(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Morning Open Thread: Wouldn't You Be Devastated If They Only Serve Decaffeinated? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-19 Everything you invent is true: You can be sure of that. Poetry is a subject as precise as geometry. — Julian Barnes, author of “The Noise of Time” _______________________ . Welcome to Morning Open Thread, a daily post with a MOTley crew of hosts who choose the topic for the day's posting. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum. That’s a feature, not a bug. Other than that, site rulz rule. So grab your cuppa, and join in. ______________________ Fourteen poets with birthdays this bountiful week _______________________ June 18 _______________________ 1811 – Frances Sargent Locke Osgood born on Boston, Massachusetts; American poet, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, she attended Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies, and her first poem was published when she was 14.She married Samuel Osgood in 1835, but their went through an extended separation beginning in 1843. Her poetry was very popular in the 1840s, and after meeting Edgar Allen Poe in 1845, she exchanged poetry with him. But another poet, Elizabeth Ellet, who had been scorned by Poe, spread rumours of alleged improprieties between Frances and Poe, until 1847, when Samuel Osgood threatened to sue Ellet for defamation. She had already contracted tuberculosis, and died of the disease at age 38 in 1850. Labor by Frances Sargent Osgood . Labor is wealth, in the sea the pearl groweth; Rich the queen’s robe from the frail cocoon floweth; From the fine acorn the strong forest bloweth; Temple and statue the marble block hides. . Work for some good, be it ever so slowly; Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly; Labor! all labor is noble and holy; Let thy great deed be thy prayer to thy God. “Labor” from Poems, by Frances Sargent Locke Osgood – Palala Press - 2016 _______________________ . 1862 – Carolyn Wells born in Railway, New Jersey, prolific American novelist, poet, and childrens’ author, who produced over 170 published works; notable for light verse and limericks, often published in magazines and newspapers. She worked as a librarian for several years until 1900, when she devoted herself to writing full-time. Wells died at age 79 in 1942. The Humbug by Carolyn Wells . Although a learned Entomologist May doubt if Humbugs really do exist, Yet each of us, I'm sure, can truly say We've seen a number of them in our day. But are they real?—well, a mind judicial Perhaps would call them false and artificial. . “The Humbug” from A Phenominal Fauna by Carolyn Wells – Wentworth Press, 2016 reproduction _______________________ . 1961 – Angela Johnson born in Tuskegee, Alabama; African American poet, and children/young adult author of over 40 books; won three Coretta Scott King Awards, in 1994 for Toning the Sweep, for Heaven (1999), and for The First Part Last (2004), which also won an American Library Association award Untitled by Angela Johnson . Chopsticks in the loose grasp of a metal hand . Spongy stilts of a robotic penguin . Squint and it’s the double line dissecting a highway . Until the paint ran out . Hard to believe Anything . as vulnerable as human flesh is hurtling through that calm sky . etched with a particulate footprint: . A lovelier, cloud-soft map of travel still reminiscent of a slug’s slime trail . evaporating in the elements. “Untitled” © 2016 by Angela Johnson, appeared at the Rattle.com website _______________________ June 19 _______________________ 1988 – Sarah Kay born in New York City to a Japanese American mother and a Jewish American father; American poet and songwriter; she began competing in poetry slams as a teenager, and in 2004 founded Project V.O.I.C.E., dedicated to using spoken word poetry as an educational and inspirational tool. Her poems are primarily performed, but some have been published in literary magazines. She has publishrd one poetry collection, No Matter the Wreckage, in 2014, and writes a poetry column for The Paris Review. Still Here by Sarah Kay . My grandmother’s awakened bed A language I don’t understand runs circles round her head Her words get jumbled on her lips and brought her out to play I press my head against her chest her heartbeat seems to say: Still here, still here . You can miss me when I’m gone But I’ll keep on holding on as long as I’m still here I’ve seen the fire I’ve seen the storm I took a stranger by the hand and tried to keep them warm The buildings rolled the rivers rose at the hands of Gods and men They can break this city down to dust and we’ll build it back again Still here, still here . They can give us all they got But they won’t destroy us not as long as I’m still here I’ve walked these shoes until they’re thin I’ve wandered halfway round the world and wandered back again The road is long the night is cold when I’m out there on my own Your face lit by the hallway lamp is how I know I’m home Still here, still here . I can travel till I’m lost But the fight is worth the cost as long as you’re still here (you’re still here) Still here (you’re still here) … . “Still Here” © 2012 by Sarah Kay – lyrics from a song she wrote for the Benefit Show for Hurricane Sandy Relief in December 2012. _______________________ June 20 _______________________ 1786 – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore born Douai, in northern France; French poet and novelist; an orphan by 16, she became an actress and singer at the Paris Opéra-Comique and other theatres, but retired from the stage in 1823; in 1819, she became one of the founders of French romantic poetry when she published her first poetic work, Élégies et Romances, followed in 1821 by her narrative Veillées des Antilles, and five more volumes of poetry between 1825 and 1860 (the last one published posthumously). She died in Paris at age 73 in 1859. Desbordes-Valmore was the only woman writer included in the notable Les Poètes maudits anthology published by Paul Verlaine in 1884. A Memory by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore . When he grew pale, and his voice trembled, And suddenly he could no longer speak; When his eyes, burning beneath the lid, Gave me a wound I thought he felt alike; When all his charms, lighted by a fire That has never faded, Were printed in the depth of my desire, He did not love. I did. . – translator not credited _______________________ . 