To many people contemporary poetry is a turn-off. The reason for this is that the majority of these poems are boring. They are so because they fail to enable people to identify with them. The bulk of modern poetry is no longer about reader identification but about information transfer, information that could just as easily be conveyed in a prose form. These poems are written merely to convey the poet’s thoughts and feelings about a specific event, situation or place he or she has experienced or is in the act of experiencing. The poet is not necessarily concerned with whether the reader is moved or not by the poem, so long as he or she understands clearly the information the poet is trying to convey. This may consist of some “important” insight gained from an experience, or it could be (as is usually the case) a jaded statement or commentary about some mundane aspect of contemporary life.

The popular song at its best, however, does more than this. It excites both the imagination and emotions; it enables you to unlock your own highly personal box of images, memories, connections and associations. This is most readily evidenced in the songs of Bob Dylan. Even the most perfunctory of his songs is able to do this to a greater extent than most “serious” poetry. This is because his songs (and to a lesser extent songs in general) frequently utilise imprecise and abstract statements rather than particular and specific ones. Contemporary poetry, on the other hand, does the exact opposite of this: it utilises particular and specific statements rather than imprecise and abstract ones.

Dylan is not afraid to generalise, for he knows that it is only through generalisation that the reader can recognise the specific. Keats understood this when he said that a poem ’should surprise by a fine excess, and not by singularity’ and that ‘it should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost as a remembrance’ (letter to John Taylor, 27 February 1818).

David Bleich, in Readings and Feelings champions the creative powers of the reader. He believes writing about literature should not involve suppressing readers’ individual concerns, anxieties, passions and enthusiasms because ‘each person’s most urgent motivations are to understand himself’. And as a response to a literary work always helps us find out something about ourselves, introspection and spontaneity are to be encouraged. Every act of response, he says, reflects the shifting motivations and perceptions of the reader at the moment of reading, and even the most idiosyncratic and autobiographical response to the text should be heard sympathetically. In this way the reader is able to construct, or create, a personal exegesis by utilising the linguistic permutations inherent in the text to construct units of meaning constituted from a predominantly autobiographical frame of reference. The ambiguities present in Dylan’s oeuvre enable the listener to do exactly this.

Jeffrey Side has had poetry published in various magazines including: T.O.P.S., The White Rose, Poetry Salzburg Review, ism, Sphinx and Homeground. And his poems have appeared on various poetry web sites such as Poethia, nthposition, Ancient Heart Magazine, Blazevox, hutt and Cybpher Anthology.

He has reviewed poetry for New Hope International, Stride Magazine, Acumen and Shearsman Magazine. From 1996 to 2000 he was the assistant editor of The Argotist magazine. He now runs The Argotist Online web site:

http://www.argotistonline.co.uk/index.html

Asha of Darfur

Cry, cryoh little Darfur woman
For your sister Janjaweed
[in Sudan’s merciless region

who was raped to death);
Where rape and death run ramped;

And Asha prays the Arabs don’t’ hear
Here sobbing little black tears…
…in fear she will be chained to a bed

In Darfur, by the insidious justice
Of the Arabs, who run ramped?

Ah, yes! In Darfur you’ve guessed,
It is not a crime to raped and arrested;
By the very one who raped, and terrorized

You; it is the conquest…Satan’s ribs!…
Where rape and death run ramped.

#733/6/19/05

Commentary by the author: again we see a political poem, or one taken out of current events. As I read the paper a few days ago, I saw the tears of Asha, and the double standards in this African location, as it plays on the black citizens. It is a shame. There is not much symbolism in this poem, it is not needed. A few lines tell the whole story; as it does throughout the whole poem. In this poem there is nothing for the reader to discover I fear no metaphors, just death, and its current events taking place in this Genocide of rape in Darfur. My symbol if anything, is not private, it is public. Where in many cases a skull stands for death, here rape stands for death. Perhaps I’ve created in this poem my own private symbol of that nature, for many have survived the rapes and the genocide [or killings]; I connect them together to mean the same thing though. For once we have been violated so badly, we die slowly anyhow, or so I feel.

