~Norman MacCaig
Time seems to be racing by -- it's Poetry Friday again! Bits and pieces today. First, here's some of "Aunt Julia" by by Norman MacCaig.
Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic
very loud and very fast.
I could not answer her —
I could not understand her.
She wore men’s boots
when she wore any.
— I can see her strong foot,
stained with peat,
paddling with the treadle of the spinningwheel
while her right hand drew yarn
marvellously out of the air.
read the rest here.
(Three weeks ago, I started learning a little Scottish Gaelic and every day I wonder why I picked a language that is completely counterintuitive. I seem to like it, though, haha)
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Empathy Lab UK put together a 2021 Read for Empathy Collection (which includes poetry) for various grades.
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An excerpt from "In The Forest of Blue Aptitude" by Brenda Hillman:
So, how should meaning find you?
It is a glow in the cloth. As if a row
of children carried lanterns unopposed
through a forest of blue aptitude:
they looked like you. What they feared
most had never arrived. What they
loved most was already here.
The rest of this poem isn't available online, but read another poem by Brenda Hillman here: The Time Problem.
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Bookseedstudio has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Jan!
15 comments:
Thanks for introducing me to "Aunt Julia" and her visions of "threepennybits" in teapots–what a strong voice she has!
The lanterns in image and poem are both mysterious and fetching, I like the contrast between "what they feared" and "what they loved" alls before us waiting. Good luck with your Gaelic Tabatha!
Aunt Julia seems like a whirlwind. I am reminded of visits to my Great Aunty Myrtle - who didn't speak Gaelic. But who was very creative-busy and also very chatty. I'm smiling at you, learning and wondering... and laughing. :) Keep having fun with it!
Hi dear Tabatha! Appreciations for the link to Bookseedstudio today & wow that lantern light & poem. I take to heart the idea that I already have what I love. I want to learn more of Ms. Hill.
Good luck with the Scottish vocab! So like you & your creative Family.
xo ~~ Jan
:) Ms. Hillman (not Ms. Hill)
Thank you for your eclectic bits of Poetry goodness, Tabatha!
I feel like the Aunt Julia that MacCaig describes:
"very loud and very fast.
I could not answer her —
I could not understand her" is all the older Swiss women I meet here. Swiss German is a whole other level of confusing. :)
Hi Tabatha! I enjoyed these poem. Thinking about time is always daunting, so hard to grasp, yet we always say we have too little of it. I sent the list of books to inspire empathy to several I know who have young grandchildren. Thanks
The MacCaig poem was perfect for me this week, as I've been on a David Tennant kick. I could hear his voice reciting those wonderful lines about Aunt Julia. :D
Och, I can just imagine Aunt Julia's voice - and I've been there with the relatives I could neither understand nor answer!!! I've done a little Scottish Gaelic - that you're STILL doing it says something about determination! It's a lovely, beautiful language, when all's said and done, though, even though counterintuitive is an understatement!!!!
Love Aunt Julia. Where are you learning your Scottish Gaelic? I am so enjoying my lessons and finally beginning to understand some when I hear it.
Scottish Gaelic. Wow! Good for you. Aunt Julia is a gold find. I love how much of her personality is packed into those lines. And, the sadness of having lost her as a person and a resource. This is the kind of writing I aspire to. The book list is lovely. Thank you for it.
I think someday you might share a poem in Gaelic, Tabatha. We might not understand, like Norman MacCaig not understanding his Aunt Julia, but clearly he loved her all the same. I love the way he wrote "She was buckets/and water flouncing into them." That verse reminds me of grandmothers & my own great aunties, the undaunted! The frantic Hillman poem must touch many during this time. Thank you!
That Aunt Julia poem is a treasure. I love the way she lives on in his memory, with so many specific images.
I enjoyed your eclectic poetry offerings--especially meeting Aunt Julia. and wow--Scottish Gaelic.
Thanks for the information on shepherd's purse on my post. So interesting!
A stunning word portrait of Aunt Julia, Tabatha. I can see and hear her. A strong mind movie for me. I had aunts like this strong, distinctive women. Your extract of the poem by Brenda Hillman was so impactful. I immediately reread it. Wow words. I must copy them into my notebook under the heading- 'Words I Wish I Had Written.'
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