Poetry Friday Roundup

Welcome! Happy August and Happy Poetry Friday!


I discovered Sylvia Plath during my senior year in high school when I read The Bell Jar. Soon after, I picked up a collection of Plath's poetry and was quickly drawn in. As a teenager, I remember feeling very affected by the raw emotion that seeped through her poetry, and I was compelled to learn as much about Plath and her poetry as I could.

Years later, I still love her poetry and am always deeply affected by the power and emotion of her words. Lady Lazarus, written not long before her suicide, is perhaps one of my favorites and one that never fails to take my breath away, especially the last stanza:

"Out of the ash/ I rise with my red hair/And I eat men like air."
A little disturbing, no?



Lady Lazarus, by Sylvia Plath

"I have done it again.
One year in every ten
I manage it----

A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot

A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin
0 my enemy.
Do I terrify?----

The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.

Soon, soon the flesh
The grave cave ate will be
At home on me

And I a smiling woman.
I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die.

This is Number Three.
What a trash
To annihilate each decade."


(read the rest here...)




I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has to offer up today. Mr. Linky is giving me heartburn, so I'm going old-school. Leave your link in the comments, and I'll post the round-up throughout the day. I'll be heading out to a party (woot woot!) around 5:00 EST, so if I don't get to you by then, I'll finish Saturday morning. Have a fantastic weekend!


THE ROUNDUP!
Stacey at Two Writing Teachers is in with "Miracle Workers" by Taylor Mali.

Michele at Scholar's Blog shares Auden's "Musée Des Beaux Arts."

Tadmack at Finding Wonderland offers up some modern Scottish poetry with Tim Turnbull's "Getting in Touch With Our Feminine Sides."

Kelly at Big A little a is in with a poem about Iowa with "In the Elementary School Choir" by Gregory Djanikian.

Cloudscome at A Wrung Sponge is asking (BEGGING) for suggestions as to where she can submit her poetry. Head on over if you have any. Good luck Cloudscome!

Janet at Findings offers Jane Kenyon's "Afternoon in the House."

Laura Salas shares some great "15 Words or Less" poems and invites us to share our own.

Mary Lee at A Year of Reading is in with a poem from A Writers Almanac, Anne Stevenson's "Living in America."

Andrea at Just One More Book offers up a podcast chat about Barbara Nichol's collection of dog-themed poems "Biscuits in the Cupboard."

Jama Rattigan celebrates the lovely and delicious tomato with Pablo Neruda's "Ode to Tomatoes," mouthwatering pictures, tomato art, a song, and more. Mmmmm.....

Elaine Magliaro is in with an original poem at Wild Rose Readers, "Deep Fried Dream." Elaine also shares more food poems, including Anne Stevenson's "In the Tunnel of Summers," at Blue Rose Girls. My mouth is watering.

Lisa Chellman at Under the Covers shares a lovely original poem, "Pink Summer."

I see a theme today with summer, food, and dogs. Linda at Write Time gives a review of Once I Ate a Pie, a collection of dog poems.

Liza at It's Just About Me: My Life and All That shares an original poem that really struck home with me and shares an important lesson for parents.

mnosal at Mnosals Weblog shares Deborah Chandra's "Porch Light." It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood days of sitting on my mother's porch at night.

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews is in with two animal poems from ANIMAL EXERCISES: POEMS TO KEEP FIT by Mandy Ross.

Muriel at The Write Sisters writes about New Hampshire's National Poet Laureates and highlights Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall.

Jennie at Biblio File is in with an original, "A Phone Call With My Father."

Akelda the Gleeful at Saints and Spinners shares poetry written by K. Jay based on "Jack B. Nimble."

Nancy at Naturally Speaking, brings us an original, "Daisy Patch: NYS Thruway 2008."

MsMac at Check it Out celebrates honeybees with a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Over at Bildungsroman, Little Willow quotes a song from Gail Carson Levine's novel, Fairest.

Suzanne at Adventures in Daily Living shares Elizabeth Coatsworth's "All Goats."

AmoXcalli is in with a book review of a new Rumi translation.

Fuse #8 offers up a review of Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer.

Lisa at A Little of This, a Little of That shares an original senryu poem.

Charlotte at Charlotte's Library is in with "Sheltered Garden" by H.D.

Ruth at There is no Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town offers up Carl Sandburg's "Grass."

Cuileann at The Holly and the Ivy shares Franz Wright's "Event Horizon."

Miss Erin is in with Shel Silverstein's "Loser."

Felicity at Look Books brings us an untitled poem by Mercy Otis Warren.

Over at Paper Tigers, Marjorie reviews an introduction-to-poetry anthology: The Ring of Words, edited by Roger mcGough and illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura.

Mme T at Destined to Become a Classic shares a very sad poem, "The Breather," by Billy Collins.

ebin_5446 at Amy, Aaron, and the mini-Wheats shares some haiku-style reviews as well as some original haiku.

Finally, Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect ends a fantastic Poetry Friday with Emily Dickinson.

Thanks to everyone who contributed!