Poet Dennis Siluk see his books at http://www.bn.ocm or http://www.amazon.com

Ask anyone their opinion on graffiti, and you’ll get views right across the board : some people see it as a nuisance, others a subtle artform. On the plus side, artists like Banksy have made graffiti an artform that is pleasing on the eye, utilizing stencils to create tricky artworks loaded with political messages attached. This type of graffiti was certain to become popular with the masses and the artworld : attractive to both eye and intellect. This type of graffiti is even bought as graffiti prints, and hung on the walls of middle class homes and corporate meeting rooms.

All the same, what about the other end of the spectrum? - the tagger, the gangbanger type - this kind of graffiti is often seen as vandalism, an offence committed by the untalented. However this is to misinterpret graffiti as strictly art. To many people, it’s not only an artform, but a means to mark a district, or perhaps two fingers up at society : anti-art, anti-social, anti-establishment.

Spraying has invariably been a secret pursuit, although the results are public. The targeted market is often unidentified. Is it for a rival crew? A message to an individual? To the public at large? Or….maybe it’s simply uncalled-for and out of boredom.

Whatever the causes, there seems to be some kind of enduring need to spray graffiti on walls. Some towns have acknowledged that graffiti isn’t going to go away, so they’ve marked off areas where graffiti is permitted - usually derelict areas, but from time to time busier zones like boarding that surrounds inner city buildings under construction.

Since Mohamed Ali-then Cassius Clay-announced that he had written “The world’s shortest poem,” I have known that I would be a poet. “ME? WHEE!” His triumphant proclamation evoking shivers within my troubled teenaged identity, for I reasoned in rhyme.

Everyday, hundreds-of-thousands of seemingly sane souls satisfy some innate need to bare their concealed character via atrocious alliteration or in delusional doggerel. As in Kris Kristofferson’s early works, the marvelous magic masquerades within sweet musical lyrics, providing us with eternal material transcending generational barriers.

Even if none but we are ever allowed to examine our hidden essence, an inner longing is unleashed-only to be squished-should we presume to be published.

In1978, I self-published my first poetry book, Beacon©, to an enthusiastic reception of some uninformed who didn’t realize, fearing rejection, I had never submitted my musings to somber publishers. After all, Rod McKuen, suffering countless rejections, had self-published. And he was said-at that time-to be, “The world’s most widely read poet.”

To the accolade of local yokel fans, the following year, I followed up with Imperfections©, Verse by Russ Miles, songs and thoughts reflecting who, where, and what I was-at that time in my life. Even more well received, I was enjoying the affirmative attention of a metropolitan newspaper poetry editor insisting that I co-chair a college invitational symposium for wantabe poets with the State Poet LaTourette. My books selling well, a youthful, insatiable ego was being satisfactorily stroked.

Then, a strange thing happened. I caught a case of conscience. What if an unforgiving God held me accountable for my wanton actions or the impact of foisting my unholy understandings upon innocents?

Frightening purgatorial-or worse-reprisal prospects triggered instantaneous actions. Removing all remaining copies from the marketplaces which I had developed for distribution, I stopped penning poetry for the next twenty-five years.

Disabled at age fifty-three by Multiple Sclerosis, I found myself writing another book, For Sale By Owners:FSBO©. A mystery thriller novel evolved offering some insights that only a self-absorbed, worldly man of three messed-upped marriages could possibly convey.

I continue learning that God is so forgiving. How He can inspire good to come of all things. Even some of my old songs are once more awaiting discovery thanks to Red Haring, the song-writing, truck-driving character appearing between the FSBO covers.

By today’s standards, Red Haring’s vivid verse words and wayward rhyme renderings are no longer abysmal. Rather they reflect the subtle “It’s all about me” immoral fiber of a masculine male-wrestling with post 9-11 internal issues-choosing to make changes in his so self-consumed life. Red’s songs emerge to stimulate reflections within Brooklyn Best, the no-saint heroine, real estate agent with whom he becomes romantically involved.

They end up working together to unravel some horrific homicides~in this reality based mystery~thriller novel. Through its use in a sub-plot, my poetry is being reborn.

As for Beacon© and Imperfections©, perhaps I’ll offer my few remaining hand signed & numbered “First Edition” & “Limited Edition” poetry books on e-Bay®. After all, John Grisham’s originally published novels are now collector’s items aren’t they?

Russ Miles is author of the novel, For Sale By Owners:FSBO. A “Seasoned Real Estate NAR® Broker,” disabled by Multiple Sclerosis, Russ writes books & articles on varied subjects.

