Poets and Poems: Emily Patterson and "The Birth of Undoing"

In her 2022 collection, So Much Tending Remains, poet Emily Patterson reflected on the first two years of her daughter’s life. In her new collection, The Birth of Undoing, she’s written something of a prequel, what came before those first two years.

 

Sitting in the waiting room at the fertility clinic, surprised “you knew the rules before you ever walked in” (don’t look at women leaving; keep accidental eye contact brief; don’t bring a toddler with you). The ultrasounds. Imagining what the child looks like at eleven weeks. The physical discomfort (Patterson draws a “self-portrait as not the giantess”), the beginnings of labor. Then she considers those first hours after birth.

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

Some Tuesday Readings

 

“Sweet and Low,” poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

In My Dream of Emily Bronte – poem by Andrea Potos at Every Day Poems.

 

Where to Store Secrets That Don’t Belong to You – poem by Heather Cadenhead at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

The night cometh – Henry Oliver at The Common Reader. 

Time Will Tell: Collected Poems by David Middleton – review by Richard Wakefield at New Verse Review.

Poets and Poems: Emily Patterson and "So Much Tending Remains"

I’ve been a father for 45 years, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that you never stop being a parent. How you a parent changes, of course, from a child’s total dependence upon you to increasing independence and ultimately becoming their own person. But, as a parent, you’re always navigating parenthood. 

Emily Patterson began learning this lesson early with the birth of her daughter during the pandemic lockdown year of 2020. She reflects on the first two years of her child’s life in So Much Tending Remains, a collection of 22 poems covering the period from birth to toddlershood. 

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

Some Tuesday Readings

 

Oxford University researcher uncovers hidden copy of Shakespeare sonnet – University of Oxford News.

 

Beyond All Words – a love poem by James Tweedie at Society of Classical Poets.

 

“Patrick the Paul of the Gael,” poem by Robert Farren – Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street.

 

“The Song of Wandering Aengus,” poem by William Butler Yeats – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Anniversary Poem – Latie Kalisz at Every Day Poems. 

Poets and Poems: Emily Patterson and “Haiku at 5:38 a.m.”

The simplest form of poetry, and, indeed, one of the simplest forms of all written communication, is the haiku. Derived from the Japanese hokku, it became a serious art form in the hands of the Japanese poet Bashō (1644-1694). The traditional form of a haiku is three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. Originally, it was confined to observations of nature, and while that’s still a common subject today, we use the form to describe all kinds of themes and subjects. 

Like to describe each hour of the day. That’s how poet and writer Emily Patterson uses the haiku in Haiku at 5:38 a.m. In her collection of 24 poems, she has one haiku for each hour of the day. 

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

Some Tuesday Readings

 

The Future of Book Publicity, Part 1 – Kathleen Schmidt at Publishing Confidential.

 

Roads, Dead Ends, and Endings – Nadya Williams at Current Magazine.

 

Notre-Dame restoration reveals Renaissance poet’s coffin – Hugh Schofield at BBC. 

 

Why Chinchilla is My Favorite Fur – prose poem by Tina Barry at Every Day Poems.

 

It Happens to Those Who Live Alone – poem by David Whyte.