An Open Thread—Take Two—on the occasion of my Birthday Month. What’s a Thread? Well, it is a conversation between and among participants, generated by creating a new comment, or replying to an existing comment.
So, Introductions are in order…… If you can see this, say hello and tell us three things. Drop in, leave a note and get to know each other…. I’ll go first—it’ll be fun! Party Hats optional.
1. Where you're currently based (or what the view is like outside your window).
2. What brought you here to Poetry & Made Things?
3. Last poem or book of poetry you read.
OPTIONAL—anything else you’d like to add.
I'm currently typing from a suburb of Seattle and enjoying the cooler days of late August, an almost perfect time of year around here.
Poetry & Made Things is an online space I created for poetic conversations and reflections.
Last poetry book I read? "Below the Brightness" by Steven Searcy published by Solum Literary Press. Rich language full of sound and beauty and rhythm. Highly recommend!
Okay--your turn! Respond to the above questions in the Comments and let’s continue the conversation.
Hi Jody! Happy birthday month! I hope it's been a delight.
1. While I'm based in Iowa, and write almost exclusively about what I learn when I head west, I'm currently "out east," visiting my daughter and her husband in Syracuse, NY. I had not been to NY until about a year ago and this is my 3rd visit. Big surprise. Also a surprise: NY is every bit as lovely as people say. The hiking is different than what I'm used to--lots of gorges containing exquisite waterfalls with stone staircases to climb right up alongside. Some places bring scenes from The Lord of the Rings; others, Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel.
2. You brought me. I found you on the internet long ago, probably having something to do with Tresta Payne (?). I found something of a kindred spirit in you, and here I am.
3. Last poetry book read in full: Purgatory by Nicholas Trandahl. (Sheepish confession: I brought a small volume of Ogden Nash's marriage related poetry home from my parents' place and put it in my bedtime reading stack. I'm read it now and then.
Optional: Well, you know this but, I'm releasing my Yellowstone memoir next month. So exciting and So Much Work in the meantime. You know that, too.
I’m so glad you made it to the birthday party month celebration… and isn’t this internet connection writing journey an amazing web? So glad to be connected!
Happy Birthday! Yes, definitely celebrate all month long!
1. John, my husband of 52 years, and I live in the countryside of a little town in Minnesota called Zimmerman, but I grew up in Seattle.
It is August and the State Fair starts tomorrow. Huzzah! We are true fans of "The Great Minnesota Get Together," and try to attend at least twice during its twelve-day run. There are lots of arts related people, places and things to do at the Fair. If I remember correctly, one year they sponsored "Poetry on A Stick."
2. I was brought to Poetry and Made Things by the interview you did with Karen Swallow Prior.
3. The last poem I read was "A Liturgy Before Writing" by Malcom Guite. I consider it a proem, or prayer/poem, as the late, beloved poet, Brian Doyle would say. I find "A Liturgy Before Writing" a great way to center my thinking on the giver of inspiration and designer of words, our Creator God. It occurred to me as I was reading the poem today that "words" and "sword" are made up of the same letters. How fitting, then, that God's Word is called a double-edged sword.
Teri-hello! and thanks for coming by via my written interview on KSP’s Substack.
We are near kindred spirits—hubby and I just celebrated 51 years of staying married—glory to God.
Oh, I do like your poetry mention—Malcolm Guite is a fave; in fact his sonnets in Parable and Paradox were my first introduction to him and to taking poetry seriously. And the liturgy before writing is a good one.
Brian Doyle—now there’s another writer in a class by himself. I read the collection “One Long River of Song” that was released after his passing—sooooo many dogeared pages in that book.
1. I live in Edina, MN but today I find myself in Bucharest, the first of 12 concerts presented by a Christian rock band for whom I am serving as driver. Six concerts in Poland and six in Romania.
It is a beautiful evening in a packed public Square. The concert was amazing.
2. I came to this space through a mutual friend and connection that I believe originated in the Rabbit Room
3. The last piece of poetry read was the one that came in my introductory email from the Rabbit Room poetry group.
4. My lovely wife and I just celebrated 44 years of marriage, and completed visiting or camping 76 State Park in Minnesota over 10 years.
