We enjoyed the “best wedding ever” this weekend when my nephew wed his beautiful bride – don’t they look like they belong on the cover of a bridal magazine?!?
It was a beautiful evening, with butterflies fluttering around the garden and smiles on everyone’s faces.
My neice participated in the ceremony by reading one of Dr. Maya Angelou’s poems. Dr. Angelou is a prolific author, playwright and poet. She has directed and produced television shows and movies, and is a historian and civil rights leader. Some of her best-known works are the autobiographical book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the Presidential Inaugural poem On The Pulse of Morning.
Touched by An Angel
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
I’ve always liked Yeats, although I like his shorter stuff much better than some of his longer epics.
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
I don’t read much contemporary poetry, but I’ve got a book called Primate Behavior by Sarah Lindsay that I quite like as well, although it’s probably somewhat hard to find.
Thanks for the Yeats, Fyrefly!
I looked into Sarah Lindsay’s _Primate Behavior_ (at a major online retailer, which allowed me to “look inside” the book).
Great reviews on that one, and VERY interesting subjects – from space migration to cave paintings … wow!
Maya Angelou is definitely one of my faves, Some other good ones are Langston Hughes and Sonia Sanchez.
JazminQ
Bridetobebooks.com
Oops, yes, I forgot about the major online retailer. Heh. I just figured since I picked it up off of the super-bargain table in the back of the campus bookstore in college that it was probably pretty rare. Nevermind!
jazminq – yes, Langston Hughes! My sister lent me a book of his poetry once and I enjoyed it. He would be good to re-read. I’m not familiar with Sonia Sanchez; I’ll have to look up her work.
fyrefly – my “major online retailer” was a bit tongue-in-cheek, and I didn’t want to name names….
Emily Dickinson, Percy Byshhe Shelley, and Sara Teasdale are some of my favorites.