Other books that might interest you

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  Death Be Not Proud

  John Donne

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  This week we’re marking the American Memorial Day with eleven readings of a John Donne poem. Memorial Day was conceived as a time to remember military men and women who had lost their lives in war. Kings and presidents come and go and some of the reasons that wars have come about are now lost from memory or are obscured in our history texts.    A consistent aspect of war is that those who fight them are not those who arrange them. The soldiers and sailors who suffer loss of limb, scarred minds or forfeit their lives mostly come from the lower and middle rungs of our societal ladder. They are our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters.    Once gone, it is the family who notices the empty chair at the family table while society at large knows not their name. Death has captured them and taken them forever from our midst. It has become personal and not a vague philosophical idea. The theme of Donne’s poem is that, though Death is irresistible, it has no cause to be proud. The human spirit and its hope for redemption is indomitable. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of May 27th, 2006.    (Summary by Robert Garrison)

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  Endless Growth

  Abby Richardson

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  Abby Richardson has always approached life with a sense of wonder, finding beauty and meaning in everyday moments. From a young age, she expressed her creativity through painting and demonstrated remarkable resilience while navigating challenges in special education. Now a nursing professional with a Bachelor of Arts in Nursing, Abby channels her deep empathy and connection with others into her writing. She draws inspiration from the stories and experiences of her patients, loved ones, and friends. Guided by a profound spiritual connection to the healing arts, Abby views writing as a natural extension of her calling—to offer comfort, inspiration, and healing to all who encounter her work.

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  Rumi - Voice Of Longing

  Coleman Barks

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  In the seven centuries since the death of Jelaluddin Rumi in 1273, the world has come to know and thrill to his sacred poetry. In concert with the tabla and sitar, his writing is part of a religious tradition that is believed to excite "spiritual heroism," embracing the holiness of love, lamentation, battle, and the longing for God.Rumi: Voice of Longing collects nearly 100 of Rumi's most memorable quatrains, presented here for the first time on two superbly remastered CD recordings. Includes musical accompaniment by Marcus Wise on tablas and David Whetstone on sitar, and a special appearance by renowned poet Robert Bly.Translated and performed by the Rumi scholar Coleman Barks, these works echo with a spiritual complexity that defies their outward simplicity. As Sufism acknowledges the truth of other religions, so does Rumi's poetry reflect universal themes: the search for the highest truth, the mystery of surrender, the longing to overcome ego imprisonment. Rumi: Voice of Longing captures the silence, the love, and the playfulness that make each experience with this work one of sacred wonder.

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  Swansdown

  Donald Platt

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  In SWANSDOWN, the poet Donald Platt makes a study of lifeís inevitable transitions, from loveís astonishing evolutions, to aging and its attendant losses. With the poem "Cloud Study" Platt brings his own mortality into view. Returning to a painting by Constable, he considers his own perspective, sitting by the Liffey, tending an injured knee. Young mothers, lovers, and runners pass, reminding the poet of who he once was and how quickly life, like weather, shifts. "Two minutes later, // The clouds would have taken on a different cast of light and shape / just like the thunderheads / now piling up above the Liffey."Platt advises: "To approach old age, one needs a new harsher style." And yet these poems are proof of the softness that may follow life's harshest reckonings, like the wisps of hair on his beloved brother's head as he lies dying, "fine / as milkweed silk. / His head a split / dried pod whose seeds / wind will scatter." The poems of Swansdown point us to a "larger landscape," they are the clouds "that scud across the blue escutcheon of sky. . . Sun's blazon through rain rampant.""One of the finest American poets working today," writes poet and editor Adrian Matejka, "A writer of unparalleled lyric and formal integrity." It is indeed these qualities that gird Platt for this masterful eighth collection.

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  Short Poetry Collection 027

  Various

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  LibriVox’s Short Poetry Collection 027: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.

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  Mountain Song

  Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

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  LibriVox volunteers bring you nine recordings of "Mountain Song” by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. The Weekly Poem for August 31, 2014 takes us up to the mountain heights of Norway. (Summary by MaryAnn)

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