Poetry and Such

I have to confess something. In 6th grade I thought I was a poet. Not really sure why I keep the volume o' splendor that is my work from that year, but my kindhearted teacher told me I had a gift. And thus commenced an interest in rhyme and rhythm. Want me to share? Ok, no really, you don't have to ask. (=

"The wind is a cat that screeches and yowls,
It pounces on coats, hats, caps and growls."

That's right, Internet. Wonder why that never translated into being Poet Laureate? (=

Well, the good news is there are fabulous writers out there to appreciate and I would like to share two of my recent favorites with you. First of all I LOVE this Yeats poem. Except for the last two lines. Cuz happy endings are best. (=

When You are Old.

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And one of my dearest friends had this read at her wedding last year. I fell in head over heels in love with it. The first half is better than the last half again.

Happiness

There's just no accounting for happiness,
or the way it turns up like a prodigal
who comes back to the dust at your feet
having squandered a fortune far away.
And how can you not forgive?
You make a feast in honor of what
was lost, and take from its place the finest
garment, which you saved for an occasion
you could not imagine, and you weep night and day
to know that you were not abandoned,
that happiness saved its most extreme form
for you alone.

-Jane Kenyon

It makes my heart sing to read it.