Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Celebrate National Poetry Month with Poetry on the Porch


National Poetry Month is a month-long, national celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets. The concept is to widen the attention of individuals and the media—to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our complex poetic heritage, and to poetry books and journals of wide aesthetic range and concern. We hope to increase the visibility and availability of poetry in popular culture while acknowledging and celebrating poetry’s ability to sustain itself in the many places where it is practiced and appreciated.

Celebrate National Poetry Month with the Alice Paul Institute's Porch Series Event, Poetry on the Porch on Thursday, April 21. Register today!

The Alice Paul Institute is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation based in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It was founded in 1984 by a group of dedicated volunteers to commemorate the centennial of Alice Paul's 1885 birth and to further her legacy. The organization was operated by volunteers for more than a decade. Today, four staff members, as well as volunteers, oversee the daily business and special events at Paulsdale.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Ash Wednesday

By Kevin Young
Kevin Young's Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels, is an epic retelling in verse of the mutiny by fifty-three Africans, illegally sold in Havana, on board the slave ship Amistad in 1839.

Ash Wednesday
Once I thought everything
has a soul
Then I learnt only
the fool fears the tree—
It is empty—
So too the wind
that sends it which
way & that—
Now I know God
is such a wind
from which we
are rent—
The heavens take
the tree
from the tree—
leaf by leaf—
Being gone, taken,
is what means Heaven—
It is full—of wings—
A music of what
is missing
since nothing
but men have souls
tho, it appears,
not many.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Heart's Afire



Lost in the dark
night vision doesn’t exist
wishing for a flame
an ephemeral flame
a flicker of light
eyes opened or closed
I see nothing
empty like the hole
I once fell in
I feel nothing
I thirst of you
hydrate my heart
set me on fire
watch me
blaze.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Fitness Journey

There are times
when I feel like giving up
but the desire to excel
overrides all feelings
of surrendering
to the cravings,
binging,
sloth of a life
I once knew
A life
covered with indulgences
spoon feeding myself
medicine called excuses
but really swallowing lies
after lie
I lied
but the mirror
revealed the truth
the catalyst for my
transformation
to take action
to win.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
--Eleanor Roosevelt