one of the following poems is actually about them. The other two allude to them, and in the case of Anne Pierson Wiese's poem, creates some wonderful imagery. Enjoy!   Vestigial Bones Rajiv Mohabir jaunse tu bhagela ii toke nighalayihe je andar rahe tohar jahaaj ke nast karihe The remnant of hind limbs puppets an o...

     In looking up examples of found poetry to share with my English class, I stumbled across Carie Juettner's wonderful blog https://cariejuettner.com/      She shared her amazing book title poems, and I am inspired to destroy my bookshelves and see what I can come up with. Until I reach that point of insanity, here are Carie's poems for you to enjoy: (from https://cariejuettner.com/?s=book+title+poems  ) Carie also has two other book title posts; you can find all three at this link. 10 Book Title Found Poems Posted on September 1, 2014 August 29, 2016 by Carie Juettner This weekend, I was scanning my shelves looking for a book when I came across two titles side by side that formed a sentence. I thought, Ha ha! That’s funny! Then I thought, Hmm… Then I thought, I love books, I love poems, and I love found poetry , so…  Suddenly, it became clear to me that I needed to combine these loves. Five minutes la...

     My English homework for this week is to create a writing prompt, post some readings that support said prompt, and then of course, write something based on that same prompt. I decided to pursue found poems, and then proceeded to go overboard. One of the resulting poems was 4 pages long, with another 2 of reference material (because I had to cite where the lines came form; don't want to be accused of plagiarism!) The other poem was only one page, but as I took lines form my much-loved copy of The Dovekeepers (written by the incomparable Alice Hoffman) I had to remind myself that I was only looking up random lines, not reading the whole book.      My search for poets to include as reading sources led me to Carie Juettner's AMAZING website: https://cariejuettner.com/?s=book+title+poems  I didn't make my poems this way, but I intend to give this a try as soon as possible!      So, without any more preamble, I ...