Poetry guru Katie O’Neil is a Classic Girl wh0 Loves Classic poetry.  Ken Gaertner is a poet with an eye for beauty.  Enjoy both of these “previews” of summer and the lush time of our year!  Do you remember the innocent pursuits we had to even make a “big deal” out of celebrating the seasons and the months?  Some spots in Europe still follow these sweet and innocent traditions  Spring Blessings, KC

 

May is such a half summer, half cold windy month — this poem contains both moods.  of the big May poems is the  Tennyson’s ‘The May Queen’:

You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; To-morrow âll be the happiest time of all the glad new-year, Of all the glad new-year, mother, the maddest, merriest day; For I âm to be Queen o the May, mother, I âm to be Queen o the May.

There âs many a black, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine; There âs Margaret and Mary, there âs Kate and Caroline; But none so fair as little Alice in all the land, they say: So I âm to be Queen o the May, mother, I am to be Queen o the May.

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break; But I must gather knots of flowers and buds, and garlands gay; For I âm to be Queen o the May, mother, I âm to be Queen o the May.

There âs many a black, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine; There âs Margaret and Mary, there âs Kate and Caroline; But none so fair as little Alice in all the land, they say: So I âm to be Queen o the May, mother, I âm to be Queen o’ the May.

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break; But I must gather knots of flowers and buds, and garlands gay; For I âm to be Queen o the May, mother, I âm to be Queen o the May.

 

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LYRICAL

The bluejay startled me

landing so close

as I was reading Basho on the porch

my wife quickly turned my head

as suddenly she was before me dressed in green wool

that surrounded her beauty

as grass embraces the regality

of the sunrise.                                                                            Sassy Blue.................Jay!

How can the mystery

which you carry so gracefully

from day to day

escape the mundane

that afflicts so much of the world?

Chocolatie your exotic cat stares up at you

as if he too is hypnotized by your beauty.

You reach down

and stroke his head

and he turns away

sulking

because you are betraying him by leaving.

How indulgent your smile

which has lit up my soul

in my darkest moment.

With the grace of an elk

as it turns its neck gracefully100-XL[1]

to gaze at a sparkling pond

you slowly turn,

opening the door,

gazing for a moment,

and call “It’s beautiful out”

in a tone so lyrical

it seems as thoughIMG_6107-S[1]

the bluejay

with its song has returned.

While time now flows

at its languid pace

our house will rest and wait,

it’s silence the language

of longing.

Ken Gaertner

 

Kathryn is a retired junior high teacher. A convert with a love for the Church she believes that its teachings have a more than viable application for today's world. She writes practical theological for the people in the pews believing that they have as much right to good catechesis as our youth and converts. Her writings appear on Catholic web sites and local Church publications. She has even been published in the diocese of Australia and most recemtly Zenit. Kathryn holds a Master's in Theology and is a certified spiritual director. Learn more about Kathryn at: www.atravelersview.org

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