Smyrna 1922: The Destruction of a City

No lyric poetry here, just pure Ionian tragedy:

By Marjorie Housepian Dobkin, Newmark Press, N.Y., 1998 (Second reprint of Faber edition, London, 1972).

After reading the introduction and the closing chapter here, get the book and see for yourself how little has changed in the world of diplomacy.

Reprise

sun

rise,

re

mind

us

we

still

have

one

more

reprieve.

New Year's Day, 2011: Out with the Old, In with the New One(s)

Spring, 1984 at the fountain in the mountain village of Kefalovryssi, Messenias—about 40 minutes north of Meligalas: Eleni 22, Efiniki 3, and Tasso 1, the old man in the background departing the scene? Old enough to know what it was like to be that young.

Giving and Receiving The Gift of Poetry

"I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received.”

—Antonio Porchia, Voices.

Thank you Annie for reminding us of those who left us in 2010.

Bounty

Thin waning crescent

In early morning sky—

Gone by

Tomorrow,

Which sickle will glean

Which mourning eye?

—December 31, 2010

Huuklyeand Cinquor on Poetry for Dummies

As I sd to my
friend, because I am
always talking, -- John, I

sd, which was not his
name, the darkness sur-
rounds us, what

can we do against
it, or else, shall we &
why not, buy a goddamn big car,

drive, he sd, for
christ's sake, look
out where yr going.

—Robert Creeley, “I Know a Man”

As we were

All well behind the times,

Unable to distinguish

Well-wrought poetry

From pedestrian rhyme,

Our forward-looking instructor

Gave us a crash course

On how to maneuver

Between the lines—

Would you believe it?

In no time at all,

We were so well-versed,

We drove him up a wall.

Moderator’s comments: I don’t know about Cinquor’s mentor, but mine was so forward-looking he walked to his poetry classes.

Definitely Not Lemmings #32

A warm Mediterranean welcome to Robert Willson who comes to us from Northern Ontario, Canada.