Blog
Poem of the Week: “Getting Up Early” by Brendan Kennelly
Getting Up Early Getting up early promises well; a milkhorse on the road induces thoughts of a sleeping world and a waking God. This hour has something sacred; bells will be ringing soon, but now I am content to watch the day begin to bloom. I would only waste my breath on poor superfluous words;…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Grainne’s Answer to Burke’s Proposal” by Mary O’Malley
Grainne’s Answer to Burke’s Proposal Take me for one year certain hot and cold and strong. What woman will give you as much for that long? A year in a wild place. Take me or leave me as I am. –Mary O’Malley, from The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women’s Poetry (2011)
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “What Does ‘Early’ Mean?” by Medbh McGuckian
What Does ‘Early’ Mean? Happy house across the road My eighteen-inch deep study of you Is like a chair carried out into the garden, And back again because the grass is wet. Yet I think winter has ended Privately in you, and lies in half-asleep, Of her last sleep, at the foot Of one of…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Hotel” by Medbh McGuckian
Hotel I think the detectable difference between winter and summer is a damsel who requires saving, a heroine half- asleep and measurably able to hear but hard to see, like the spaces between the birds when I turn back to the sky for another empty feeling I would bestow on her a name with a hundred…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “The Door” by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
The Door When the door opened the lively conversation Beyond it paused very briefly and then pushed on; There were sounds of departure, a railway station, Everyone talking with such hurried animation The voices could hardly be told apart until one Rang in a sudden silence: ‘The word when, that’s where you start’– Then they…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Pitch & Putt” by Conor O’Callaghan
Pitch & Putt Its is the realm of men and boys joined in boredom, the way of life that sees one day on a par with the next and school breaks dragged out too long. Theirs is the hour killed slowly, the turn for home in diminishing threes and twos, the provisional etiquette of shared…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “The Call Has Been Answered” by Ileana Mălăncioiu
The Call Has Been Answered The call has been answered, this sun Has risen over the green field. The soul unfolding as a snail Slides out of his enclosing shield He dawdles across the long empty Space it seems he drowns In light he flourishes over the white wave Two melting jellied horns He feels…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Be Someone” by Rita Ann Higgins
In honor of National Poetry Month, WFU will be posting a poem a day for the entire month of April. Today’s poem is “Be Someone” by Rita Ann Higgins, a working class Irish poet and playwright. Be Someone For Christ’s sake, learn to type and have something to fall back on. Be someone, make something of…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Scar” by Moya Cannon
Scar Why does it affect and comfort me the little scar where, years ago, you cut your lip shaving when half drunk and in a hurry to play drums in public. We step now to rhythms we don’t own or understand, and, with blind, dog-like diligence, we hunt for scars in tender places. –Moya Cannon,…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Nomad Heart” by Paula Meehan
It’s our favorite month of the year: April! … also known as National Poetry Month. Our campus stalls have already been graced with “potty poetry,” and we will continue celebrating online by posting even more poetry than usual. To start with, here is an enlightening poem about changing times and weary souls. Nomad Heart for Kevin…
Continue Reading