Poems past, present and in celebration of National Poetry Month

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I had the privilege as a seventh-grader to have an English teacher who encouraged his students to seek out poetry that moved them. One assignment from him was to write down a handful of favorites along with the reasons that we liked those particular poems.

teen binder 

As this teacher understood that song lyrics were poetry that resonated with teens, my selections included several song lyrics — and far too revealing explanations on why...

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The Saturday Post: Poem for my grandsons edition

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As a grandmother, I'd like to think I have abundant wisdom to share with my grandsons. No need for me to try putting into poetic form advice on being kind and good and true in a world that is often the very opposite of such things, though. Rudyard Kipling already did that—far better than I ever could—when he wrote If.

Kipling wrote If in 1895 in a very different time and place, yet his advice and inspiration still stand true today—for my grandsons, for all of us.

I love Kipling's poem and plan to share it with Bubby and Baby Mac and all my grandchildren to come when they're old enough to understand. Today, though, I'll share it with you.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Shameless self-promotion: If you liked this post—or Grandma's Briefs in general—please vote for Grandma's Briefs in the About.com Favorite Grandparent Blog poll. Vote once per day per email address through March 21. Thank you!

Wild geese

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Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

~ From Dream Work by Mary Oliver

Today I'm on the lookout for that announcement, the one letting me know of my "place in the family of things."

photo: stock.xchng

Today's question:

What are you on the lookout for today?