1910 – Josephine W. Johnson born in Kirkwood, Missouri; American novelist, poet, short story writer, and essayist; at age 24, she was the youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, in 1935 for her first novel, Now in November. She won the O. Henry Award for short stories four times – for “Dark” in 1934, “Alexander to the Park” (1942), “The Glass Pigeon” (1943), and “Night Flight” (1944). Her poetry was published in magazines, and in one collection, Year’s End. She died of pneumonia at age 79 in 1990. But of Deep Love by Josephine W. Johnson . But of deep love is the desire to give More than the living touch of warmth and fire, More than shy comfort of the little flesh and hands; It is the need to give Down to the last kernel of the heart, Down to the final gift of mind; It is a need to give you that release which comes Only of understanding, and to know Trust without whimpering doubt and fear. . “But of Deep Love” from September, © 1935 by Josephine W. Johnson _______________________ . 1951 – Paul Muldoon born on a farm in Portadown, Northern Ireland; prolific Irish poet; an arts producer for the BBC in Belfast (1973-1986), then taught creative writing at several universities, including Princeton (1987-1999), and Oxford (Professor of Poetry, 1999-2004). Among his many awards and honors, he won the 1994 T.S. Eliot Prize for The Annals of Chile; the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Moy Sand and Gravel; and the 2004 Shakespeare Prize for Achievement in the Humanities and Arts. Why Brownlee Left by Paul Muldoon . Why Brownlee left, and where he went, Is a mystery even now. For if a man should have been content It was him; two acres of barley, One of potatoes, four bullocks, A milker, a slated farmhouse. He was last seen going out to plough On a March morning, bright and early. . By noon Brownlee was famous; They had found all abandoned, with The last rig unbroken, his pair of black Horses, like man and wife, Shifting their weight from foot to Foot, and gazing into the future. . "Why Brownlee Left" from Why Brownlee Left, © 1980 by Paul Muldoon – Farrar, Straus and Giroux _______________________ . 1952 – Vikram Seth born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India; Indian poet and novelist who has published eight books of poetry, three novels, two children’s books, a travel book, and four connected libretti set to music by Alec Roth. Seth’s poetry collections include Mappings, All You Who Sleep Tonight, and Summer Requiem. Mistaken by Vikram Seth . I smiled at you because I thought that you Were someone else; you smiled back; and there grew Between two strangers in a library Something that seems like love; but you loved me (If that's the word) because you thought that I Was other than I was. And by and by We found we'd been mistaken all the while From that first glance, that first mistaken smile. . “Mistaken” from The Collected Poems, © 1999 by Vikram Seth – Penguin Books _______________________ . 1978 – Rebecca Hazelton born in Richmond, Virginia; American poet, editor, and critic. Her poetry collections include Gloss; Vow; Bad Star; and Fair Copy. She and Alan Michael Parker are co-editors of The Manifesto Project, a collection of contemporary poetic manifestos. You Are the Penultimate Love of My Life by Rebecca Hazelton . I want to spend a lot but not all of my years with you. We’ll talk about kids but make plans to travel. . I will remember your eyes as green when they were gray. Our dogs will be named For Now and Mostly. Sex will be good but next door’s will sound better. . There will be small things. I will pick up your damp towel from the bed, and then I won’t. I won’t be as hot as I was when I wasn’t yours and your hairline now so untrustworthy. . When we pull up alongside a cattle car and hear the frightened lows, I will silently judge you for not immediately renouncing meat. You will bring me wine and notice how much I drink. . The garden you plant and I plant is tunneled through by voles, the vowels we speak aren’t vows, but there’s something holding me here, for now, like your eyes, which I suppose are brown, after all. . “You Are the Penultimate Love of My Life” from Vow, © 2013 by Rebecca Hazelton – Cleveland State University Press Poetry Center _______________________ June 21 _______________________ 1949 – John Agard born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana); prolific Guyanese poet, playwright, and children's writer. In 1977, he moved to Ironbridge, Shropshire, Great Britain. Agard was poet-in-residence at the National Maritime Museum in 2008.. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was awarded BookTrust's inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. Among his many poetry collections are Shoot Me with Flowers; Limbo Dancer in Dark Glasses; From the Devil’s Pulpit; and Travel Light Travel Dark. Coffee in Heaven by John Agard . You'll be greeted by a nice cup of coffee when you get to heaven and strains of angelic harmony. . But wouldn't you be devastated if they only serve decaffeinated while from the percolators of hell . your soul was assaulted by Satan's fresh espresso smell? . “Coffee in Heaven” from Alternative Anthem: Selected Poems, © 2009 by John Agard – Bloodaxe Books _______________________ . 