Today is Henry David Thoreau's birthday—Happy Birthday, Hank! I'll leave it to you to figure out how old he is...
THE POET'S DELAY
—Henry David Thoreau
In vain I see the morning rise,
In vain observe the western blaze,
Who idly look to other skies,
Expecting life by other ways.
Amidst such boundless wealth without,
I only still am poor within,
The birds have sung their summer out,
But still my spring does not begin.
Shall I then wait the autumn wind,
Compelled to seek a milder say,
And leave no curious nest behind,
No woods still echoing to my lay?
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LIGHT-WINGED SMOKE
—Henry David Thoreau
Light-winged Smoke, Icarian bird,
Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight,
Lark without song, and messenger of dawn,
Circling above the hamlets as thy nest;
Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form
Of midnight vision, gathering up thy skirts;
By night star-veiling, and by day
Darkening the light and blotting out the sun;
Go thou my incense upward from this hearth,
And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame.
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Reaching Down Beneath Language: An Evening of Poetry with Art Beck and B.L. Kennedy will take place this Saturday night, July 16, at HQ (25th and R); doors open at 7:30pm. Art Beck, from San Francisco, is the author of collections of verse as well as books of translations. B.L. Kennedy is a Performance Poet who has studied with Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman and has published extensively, including Been Born Bronx from Rattlesnake Press. Donation for the evening: $5.
Put on your dancin' shoes for Joyce Odam's reading tomorrow night at The Book Collector, 7:30. We will be celebrating the release of her SpiralChap, Caught Against the Years, which was illustrated by her daughter, Charlotte Vincent.
—Medusa