FOR SALE BY OWNERS:FSBO ISBN 0-595-28703-4,in trade paperback, is available by phone or Internet:1-800-Authors to order direct! Adobe e-book & hard cover editions also available at Amazon.com at Barnes and Noble and other fine booksellers.

Comments: MilesRuss@Gmail.com. Please visit Russ Miles’s website MilesBooks.com for other informative features,business ideas, and information of interest.

Cuban art is a contrasting cultural merging of European, North American and African aesthetic design mirroring the various population make-up of the island. Cuban artisans espoused the European modernist movement and the 1920-1940 era saw a growth in Cuban vanguardism movements; these movements were marked by a diversity of modern aesthetic styles. Renowned Cuban artists tended to come from the early part of the 20th century.

Perhaps the most noted art (of sorts) to be produced in the island of Cuba was THAT picture of a certain Che Guevara (shot by Mr Alberto Korda) which went onto become one of the most noted photos of the last century. These days Cuban artwork is graced on many canvas art prints.

The local Cuban artist movement gained momentum after the opening of San Alejandro academy in 1818, which was developed to gratify the European appreciation of the Cuban middle class. Towards the end of the 19th century, landscape paintings dominated Cuban art and classicalism was still the preferred style.

Nevertheless, the Vanguardia Cuban modern artist of the 1920s had estranged the academic norms of the national art academy of Cuba. In their genesis, many artists had lived in Paris, where they studied and assimilated the founding rules of surrealism, cubism, and modernist primitivism. They returned to Cuba dedicated to new aesthetic styles and were motivated to merge this new aesthetic leaning with a Cuban influence. The vanguardia artists achieved global acclaim back in 2003 with the Modern Cuban Painting show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Here at the wedding wish lantern offices, we have always adhered to the hypothesis that wedding lanterns must be white. Not only are they exquisite and slender with a swan-like majesty in their white togs, they are also more homogenised and- more often than not- merge better with the off-whites of the bridal design. When couples have required wedding lanterns for their wedding day, in most instances they would never even consider having anything other than a stunning white lantern at their wedding. As of a few weeks ago that has all been modified We are now pleased to say, that alongside our standard white lanterns, we offer coloured lanterns to prospective brides and grooms. Though many people might still rather stick to the starker white variety, there is an increasing call for for diverseness in a wedding lantern, and it is only fair that our company should meet this growing need for choice by adding a splash of colour to our special merchandise.Weddings are, after all, a fun affair, as well as a important gesture of dedication and dedication to a mate. There are a growing number of couples that like toput some fun into their special day by having a themed wedding - just think of the Jordan and Peter Andre bash a few years back. For this reason, a colourful lantern may be just right for the occasion.

Millions of people have made a hobby of collecting items of
one sort or another, but some take it to a higher level.
These collectors view their collections as more than just
an accumulation of trinkets that they happen to enjoy; to
them, it’s a business, and they’re not in it to lose money.
For those who collect diecast models, making a profit can
be a challenge, unless you know the ropes of how to
effectively collect pieces and then apply the necessary
strategies to resell at an increased price.

It’s a good practice to collect only those items that you
truly like, and then do quite a bit of shopping around in
order to find the best buy. Market trends are never very
stable, and by collecting those pieces that particularly
appeal to you, others may view them in the same way. This
will enable you to resell them more easily. Certainly,
it’s never good business practice to buy the first piece
that you find. Competition is stiff, and there are some
great deals out there that you can use to your advantage.

Avoid specializing in one specific area of diecast
collectibles. If, for instance, you’re interested in
collecting NASCAR models, it’s best not to isolate your
purchases to those of one particular driver. That’s not to
say that you shouldn’t include them among your other
pieces, but there’s a need for diversity if you’re hoping
to eventually realize a profit. Although a piece may not
seem to have much value in today’s market, that doesn’t
mean that it won’t increase as time goes by.

Older diecast models make a nice addition to anyone’s
collection, and can eventually precipitate a good amount of
sales revenue. Don’t overlook what you may now see as
relics or outdated pieces. There’s always someone out
there who’s looking for an older piece - whether for
nostalgic reasons, to complete a collection or for the
purposes of an eventual sale - so don’t limit yourself by
excluding the golden oldies.

