Day: October 30, 2022

My father was a very strange man

My father was a very odd man

He cooked our porridge in a frying pan

He went to work and he came back home

Carrying a bag full of garden gnomes

He hated them with pure sweet hate

He buried them all by the garden gate

We had no garden we had no lawn.

Despite all that the Sun came up at dawn

He never had a car and he never had a horse.

He was an artist but quite untaught.

He wanted several children and that’s what he got

There were three of us sleeping in one cot.

Three more slept on the landing too.

We have no beds but a wonderful view.

My six older brothers slept in one bed

There was no light but they were very well read.

Then he died and left us all alone.

Please don’t leave any mobile groans

Change

Turning points occur when we we must choose

The moment comes and it seems opportune

Can you still the voices cruel amused?

Find your own perspective, view the scene.

Turning points occur when we must choose.

Who to ask for guidance, and the means.

I feel pessimistic then enthused .

I shall ask my friends to be discreet

Better talk than be alone and brood

Rumination is no friend to me.

Better turn and see what is to be

Gerald Stern, prize-winning American lyrical poet, dies aged 97 | Poetry | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/29/gerald-stern-prize-winning-american-lyrical-poet-dies-aged-97

There is a sweetness buried in my mind

there is water with a small cave behind it

there’s a mouth speaking Greek

It is what I keep to myself; what I return to;

the one thing that no one else wanted

Stern was sometimes mistaken in person for Allen Ginsberg and often compared to Walt Whitman because of his lyrical and sensual style, and his gift for wedding the physical world to the greater cosmos.

Stern was shaped by the rough, urban surroundings of his native Pittsburgh, but he also identified strongly with nature and animals, marvelling at the “power” of a maple tree, likening himself to a hummingbird or a squirrel

Taking a look at anger

Photo by author

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/learning/is-anger-an-underrated-emotion.html

Learning to manage anger is a lifelong skill that allows children to function at home, in school and out in the world without losing control.

Ms. Pearson suggests several ways parents can help children express and manage their anger. First, recognize that anger is normal:

When it comes to kids and anger, it can help to remember a few simple facts: First, anger is a basic human emotion. And second, emotions exist to tell us about ourselves and our relationships, explained Dave Anderson, a clinical