I was in charge of this fragment of creation and so I had the last word.
~Helena Nelson
I've been studying Scottish Gaelic on Duolingo since January and it's been nice having the continuity of it in my erratic schedule.
For today, "Poetry Forum" by Scottish poet Helena Nelson.
Poetry Forum
by Helena Nelson
What is poetry for? (Maitreyabhandu)
It’s for weddings
and funerals
and reading on the train
and for taking a person out of herself
and bringing her back more sane.
It’s for children
and lunatics
and chimney-sweeps and punks
It’s for teachers...
read the rest here
**************
TeacherDance has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Linda!
17 comments:
Love that last stanza - which was assuredly clever!
I was on a 30 day streak with DuoLingo, relearning Mandarin. But then they didn't count one session (I mustn't have done enough lessons that day) and I lost my streak... and then my momentum. I must get back into it!
Thinking of you, lovely. x
You can get some
for nothing
and remember it
forever.
Tabatha, I adore this poem... thank you for sharing it today!
ooooh, I love it. It's silly but not. There's rhythm and rhyme in it too which makes it fun for me to read aloud. I like thinking of poetry for all these different kinds of people and situations.
Ha -- oh, yes! Loved this, Tabatha. It's for all of us, for sure!
One I will save, Tabatha. I'm glad you're finding good things for you to lean into, like poetry! Love that ending as Mary did, too. Sending good wishes for the day to day peeking out windows, too!
Great poem, Tabatha -- final lines are brilliant. :) Love the doggie pic too. :) As soon as you mentioned Scottish Gaelic, I thought of Outlander again. Yes, I am obsessed.
...for taking a person out of herself
and bringing her back more sane.
Oh, I ADORE this, and I do like this poet so well. I did read more poetry than I did in my LIFE when I lived in Scotland, and the way some people speak and tell stories, the poetry just flows. This is wonderful.
Thanks for introducing me to this poet. I love this poem, the word play, and the ending:
It’s for all we know intelligent
and rarely less than clever.
You can get some
for nothing
and remember it
forever.
Tabatha, I enjoyed this post so much. I visited the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh! It’s charming and even has a children’s poetry section. There were little free poem books tucked away on the shelves. You could tell that the Scottish people love poetry. This poem is fun to read, and I can tell that the poet enjoyed writing it, piling on words and then letting all that alliteration flow in the next to last stanza!
Tabatha, thank you for introducing me to this poet's work. I plan to look for more of her poems!
Here's hoping that poetry is doing it's work for you these days:
"...taking a person out of herself
and bringing her back more sane."
Sending big hugs.
I like the idea that poetry might have its own independent intelligence, for all we know. AI = Authentic Intelligence. Hope poetry's working well for you today in addition to Frog and Toad!
What a marvelous poem Tabatha, especially the last few lines—this would be a fun poem to remember… Thanks, and lovely pic of HuaHua, glad they dropped by!
What a wonderful poem! I'm bookmarking this one to come back to. I particularly love the end of the first stanza ... for taking us out of ourselves and bringing us back sane.
Yes, it "takes a person out of herself and brings her back more sane." And these days, I need that very badly!
What is your Duolingo name? I will follow you. Thank you for the Halloween poem and the artwork. I love the first one especially.
That is so clever! Makes me think of LBH's Why Poetry?, too. The same bit that Ruth mentioned is my favorite part, too.
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