Some of the best deals can be found in flea markets, on
eBay and other auction sites. Not only can you find pieces
for your own collection, but these will be eventual
avenues for you to resell them at a later date. The
highlight of the auction arena is that you can set a
starting price and watch the bids increase your income
potential - sometimes to a figure much higher than you
would have imagined. Setting a reserve price helps, too,
so that you won’t lose a piece when someone comes in way
under the piece’s value.

Picking up models at local department stores, such as
Wal-Mart, or through TV shopping forums such as QVC is
usually a mistake. While these may have reasonable
quality, they’re usually not as well constructed as what
you can find elsewhere, and tend to flood the market with
certain pieces which they sell in high volume in an effort
to gain a higher sales standing. Stick to the mainstream
collection sites and you’ll do much better.

Remember that you may not break the bank when you resell a
piece, but with a good sense of timing and strong
negotiation skills, you’ll be able to realize some type of
profit and, with a bit of experience, will increase your
overall profit potential.

*******

(c) 2005 Dale Stewart - All Rights Reserved

Dale Stewart is a freelance author and diecast enthusiast.

http://www.DiecastSecrets.com

*******

As a southern girl, sewing was a rite of passage. You never questioned if you should learn, it was a matter of when. Though I possess the skill, it was rarely put to use. One day, while shopping for a quilt, I went back to my roots.

Searching for a quilt with an ethnic feel, I went to several department stores. I found nothing that appealed to my sense of color, style and culture - nothing that spoke to my soul. So, I gave up, went to an African fabric store, selected fabrics, and made my own.

As a child in rural Alabama, this routine restored memories of the first quilt I ever made. I was nine and in fourth grade. Around this time, my grandmother made a quilt for each of her grandchildren as a Christmas gift. Now, my nephew of nine sleeps on that same quilt. Tattered and re-stitched in several places, it remains a familial favorite.

While making my most recent quilt, I rediscovered that quilting is more than sewing, it’s a bond from generation to generation. Wrapped in my grandmother’s gift, I feel her presence. Hair askew, laughing in her lap, I’m nine again, with all its incumbent joys.

Cutting and stitching, there is a powerful rebirthing of a time gone by - the smell of honeysuckle on a fence, the clang of cow bells heard from the field, watermelon juice circling the curve of a sticky, ashy elbow.

I am convinced that if today’s youth were taught to occupy their hands with more than buttons on a video game, they would learn patience, pride, and develop confidence. And just maybe, we would have fewer troubled youth today. As Grandma used to say, “Idle hands beget the devil’s work.”

At nine, you don’t relate to that sentiment. But as I designed, cut, and sewed, the hours zoomed by. I felt as if I was lost in a good book, only I decided the characters, the plot, the ending.

Now that Zola (my sewing machine) has unleashed her magical powers, she refuses to occupy her once familiar place in the bottom of my old college trunk. She sits atop her new surroundings proudly, beckoning me, as if to admonish my idle hands.

There are days when I tell Zola to leave me alone, but in no time at all the fabrics in all their fanciful colors and patterns beckon, and we are one again, creating in unison, literally sewing the seeds of our destiny.

This article courtesy of http://www.timelessquilting.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Yuwanda & Cassandra Black are the owners of EthnicHomeDecor.com. Ethnic Home Decor offers soft home furnishings with ethnic themes at affordable prices.

Are you the artistic type? Sure, that is what got you to read the article, right?

If you want to show your creative talent to your friends, family or lover, then card making is a wonderful way to do that.

You may send your homemade greeting cards to people and straightaway you will be popular! You can produce simple designs or intricate patterns; it all depends on your imagination and choice.

Card making has now grown popular with publishers cashing in on it. Several monthly magazines in the UK and the US are devoted to card making and scrapbooking techniques. Even on TV, you have programs teaching card making and scrapbooking. It sure is a good source of inspiration.

Rubber stamps are one of the most common products used in card making. They are available in a variety of shapes and sizes.

The latest trend is clear stamps. They cling to an acrylic block that allows a person to position a stamp accurately. The good thing is that they occupy less storage space.

With rubber stamps, you can use a variety of materials like chalks, paints, ink, fibers etc. for embellishment. Stamping has especially become very popular with scrapbooking.

You will also find in the market CD style storage cases, which can be stored in a conventional CD rack.

For embossing, there are special ink pads available. You can give a multi coloured look to your card by using pens that can be used with ink stamps. It can give your card a vibrant look.