Norm! How fascinating to read your short and very packed ‘history’—I’m so glad you said hello. (PS responding to your book request for Mining the Bright Birds in a bit—thank you!)
I’m writing from Lincoln, Nebraska on a cool morning, with my cat staring at me from his comfortable seat atop my backpack.
I simply have come across your work here on Substack, and I’ve throughly enjoyed it. I guess the credit would then go to the algorithms for connecting us.
The last book of poetry I finished reading is The Temple by George Herbert, and I am currently re-reading a collection of poems from C.S. Lewis.
Zane--thank you for saying hello! I'm glad our paths crossed and it's a joy to meet a kindred spirit, poetry-wise. I have my George Herbert book next to me (Oxford Poetry Library edition) and was just re-reading the poems from The Temple. C.S. Lewis' poems are also on my shelf--I think I need a Literature degree to decipher them, though! He's deep.....
And yes, cooler mornings are definitely here as well.
Happy birthday month, Jody. (I'm currently not wearing a party hat.)
1. I am in metro Atlanta Georgia, and my view outside of the windows at the back of my house is trees and the top half of the shed in the backyard. (It's mostly green, with all the trees. The shed adds a nice contrast of barn brownish-red.)
2. Jody got my attention in a comment thread at Rabbit Room Poetry... and then she got my attention again with her friendliness on my own substack. And then I read some of her poetry and I was hooked. I appreciate her consistent focus on poetry.
3. Last poem I read... heh... was probably actually my own. But I do have intentions of reading a Shakespeare sonnet a day, as I have his book of sonnets currently sitting on my teacher desk at work. The beginning of the year hustle has been crazy and so I haven't stolen any moments (of my planning time) to read any yet.
This seems like a great party! I think I'll mingle a bit with the other guests.
Sara, you are so kind, thank you for coming by and adding more to the story of you. I am grateful to be connected here as well I appreciate your kind comments about my poetry.
I did not know you were a teacher, is that in the classroom, or are you educating your kids at home?
Thanks for being such a great ambassador and virtual party mingler. Looking forward to more connections here in the Poetry and Made Things community. Who knows what God might be up to?
I am sitting at my kitchen table watching the setting sun shining on the beautiful flowers in our backyard and enjoying all the birds dining at my feeders. I live in a small(ish) town just northeast of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2. I am not sure when or how I discovered you on Substack but truly enjoy it.
3. I a currently dipping into Mary Oliver’s “Devotions’, various selections from Malcolm Guite’s work and “The Green Earth” by Luci Shaw. Today I have been savouring her poem “A Song for Simplicity”.
Oh Louise--hello! that's a lovely scene you've painted there.... a fellow bird-lover! and I'm glad you've discovered my poetry as well as others'--Luci Shaw and Malcolm are two of my favorite. I'm going to have to find "A Song for Simplicity;" thanks for mentioning it!
1. I am presently sitting in the living room at Blackberry Farm, my family's property just outside of Eugene, Oregon. Looking out the front door, I can see across the pasture to the trees growing along the creek. I am very, very thankful to be here.
2. I believe we met in Malcolm Guite's class at the Glen workshop in 2018.
3. The most recent poem I read was "Erasers" vy Mary Jo Salter.
This evening, I will be gathering with friends and sharing music at an open mic in downtown Eugene.
Hi Rachael! So glad to see you here. Your current view and place sounds lovely. And yep, we met at the Glen Workshop in 2018--gosh can it be six years?
I am so happy to hear about another poem that is new to me--I'll have to find it.
I bet the musical evening will be awesome--I remember your open mic time at the Glen--so fun.
Margaret--so glad we've been connected in this space (and in person!) Thank you for reading and commenting and sharing in all the poetry joy. And yay for August b'day people!
