photo by Elena
It's time for Summer Poem Swap sign-ups! How does it work? Every two weeks beginning June 22 through August 17, you will mail and receive a poem. (You write five poems; you receive five poems.) I match swappers up so they are sending and receiving poems from five different people.
Interested? Have questions? Email me! tabatha(at)tabathayeatts(dot)com. The deadline for joining is June 1st.
In honor of Mother's Day, here is a poem by Christina Rossetti for her mother. It served as the dedication for a book of Rossetti's poems:
Sonnets are full of love
by Christina Rossetti
Sonnets are full of love, and this my tome
Has many sonnets: so here now shall be
One sonnet more, a love sonnet, from me
To her whose heart is my heart’s quiet home,
To my first Love, my Mother, on whose knee
I learnt love-lore that is not troublesome;
Whose service is my special dignity,
And she my loadstar while I go and come
And so because you love me, and because
I love you, Mother, I have woven a wreath
Of rhymes wherewith to crown your honored name:
In you not fourscore years can dim the flame
Of love, whose blessed glow transcends the laws
Of time and change and mortal life and death.
***********
Today's Little Ditty is the Poetry Friday round-up host.
13 comments:
Yay for Summer Swap AND Mother's Day! Hope you have a great one, Tabatha. xo
Tabitha,
The poem is a loving tribute to mothers. The line that resonates with me is: I love you, Mother, I have woven a wreath Of rhymes wherewith to crown your honored name. In my mother's time on earth I never wrote her a poem of love so perhaps this poem will suffice to honor her name.
As for the Summer Swap, I would like to give back to the community that has become a haven for me but the rub is that this summer I am going to have shoulder surgery. I am not sure what I will be able to do with my hands. Can I please be a tentative participant or perhaps a one poem person? I will know more next week.
Tabatha, what a beautiful poem to share this week. And Happy Mother's Day to you!!
Thanks, too, for organizing the Summer Swap. I loved doing it last year, but with projects brewing and because I still have to really pace myself (after my own neck/shoulder injury last year - here's hoping Carol is feeling much better soon!) I had better wait for the less strenuous winter version! I look forward to reading everyone's treasures, though. :0)
What a beautiful poem! Love "my heart's quiet home." YES.
Happy Mother's Day weekend!!
"To her whose heart is my heart’s quiet home." Such a simple, sigh-worthy phrase. Hope your Mother's Day is equally simple and sigh-worthy, Tabatha. :)
Please count me in. I loved being part of this community last summer.
Cheers,
Jone
PS I love this line:
"And she my loadstar while I go and come"
And I hope you got the comment in which I said I want to be in on the summer swap.
Hi, Tabatha--
This makes me want to write my mom a sonnet--but today I have to get ready to grill her some salmon instead! Wait, maybe I can write a salmon swimming home sonnet WHILE I'm cleaning up the grill. : )
Yes, I will join you in the Summer Poem Swap again! Thanks for offering us another go-round!
I will say that I'll be keeping it simple--pretty much just the poems without too much artsy-crafty-giftyness. My goal this summer is to write two books, head down and BIC. I'm scouting for a summer office and seriously thinking of driving every day to Kwame's Panera!
Beautiful offering today. Thanks for sharing.
Count me in on the swap. It was loads of fun last year!
This is a lovely sonnet -- what a dedication! Her sincere affection shines through so beautifully. Thanks for sharing, and Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day! I hope someone writes you a sonnet or cooks you some salmon on the grill today!
What a perfect poem to read this Mother's Day. Thank you!
What a beautiful poem, Tabatha--and it is perfect for Mother's Day! I love Christina Rossetti!
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