"Remnants" by Jim Handlin : Poets.org

"Everything gets slow, stops. / I reread the telegram." So begins Jim Handlin's poem "Remnants," which first appeared in the May 1981 issue of Poetry. Jim Handlin earned an MA in Classics from Fordham University and a PhD in Educational Administration from Columbia University. To read more about him, click here.

Read "Remnants" by Jim Handlin >>

Red azalea

Photo credit: Monty Gilmer

(Photo copyright 2018 Monty Gilmer.

All rights reserved.)

Prayer of Saint Francis (Author Unknown): "Peace Prayer"

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; . . . " So begins the anonymous Prayer of Saint Francis, which is often associated with Saint Francis of Assisi (1181[or 1182]-1226). The prayer in its entirety reads:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


Listen to John Michael Talbot singing "Peace Prayer" in the music video below.

"Jesus the Bread of Life": A Poem of Jesus Christ

JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE
A Poem of Jesus Christ
from the Bible: John 6:35-39 (King James Version)

I am the bread of life:
He that cometh to me shall never hunger;
And he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you,
That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;
And him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven,
Not to do mine own will,
But the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me,
That of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing,
But should raise it up again at the last day.

"The Tally Stick" by Jarold Ramsey

"Here from the start, from our first of days, look; / I have carved our lives in secret on this stick / of mountain mahogany the length of your arms / outstretched, the wood clear red, so hard and rare. / It is time to touch and handle what we know we share." So reads the first stanza of Jarold Ramsey's poem "The Tally Stick" in his book Thinking Like a Canyon: New and Selected Poems, 1973-2010 (Antrim House, 2012).

Read "The Tally Stick" by Jarold Ramsey >>

To read about Jarold Ramsey and his book Thinking Like a Canyon, click on the link to Antrim House at the end of my introduction above.

Biography of James Baldwin (1924-1987) : Poets.org

On this day in 1924, American writer James Baldwin was born in Harlem. To read a biography of him, click here.

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 2 August 1854

On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

I must cultivate privacy. It is very dissipating to be with people too much. As C. says, it takes the edge off a man's thoughts to have been much in society -- I can not spare my moonlight & my mts for the best of man I am likely to get in exchange --
     I am inclined now for a pensive evening walk.

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)