1. I am located in rural southwest PA, about five minutes from Fallingwater, if you know what that is.😉
2. I honestly dont know how I got onto your Substack but I’m still here and enjoying it!
3. I have fallen head over heels in love the Everyman Pocket Poets series of books. I’ve been tearing through them. I love their anthologies. Their selection of poems, being a delightful mix of classic poets and modern ones. Also, the books themselves are hand sized and can be dropped in my purse or held in a single hand easily. Love! I’m currently reading the anthology about Motherhood.
The pocket-sized books of poetry sound intriguing. And, an anthology about motherhood?!?! My heart is stirred. (Got a link? Is it online somewhere... to purchase?)
Hi Sarah! Yes, I do know where/what Fallingwater is--(one of) Frank Lloyd Wright's estates :-) (My stepdad was raised by the caretakers at Wright's Taliesin estate a loooooong time ago.)
I'm so glad you're here--thanks for sharing about the Everyman Pocket Poets--purse-sized books are the best!
Stephanie, we connected I think via Sarah Clarkson and/or Elizabeth Goudge book club...or maybe Bandersnatch. It's a Substack Venn diagram! So glad to be connected.
1. I live in picturesque Shell Cove, a suburb of Shellharbour, NSW, Australia. It is a sunny, blue sky winter's day by the sea and there is a pee wee bird taking a bath in my bright blue bird bath in my back yard. A pair of them come every afternoon for their daily ablutions.
2. We are in the same Elizabeth Goudge Substack group and as I have bravely decided to try and 'get' poetry, I decided to follow you.
3. I am currently memorising "Clancy of the Overflow" by A.B. Banjo Paterson(1889), a famous Australian poet/ballad writer.
4. I was a Navigator in the Royal Australian Navy in my working career. When I tell my 6 year old granddaughter that, she clearly thinks I'm lying - "yeah right Grandma". To her I am simply Grandma.
I learnt the poem as a child in my Catholic primary school. I was blessed to have nuns from a Teaching Order and we all learned many Australian poems and ballads by heart. I am now re learning it and it has a fun, swinging rhythm to it. It also conjures up my own High Country Snowy Mountain bush childhood so it is doubly poignant. The pee wee is very loud and they chat back and forth to each other as they dry out from their bath, usually sitting above the washing on my clothesline!
Oh glorious! I'm imagining scenes from The Man from Snowy River (that movie from the 1980s that I grew up watching... which... apparently, I just read, was based on a poem from Banjo. How fun! Now my interest in his work is very high. Ha!) And what an amazing experience, growing up and learning poems by heart. I really need/want to try that... learning poems by heart.
So that High Country is where I grew up but on the NSW side and not Victoria where the movie was actually filmed - so now you know what it was like for me, on a sheep and cattle farm in that area. It was heaven! The movie is a favourite of mine too and the music is beautiful and haunting. Memorising at age 52 is a challenge but I keep at it, and it is sticking but my tip is to get a poem with a sing song rhythm, like the old nursery rhymes as it is easier to learn.
Catherine… I have really personal story about that movie. (I’m working it out in a memoir-ish thing I’m currently writing.) And I rewatched the movie last weekend for the first time since I was a kid. The movie is still so beautiful. And yes, that music!
And oh my Lord, you grew up there! I could cry for the beauty of the thought.
I am going to make it my goal - just making it tonight - to memorize Sea-Fever by John Masefield. I first read it last year with my students and it’s sing-songy and rhyming, and I’m really into the ocean lately, since I’ve been visiting it more often lately in Savannah, Georgia.
Oh Catherine! It’s been a joy to chat a bit here with you tonight. 😊
Sara, it was a delight to chat with you as well. I live three streets from the ocean at Shell Cove so I am going to look up Sea-Fever as it sounds appropriate for me too. It was always a joke in my family that I left the mountains to join the Navy but they call to me equally. We can be 'indigenous to place' as Robin Wall Kimmerer says in her book "Braiding Sweetgrass". If you ever want a gentle reader for your writing, count me in. The movie resonates deeply with many people.🌷
Catherine--hello! What a beautiful picture you've painted for us of Winter (which is hard for this Northern Hemisphere gal to wrap her brain around!) We have friends in NSW as well (they started out in YWAM down there.
It makes me so happy to hear you're trying to 'get' poetry--you've made my day.