Another thing you need if you are embossing stamped images is a heat gun. A heat gun provides the correct temperature to melt embossing powders. Also, if you use a heat gun, the powder will not blow off the images.

If you have already tried card making and love it so much that you have become an avid card maker, then a portable die cutting machine is just right for you. These machines produce a variety of shapes that embellish greeting cards and scrapbook. The latest die cutting machine you can get in the market accommodate dies from other manufacturers by using different sizes of cutting mats so that you don’t have to compromise because of limitations of the machine!

Scrapbooking is another craft, which is widely popular. You can create your very own scrapbook by digging for all those family photographs locked up in old shoeboxes! If you don’t want to include family photos, then you can go for newspaper clippings, articles, photos cut out from magazines to anything you like. It all depends on your taste.

Do you know that “scrappers” or “scrapbooker” from all around the world come together and scrapbook at one place, sharing ideas, tips, talking about their scrapbooking. Such events are known as “crops”. If you are dead serious about the craft, then you could be in a crop yourself!

Nowadays scrapbooking is mostly done on 12″12″ or 81/211″ pages. If you looking for smaller albums, then the most common formats are 6″6″ or 8″8″.

When choosing an album for scrapbooking, you can choose from a variety of designs. There are mini albums and accodian-style foldout albums available. It can be permanently bound and allow insertion of pages.

Take care that the material you take is of top quality. Otherwise the photographs or cuttings you want to preserve might get ruined with time. To avoid that, you should take acid-free, stamp ink, lignin-free papers, embossing powder and pigment based inks.

Some of the basic materials you need for scrapbooking are background papers, photo corner mounts, stickers, scissors, die cut templates, rubber stamps, rub-on letters, vellum, art pen, craft punches, decorative eyelets and brads, tags, ribbons, mounting glues and embellishments such as ribbon and chalk.

Get your creativity going and create something that you will be proud of and treasure for the rest of your life!

Gwen Cooksey is one of the UK’s top experts on card making, crafts, stamps, and scrapbooking. You can find more information at her cardmaking resource - http://www.cardmakings.co.uk.

Of course the sexiest poets were the Brownings.

Elizabeth, who was home schooled and eloped with Robert to Italy, was born in England in 1806. She died in Italy at age 55 having produced one son, Pen, who survived her.

Robert Browning was born near London in 1812. His father had a large library from which, at least in part, Robert was educated. He liked Elizabeth’s poems and dropped her a line. She wrote back. That caused them to elope and create Pen. Robert died at age 77 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. They have a burial place there for poets. It’s called Poet’s Corner.

Read about the Brownings at http://www.cswnet.com/~erin/browning.htm.

Keats thought Grecian urns were sexy.

John Keats was also born near London but not until 1879. He was well educated despite the fact that he was the son of a stable keeper. He studied medicine and worked at it too but gradually drifted into Writer’s Never Never Land.

Keats died of consumption in Italy (as did Elizabeth) in 1821 a disease that also killed his mother. Read his biography at http://www.john-keats.com/.

My mentioning that both Elizabeth and John died in Italy is called by us writers drawing a parallel. In this case, it is a very week parallel.

Edgar Allen Poe was another hopeless romantic. He liked Nicean barks of yore.

Note that Poe is almost always called by his full name while John Keats is just called “Keats.”

After much research, I don’t know why that is.

But I do know you must be famous to be called only by your last name except with Adam and Eve who are always called by their first names.

I have it on good authority that their family name was Jones: Adam and Eve Jones and they were created in Missouri.

This has to be true doesn’t it? If Adam is my ultra great grandfather then doesn’t his last name have to be Jones? Well, it doesn’t take higher mathematics to figure this out. His kids all had the last name Jones. Their kids had the last name of Jones. Get it?

Back to Poe: Poe died in a gutter as we all know.

That was in Baltimore.

Actually, he was found unconscious and he died in a hospital.

They didn’t say in his biography if it was John Hopkins or not. But I’m quite sure that if it were John Hopkins, they would have saved him. (Writer’s call this drawing a conclusion.)

His death was in 1849 so he lived 40 years from his birth in Boston.

Did you know that Poe was in the army?

He reached the rank of sergeant major in two years; damn good for a poet. That’s another parallel. I was in the army for two years and made sergeant.

