Friday Mary Oliver, who died yesterday, may have been America’s favorite poet. I taught her Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive for over 20 years in a nature-focused Introduction to Literature class and so have seen up close her impact on readers. When death has entered my own life, I have often turned to Oliver’s poetry. For […]
Tag Archives: death and dying
R.I.P. Mary Oliver, Bride of Amazement
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Blossom", "In Blackwater Woods", "In Pinewoods Crows and Owl", "The Fish", "University Hospital Boston", "When Death Comes", Lost Children, Mary Oliver | Comments closed
Refusal to Mourn a Death by Fire?!
How do we process the deaths caused by California’s Camp Fire? Dylan Thomas’s scandalously title “Refusal to Mourn” offers a way.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Refusal to Mourn the Death by Burning of a Child in London", California fires, Camp Fire, Dylan Thomas, mourning | Comments closed
A Final Resting Place on the Shore
Friday Yesterday Julia and I buried the ashes of writer Rachel Kranz, a dear friend who died a year ago. Her remains were divided between three who were close to her, and I chose to bury those allotted to me on the shore of Lake Eva, which sits on the edge of a bluff in […]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Lake Isle of Innisfree", "Slumber did my spirit seal", Emily Bronte, W. B. Yeats, William Wordsworth, Wuthering Heights | Comments closed
Mourning the Loss of a Son
Longfellow turned to the story of Absolom to console a friend who had lost a son. “Chamber over the Gate” captures the grief in a supportive way.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged death of a son, grieving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Comments closed
Coping with Aging through Poetry
Wordsworth has written some of the world’s great poems for coping with aging.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Prelude", Aging, Intimations of Immortality, Tintern Abbey, William Wordsworth | Comments closed
A River Poem in Memory of My Son
Poetry cannot bring back a son one has lost but it can capture his beauty, as this Jeanne Vote lyric does.
Remembering Rachel: Joyous, Pulsing
In a memorial service for my friend Rachel Kranz, I will talk about what her novels reveal about her.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Leaps of Faith, Mastery, memorial service, Rachel Kranz | Comments closed
Dead or Alive? Bureaucracy Decides
A Romanian man, presumed dead and unable to convince the authorities otherwise, recalls Doc Daneeka in “Catch 22.”
Grieving for a Loved One
Someone I love very dearly has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I turn to “Sonny’s Blues” and “King Lear” to find adequate words.
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged cancer, King Lear, pancreatic cancer, William Shakespeare | Comments closed