I'm intrigued by the poem and poet you mentioned....and you're a retired navigator?! That is fascinating!
Shelly, talk about six degrees of separation.... I love all these connections! (and how fun to know about the downloads on our podcast conversation--you are a great interviewer.)
I currently live in rural Tennessee, about an hour north of Memphis. It was a hot summer but the temps seem to be falling this week. Fall is my favorite season so I am eagerly anticipating that.
I don't recall how we found each other - serendipity I suppose!
I am currently reading The Iliad by Homer which is an epic poem but the last volume of poetry I read was Selected Poems by Robert Frost.
Oh Matthew.... those Tennessee temps--I'm with you, Fall is my favorite, too.
We 'met' in Sarah Fay's Substack cohort :-)
And your reading is impressive--I've never read Homer--I'm afraid I'd need some instruction along the way to 'get' it! But Frost, now his work sounds lovely.
I’m in Franklin, Tennessee, just 30ish minutes south of Nashville where the dew point has been mischievously low the last couple of days, teasing us with fall when we’re very much still in the throes of summer.
I stumbled across your work here on Substack and am so thankful I did!
My last full book of poetry was a Ruefle, and to be entirely honest, after two of those back to back, I’ve taken a full volume break. I did pick up a copy of Mary Oliver’s House of Light this summer that I’ve been itching to crack open!
1. I am currently writing from Pittsburgh, PA for an in-person training for work. It's my first time here and I've enjoyed seeing the very historic flavor of the downtown area. We just don't have time for much sightseeing. Am about 6 hours from my home, which is closer to the Reading area.
2. I believe I came to your site because it was recommended and stayed because it's about poetry.
3. The last poetry book I read was Of Wings & Dirt by Kimberly Phinney. Felt like a mix of Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry, but yet has a flavor all its own. Currently reading Elijah Fed by Ravens by Kristina Erny.
I'm in Lancaster, PA, also enjoying more moderate temps this August.
I feel like we met online many, many years ago and then had the chance to catch up in person around 2018 (or was it 2016) at FFW.
I don't often read through entire books of poetry, usually picking and choosing here and there, but some of my favorite poets are Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, and Julia Spicher Kasdorf.
1. I live in Southwest Michigan, and we are re-entering the 70s in temperature which feels glorious.
2. I was first here because of your interview on Writing Off Social, and I am STILL here because I appreciate your writing voice and learned approach to poetry.
3. The most recent book of poetry I enjoyed was Of Wings and Dirt by Kimberly Phinney. My siblings keep finding oooold poetry books—many of them written by Christians—at garage sales, and I am loving their tight structures and rhythms.
4. Fun Fact: I have four children and one husband. All of us have red hair 😍
Ericka--hello to you there in very warm Arkansas... and good luck with the lawn :-)
I'm so glad we did find each other here on the 'Stack and how fun that you heard my interview on Shelly's podcast (The Un-Perfect Podcast, ya'll. Check it out).
Hi Jody! Happy birthday month! I hope it's been a delight.
1. While I'm based in Iowa, and write almost exclusively about what I learn when I head west, I'm currently "out east," visiting my daughter and her husband in Syracuse, NY. I had not been to NY until about a year ago and this is my 3rd visit. Big surprise. Also a surprise: NY is every bit as lovely as people say. The hiking is different than what I'm used to--lots of gorges containing exquisite waterfalls with stone staircases to climb right up alongside. Some places bring scenes from The Lord of the Rings; others, Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel.
2. You brought me. I found you on the internet long ago, probably having something to do with Tresta Payne (?). I found something of a kindred spirit in you, and here I am.
3. Last poetry book read in full: Purgatory by Nicholas Trandahl. (Sheepish confession: I brought a small volume of Ogden Nash's marriage related poetry home from my parents' place and put it in my bedtime reading stack. I'm read it now and then.
Optional: Well, you know this but, I'm releasing my Yellowstone memoir next month. So exciting and So Much Work in the meantime. You know that, too.
I’m so glad you made it to the birthday party month celebration… and isn’t this internet connection writing journey an amazing web? So glad to be connected!