Poe always admired women. Read his biography at http://www.poemuseum.org/poes_life/index.html. Note that Poe has a museum. How many poets can say that?

We mustn’t skip Andrew Marvell because he wrote To His Coy Mistress.

Marvell was born in 1621 in England and spent his childhood running around the town of Hull. Hull must have been a great place to grow up. It’s the third largest sea port in England.

Even Hitler knew that.

He bombed the hell out of it during World War II.

Marvell would have been exposed to the history of the area. He would know what an Anglo Saxon was, what a Viking was, and what a Roman was. He probably knew about Hadrian’s Wall. He may have even gone out into the fields and walked on it. Well, it could have been too far from his house.

Marvell was well educated and traveled much in Europe.

Most of his stuff was not published during his lifetime. He died in 1678. Read his biography at http://www.photoaspects.com/chesil/marvell/index.html.

Well, there are plenty of sexy poets but we must stop here. We have to look at some poetry of the aforementioned poets and then write a poem of our own. So take notes!

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

This is her most famous poem from Sonnets from the Portuguese. Robert called his dark-complexioned darling wife My Little Portuguese.

Sonnet XLIII

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, -I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

I married a couple once. The bride was Elizabeth and the groom was Robert. I read this poem. After the service a gentleman asked me if I was an English professor. I told him that I was a research engineer and that I researched everything. Then he told me that I had married the couple for time and all immortality. I should have married them for time and mortality. Well, I said, “What I did, I did!”

I always made mistakes at weddings. My congregation always waited to see what the mistake would be. Once I said, “I present Mr. and Mrs. Richi.” That was wrong. “Richi” was the bride’s maiden name.

Anyway, did you note that Elizabeth said, “…and if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”

Love is immortal.

If you didn’t read the poem aloud, go back and read it again.

Robert Browning

Robert was a little long winded so we will cut him short giving only the first stanzas of his poem.

A Pretty Woman

That fawn-skin-dappled hair of hers,
And the blue eye
Dear and dewy,
And that infantine fresh air of hers!

To think men cannot take you, Sweet,
And enfold you,
Ay, and hold you,
And so keep you what they make you, Sweet!

You like us for a glance, you know—
For a word’s sake
Or a sword’s sake,
All’s the same, whate’er the chance, you know.

And in turn we make you ours, we say—
You and youth too,
Eyes and mouth too,
All the face composed of flowers, we say.

I always envisioned Elizabeth as having brown eyes to go with her dark complexion. The gal in this poem has blue eyes. Do you think it was written to Elizabeth?

John Keats

Keats was prolific. I have always liked the first verse of this famous poem:

Ode on a Grecian Urn

THOU still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve;

She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;

And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,

And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?

And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e’er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,

Beauty is truth, truth beauty,- that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

I wonder what ever happened to the Urn Keats was looking at. Where they Gods or men chasing those virgins around the urn?

Edgar Allen Poe

Do you like soap operas? Well, Helen was for real. She was engaged to Poe but reneged. Read the whole grueling tale at http://www.usna.edu/EnglishDept/poeperplex/hwhitmap.htm. It’s a soap opera.

Here is Poe’s poem to “Helen” but is it to a generic Helen (Poe liked the sound of the word) or was it to Helen of Troy, or was it to his lost Helen?

To Helen

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently, o’er a perfumed sea,
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore

On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
The Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo! In yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy-Land!

I’m going with Helen of Troy.

Andrew Marvell

This is one of my favorite poems. I hope you like it.

To His Coy Mistress

Had we but world enough and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood;
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow.
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state;
Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long-preserved virginity;
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave’s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now, therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like am’rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapped pow’r.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Well, you know what they say Make love while the sun shines.

Now it is time for you to write your romantic poem. I’ll write mine right here.

To April

Now the March winds have drifted on to northern climbs
I look for thee thou blessed spring to melt the snows alpine.

I want to feel thee in my arms that long have waited for thy smile.
I long to hold thee tight and long; I long to hold thee all the while.

When winter blew the endless snows that burned my ears and froze my toes
I though of thee both day and night, so far away, so not all right.

Now I see you in the distance, coming to me, to give assistance.
Wait! Please do not pass me by. You’re gone again. I will cry.

You’re gone again. I will cry.

Well, I do love warm weather.

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He is Executive Representative of IWS sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He also sells TopFlight flagpoles. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.aaaflagpoles.com