"What the House Knows": An Anthology by Diane Lockward

Next year, we will have lived in our house 40 years. We raised our two sons here. Every room (and the basement) has stories to tell.  

But we’re newbies compared to our parents. My mother lived in the house in New Orleans I was raised in for 57 years. My mother-in-law has lived in her house in Shreveport for a mind-boggling 77 years. 

 

Houses provide shelter and family community. They can be a refuge. They can oppress. They are workplaces. They require ongoing care and attention. Houses can inspire our hopes and haunt our dreams. 

 

As Diane Lockward has discovered, houses have often served as the subjects for poets. And she’s edited an anthology, What the House Knows, that shows exactly that.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Thursday Readings

 

The Truelove – poem by David Whyte.

 

“Lines Written During a Period of Insanity,” poem by William Cowper – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

“I wandered lonely as a cloud,” poem by William Wordsworth – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

Poetic Voices: Relationships – Dinah Dietrich and Diane Lockward

We live in a world where relationships, so difficult to establish and understand, can often break. Relationships can fracture, but remain in place, such as with parents and even spouses, or they can disintegrate into separation – friends, lovers, colleagues, co-workers. Pressures and expectations can undermine even the best of relationships.

Two poets have published recent collections that explore these ideas about relationships. They approach their subjects from different perspectives, but both understand the real place and sense of shared responsibility of the individuals involved.

Dinah Dietrich’s Paper Cranes is a small collection of some 21 poems.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.