Happy Birthday! Yes, definitely celebrate all month long!
1. John, my husband of 52 years, and I live in the countryside of a little town in Minnesota called Zimmerman, but I grew up in Seattle.
It is August and the State Fair starts tomorrow. Huzzah! We are true fans of "The Great Minnesota Get Together," and try to attend at least twice during its twelve-day run. There are lots of arts related people, places and things to do at the Fair. If I remember correctly, one year they sponsored "Poetry on A Stick."
2. I was brought to Poetry and Made Things by the interview you did with Karen Swallow Prior.
3. The last poem I read was "A Liturgy Before Writing" by Malcom Guite. I consider it a proem, or prayer/poem, as the late, beloved poet, Brian Doyle would say. I find "A Liturgy Before Writing" a great way to center my thinking on the giver of inspiration and designer of words, our Creator God. It occurred to me as I was reading the poem today that "words" and "sword" are made up of the same letters. How fitting, then, that God's Word is called a double-edged sword.
Thank you for this fun party game, Jody!
Teri-hello! and thanks for coming by via my written interview on KSP’s Substack.
We are near kindred spirits—hubby and I just celebrated 51 years of staying married—glory to God.
Oh, I do like your poetry mention—Malcolm Guite is a fave; in fact his sonnets in Parable and Paradox were my first introduction to him and to taking poetry seriously. And the liturgy before writing is a good one.
Brian Doyle—now there’s another writer in a class by himself. I read the collection “One Long River of Song” that was released after his passing—sooooo many dogeared pages in that book.
Words as swords—I love it!
Hello and Happy Birthday!
1. I live in Edina, MN but today I find myself in Bucharest, the first of 12 concerts presented by a Christian rock band for whom I am serving as driver. Six concerts in Poland and six in Romania.
It is a beautiful evening in a packed public Square. The concert was amazing.
2. I came to this space through a mutual friend and connection that I believe originated in the Rabbit Room
3. The last piece of poetry read was the one that came in my introductory email from the Rabbit Room poetry group.
4. My lovely wife and I just celebrated 44 years of marriage, and completed visiting or camping 76 State Park in Minnesota over 10 years.
Norm! How fascinating to read your short and very packed ‘history’—I’m so glad you said hello. (PS responding to your book request for Mining the Bright Birds in a bit—thank you!)
Happy late birthday!
(Sorry for being a tad tardy to the party.)
I’m writing from Lincoln, Nebraska on a cool morning, with my cat staring at me from his comfortable seat atop my backpack.
I simply have come across your work here on Substack, and I’ve throughly enjoyed it. I guess the credit would then go to the algorithms for connecting us.
The last book of poetry I finished reading is The Temple by George Herbert, and I am currently re-reading a collection of poems from C.S. Lewis.
Best wishes to you.
Zane--thank you for saying hello! I'm glad our paths crossed and it's a joy to meet a kindred spirit, poetry-wise. I have my George Herbert book next to me (Oxford Poetry Library edition) and was just re-reading the poems from The Temple. C.S. Lewis' poems are also on my shelf--I think I need a Literature degree to decipher them, though! He's deep.....
And yes, cooler mornings are definitely here as well.
Happy birthday, Jody! 🎉
I’m from beautiful North Dakota, where we are on the cusp of a gloriously golden harvest season. 🌾
We met in the Beta group of Writing Off Social! 💞
I’m currently reading The Making of the Beautiful, an autobiography of the poet and hymnwriter, Annie Johnson Flint. 🎵
Oh Cara, thanks for saying hi and yes, yay for the Beta WOS course connection!
You've intrigued me with that book... it sounds wonderful. And yes, yes--we are on the cusp of a leaning-towards-Fall season here as well.
Happy birthday month, Jody. (I'm currently not wearing a party hat.)
1. I am in metro Atlanta Georgia, and my view outside of the windows at the back of my house is trees and the top half of the shed in the backyard. (It's mostly green, with all the trees. The shed adds a nice contrast of barn brownish-red.)