1950 – Anne Carson born in Toronto, Ontario; Canadian poet, professor of classics, essayist, and translator. Since 1979, she has been teaching at American universities, including the University of Michigan, NYU, and Yale. In addition to numerous translations of ancient Greek plays and poetry, she has published books of poetry, mixed collections of poetry and prose, and a verse novel. Her vast number of awards and honors include the 1996 Lannan Literary Award for Poetry; the 2001 T.S. Eliot Prize (for The Beauty of the Husband); and the 2921 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. She has held dual U.S. and Icelandic citizenship since 2022. Town of the Sound of a Twig Breaking by Anne Carson . Their faces I thought were knives. The way they pointed them at me. And waited. A hunter is someone who listens. So hard to his prey it pulls the weapon. Out of his hand and impales. Itself. . “Town of the Sound of a Twig Breaking” from Plainwater: Essays and Poetry, © by Anne Carson – Vintage Books, 2000 Reprint edition _______________________ June 22 _______________________ 1951 – Rosario Murillo born in Managua; Nicaraguan poet, revolutionary, and politician. She was Secretary General of the Sandinista Cultural Workers and Director of Ventana Barricada Cultural, the cultural weekly newspaper of the FSLN. Her husband is Daniel Ortega, so she has been the First Lady of Nicaragua since 2007, and Nicaragua’s Vice President since 2017. When your eyes go to bed worn out by Rosario Murillo . When your eyes go to bed worn out with so much unending waiting when the smile once more comes back to us and vital still between us by that time over there beyond the old oak tree in that street which my dreams keep watch over today together we will remember we will talk of the smell of weariness we will retell each other the war. . “When your eyes go to bed worn out,” translated by Janet Brof, appeared in Bomb, issue #9, in April 1984 _______________________ June 23 _______________________ 1888 – Anna Akhmatova born in an Odessa suburb, Ukraine, but she grew up in Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushin) near St. Petersburg; Akhmatova was a pseudonym for Russian poet Anna Andreyevna Gorenko, one of the most acclaimed and significant Russian poets of the 20th century, noted for remaining in the Soviet Union, even after her work was condemned and censored by Stalinist authorities, and writing in secret about the horrors of living under Stalin. Requiem, her interconnected set of poems about Stalin’s Great Purge, is considered her masterwork. Her first husband was executed by the Soviet secret police, and her son spent many years in the Gulag. Requiem was written and rewritten between 1935 and 1961, and published in Germany in 1963. She died of heart failure at age 76 in 1966. Requiem was not published in the USSR until 1987. The Muse by Anna Akhmatova When in the night I await her coming, My life seems stopped. I ask myself: What Are tributes, freedom, or youth compared To this treasured friend holding a flute? Look, she’s coming! She throws off her veil And watches me, steady and long. I say: “Was it you who dictated to Dante the pages Of Hell?” And she answers: “I am the one.” . – translated by Stanley Burnshaw _______________________ . 1926 – Annette Mbaye d’Erneville born in Sokone, Senegal; Senegalese writer, poet, teacher and radio programme director for Radio Senegal. As a journalist, she has specialized in women’s issues, and launched Awa magazine in 1963, the first francophone publication for African women. She writes children’s literature and poetry. Noted for Poèmes africains, and La Bague de cuivre et d’argent (The Copper and Silver Ring), which won prix Jeune Afrique in 1961. My House by Annette Mbaye d’Erneville . I have built my house Without sand, without water My mother’s heart Forms a great wall My father’s arms The floor and the roof My sister’s laughter The doors and the windows My brother’s eyes Light up the house My home feels good My home is sweet “My House” from Talking Drums, © 2004 – Bloomsbury Publishing _______________________ June 24 _______________________ 1916 – John Ciardi born on Boston, Massachusetts; American poet, translator, etymologist, editor, and columnist. He was the director of the Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in the 1960s, poetry editor for Saturday Review, and recorded commentaries on word histories for National Public Radio. His many poetry collections include Homeward to America; Live Another Day; The Reason for the Pelican (one of several books of verse for children); Echoes: Poems Left Behind; and Stations of the Air. He died of a heart attack at age 69 in 1986. The Dolls by John Ciardi . Night after night forever the dolls lay stiff by the children’s dreams. On the goose-feathers of the rich, on the straw of the poor, on the gypsy ground— wherever the children slept, dolls have been found in the subsoil of the small loves stirred again by the Finders After Everything. Down lay the children by their hanks and twists. Night after night grew over imagination. The fuzzies shed, the bright buttons fell out of the heads, arms ripped, and down through goose-feathers, straw; and the gypsy ground the dolls sank, and some—the fuzziest and most loved changed back to string and dust, and the dust moved dream-puffs round the Finders’ boots as they dug, sieved, brushed, and came on a little clay dog, and a little stone man, and a little bone girl, that had kept their eyes wide open forever, while all the children slept. . “The Dolls” from In the Stoneworks, © 1961 by John Ciardi – Rutgers University Press ____________________________ G’Morning/Afternoon/Evening MOTlies! ____________________________ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/19/2176180/-Morning-Open-Thread-Wouldn-t-You-Be-Devastated-If-They-Only-Serve-Decaffeinated Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/