2. Jody got my attention in a comment thread at Rabbit Room Poetry... and then she got my attention again with her friendliness on my own substack. And then I read some of her poetry and I was hooked. I appreciate her consistent focus on poetry.
3. Last poem I read... heh... was probably actually my own. But I do have intentions of reading a Shakespeare sonnet a day, as I have his book of sonnets currently sitting on my teacher desk at work. The beginning of the year hustle has been crazy and so I haven't stolen any moments (of my planning time) to read any yet.
This seems like a great party! I think I'll mingle a bit with the other guests.
Sara, you are so kind, thank you for coming by and adding more to the story of you. I am grateful to be connected here as well I appreciate your kind comments about my poetry.
I did not know you were a teacher, is that in the classroom, or are you educating your kids at home?
Thanks for being such a great ambassador and virtual party mingler. Looking forward to more connections here in the Poetry and Made Things community. Who knows what God might be up to?
Happy Birthday Jody!!!
I am sitting at my kitchen table watching the setting sun shining on the beautiful flowers in our backyard and enjoying all the birds dining at my feeders. I live in a small(ish) town just northeast of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2. I am not sure when or how I discovered you on Substack but truly enjoy it.
3. I a currently dipping into Mary Oliver’s “Devotions’, various selections from Malcolm Guite’s work and “The Green Earth” by Luci Shaw. Today I have been savouring her poem “A Song for Simplicity”.
BTW I love your poetry too. I have both of your books!!!
Oh Louise you've made my day! I'll be offering an online book club around Mining the Bright Birds this Fall--free for Subscribers--stay tuned!
I <3 Mary Oliver. Gosh, who doesn't?
Beautiful scene out your window!
Oh Louise--hello! that's a lovely scene you've painted there.... a fellow bird-lover! and I'm glad you've discovered my poetry as well as others'--Luci Shaw and Malcolm are two of my favorite. I'm going to have to find "A Song for Simplicity;" thanks for mentioning it!
1. I am presently sitting in the living room at Blackberry Farm, my family's property just outside of Eugene, Oregon. Looking out the front door, I can see across the pasture to the trees growing along the creek. I am very, very thankful to be here.
2. I believe we met in Malcolm Guite's class at the Glen workshop in 2018.
3. The most recent poem I read was "Erasers" vy Mary Jo Salter.
This evening, I will be gathering with friends and sharing music at an open mic in downtown Eugene.
Geeeeeze, how beautiful! (The scene out your front door.)
Hi Rachael! So glad to see you here. Your current view and place sounds lovely. And yep, we met at the Glen Workshop in 2018--gosh can it be six years?
I am so happy to hear about another poem that is new to me--I'll have to find it.
I bet the musical evening will be awesome--I remember your open mic time at the Glen--so fun.
1. As you know, I am also near Seattle! LFP is warm and sunny right now.
2. I’m a subscriber to your Substack (and avid reader of your notes) because of all the poems and poet talk you share.
3. Last poem I read was by Thomas Rist, who is a fine poet here on Substack as well.
Happy birthday, Jody! I’m also an August birthday (later this month).
Margaret--so glad we've been connected in this space (and in person!) Thank you for reading and commenting and sharing in all the poetry joy. And yay for August b'day people!
😊 I hope it’s been a good birthday!
1. I am located in rural southwest PA, about five minutes from Fallingwater, if you know what that is.😉
2. I honestly dont know how I got onto your Substack but I’m still here and enjoying it!
3. I have fallen head over heels in love the Everyman Pocket Poets series of books. I’ve been tearing through them. I love their anthologies. Their selection of poems, being a delightful mix of classic poets and modern ones. Also, the books themselves are hand sized and can be dropped in my purse or held in a single hand easily. Love! I’m currently reading the anthology about Motherhood.
The pocket-sized books of poetry sound intriguing. And, an anthology about motherhood?!?! My heart is stirred. (Got a link? Is it online somewhere... to purchase?)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/728957
Hi Sarah! Yes, I do know where/what Fallingwater is--(one of) Frank Lloyd Wright's estates :-) (My stepdad was raised by the caretakers at Wright's Taliesin estate a loooooong time ago.)
I'm so glad you're here--thanks for sharing about the Everyman Pocket Poets--purse-sized books are the best!
Happy birthday month, Jody!
1. I'm in central Illinois, currently enjoying a rainy day and looking at our field of wild grass and Queen Anne's lace that will be mowed soon.
2. I'm not sure how I found you???
3. I'm reading some Luci Shaw and Mary Oliver.
Stephanie, we connected I think via Sarah Clarkson and/or Elizabeth Goudge book club...or maybe Bandersnatch. It's a Substack Venn diagram! So glad to be connected.
I heard both of you via Sarah Clarkson’s Summer Fete. So lovely!
1. I live in picturesque Shell Cove, a suburb of Shellharbour, NSW, Australia. It is a sunny, blue sky winter's day by the sea and there is a pee wee bird taking a bath in my bright blue bird bath in my back yard. A pair of them come every afternoon for their daily ablutions.
2. We are in the same Elizabeth Goudge Substack group and as I have bravely decided to try and 'get' poetry, I decided to follow you.
3. I am currently memorising "Clancy of the Overflow" by A.B. Banjo Paterson(1889), a famous Australian poet/ballad writer.
4. I was a Navigator in the Royal Australian Navy in my working career. When I tell my 6 year old granddaughter that, she clearly thinks I'm lying - "yeah right Grandma". To her I am simply Grandma.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM AUSTRALIA!
What a beautiful scene you've shared. I've gone and educated myself, too, now, on pee wee birds - unique and pretty, and maybe a tad loud.
Would love to hear a recitation of the poem (or ballad) you're memorizing.
I learnt the poem as a child in my Catholic primary school. I was blessed to have nuns from a Teaching Order and we all learned many Australian poems and ballads by heart. I am now re learning it and it has a fun, swinging rhythm to it. It also conjures up my own High Country Snowy Mountain bush childhood so it is doubly poignant. The pee wee is very loud and they chat back and forth to each other as they dry out from their bath, usually sitting above the washing on my clothesline!
Oh glorious! I'm imagining scenes from The Man from Snowy River (that movie from the 1980s that I grew up watching... which... apparently, I just read, was based on a poem from Banjo. How fun! Now my interest in his work is very high. Ha!) And what an amazing experience, growing up and learning poems by heart. I really need/want to try that... learning poems by heart.
So that High Country is where I grew up but on the NSW side and not Victoria where the movie was actually filmed - so now you know what it was like for me, on a sheep and cattle farm in that area. It was heaven! The movie is a favourite of mine too and the music is beautiful and haunting. Memorising at age 52 is a challenge but I keep at it, and it is sticking but my tip is to get a poem with a sing song rhythm, like the old nursery rhymes as it is easier to learn.
Catherine… I have really personal story about that movie. (I’m working it out in a memoir-ish thing I’m currently writing.) And I rewatched the movie last weekend for the first time since I was a kid. The movie is still so beautiful. And yes, that music!
And oh my Lord, you grew up there! I could cry for the beauty of the thought.
I am going to make it my goal - just making it tonight - to memorize Sea-Fever by John Masefield. I first read it last year with my students and it’s sing-songy and rhyming, and I’m really into the ocean lately, since I’ve been visiting it more often lately in Savannah, Georgia.
Oh Catherine! It’s been a joy to chat a bit here with you tonight. 😊
Sara, it was a delight to chat with you as well. I live three streets from the ocean at Shell Cove so I am going to look up Sea-Fever as it sounds appropriate for me too. It was always a joke in my family that I left the mountains to join the Navy but they call to me equally. We can be 'indigenous to place' as Robin Wall Kimmerer says in her book "Braiding Sweetgrass". If you ever want a gentle reader for your writing, count me in. The movie resonates deeply with many people.🌷
Catherine--hello! What a beautiful picture you've painted for us of Winter (which is hard for this Northern Hemisphere gal to wrap her brain around!) We have friends in NSW as well (they started out in YWAM down there.
It makes me so happy to hear you're trying to 'get' poetry--you've made my day.
I'm intrigued by the poem and poet you mentioned....and you're a retired navigator?! That is fascinating!
1. Asheville, NC, but the blinds are closed so my view is my canine BFF, “Rocket”.;)
2. Found you in a course, and your interview on my podcast has been one of the top 15 downloaded episodes (we all love to hear what you have to say;)
3. Ericka Clay’s poetry collection, “Between You And Me”
Shelly, talk about six degrees of separation.... I love all these connections! (and how fun to know about the downloads on our podcast conversation--you are a great interviewer.)
So glad we 'met'--you are a joy to know!
Hi Jody and Happy birthday.
I currently live in rural Tennessee, about an hour north of Memphis. It was a hot summer but the temps seem to be falling this week. Fall is my favorite season so I am eagerly anticipating that.
I don't recall how we found each other - serendipity I suppose!
I am currently reading The Iliad by Homer which is an epic poem but the last volume of poetry I read was Selected Poems by Robert Frost.
Oh Matthew.... those Tennessee temps--I'm with you, Fall is my favorite, too.
We 'met' in Sarah Fay's Substack cohort :-)
And your reading is impressive--I've never read Homer--I'm afraid I'd need some instruction along the way to 'get' it! But Frost, now his work sounds lovely.
Happy Retirement to you, by the way!
Oh, and Happy birthday 🎂🎈!!!
Hi Jody! Happy birthday month!! 🎉
I’m in Franklin, Tennessee, just 30ish minutes south of Nashville where the dew point has been mischievously low the last couple of days, teasing us with fall when we’re very much still in the throes of summer.
I stumbled across your work here on Substack and am so thankful I did!
My last full book of poetry was a Ruefle, and to be entirely honest, after two of those back to back, I’ve taken a full volume break. I did pick up a copy of Mary Oliver’s House of Light this summer that I’ve been itching to crack open!
1. I am currently writing from Pittsburgh, PA for an in-person training for work. It's my first time here and I've enjoyed seeing the very historic flavor of the downtown area. We just don't have time for much sightseeing. Am about 6 hours from my home, which is closer to the Reading area.
2. I believe I came to your site because it was recommended and stayed because it's about poetry.
3. The last poetry book I read was Of Wings & Dirt by Kimberly Phinney. Felt like a mix of Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry, but yet has a flavor all its own. Currently reading Elijah Fed by Ravens by Kristina Erny.
I'm in Lancaster, PA, also enjoying more moderate temps this August.
I feel like we met online many, many years ago and then had the chance to catch up in person around 2018 (or was it 2016) at FFW.
I don't often read through entire books of poetry, usually picking and choosing here and there, but some of my favorite poets are Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, and Julia Spicher Kasdorf.
Shawn, you are correct, we 'met' online years ago via The High Calling I believe and in person at 2018 FFW. Your writing and presence is a gift.
I'm intrigued with Julia Kasdorf....I'll have to check her work out.
Thanks so much for being here and saying hello.
Bought two books by Mary Oliver that I need to read and have acquired couple by Billy Collins also. Also on my list...so many poets...
I have heard of Mary Oliver. She gets mentioned in American films a lot.
1. I live in Southwest Michigan, and we are re-entering the 70s in temperature which feels glorious.
2. I was first here because of your interview on Writing Off Social, and I am STILL here because I appreciate your writing voice and learned approach to poetry.
3. The most recent book of poetry I enjoyed was Of Wings and Dirt by Kimberly Phinney. My siblings keep finding oooold poetry books—many of them written by Christians—at garage sales, and I am loving their tight structures and rhythms.
4. Fun Fact: I have four children and one husband. All of us have red hair 😍
Love that last comment, lol.
Ericka--hello to you there in very warm Arkansas... and good luck with the lawn :-)
I'm so glad we did find each other here on the 'Stack and how fun that you heard my interview on Shelly's podcast (The Un-Perfect Podcast, ya'll. Check it out).
Glad to hear you're reading my poetry of course; if you need a list of other Female Faith Poets, I've got a list for you-- https://jodycollins.substack.com/p/female-faith-poets-where-to-begin
See you around I'm sure!