Poetry is a story that is so good, it doesn’t need complete sentences.
April 25, 2016
A poem deposits a feeling on my doorstep like no other literary form. I think all too often we put poetry on the living room mantle—to be taken down in times of needing to mark an occasion. I see no reason to save poetry for only solemn moments. There is a poem waiting to celebrate any feeling you can imagine. I suggest not putting poetry on the mantle in the first place—keep it close to you and let it nourish you.
Below are two poems from Stevie Smith. They could not be more different in tone and mood. I love them both, albeit I love them differently, and I want both in my life.
The first poem offers me whimsy~
My Hat
Mother said if I wore this hat
I should be certain to get off with the
right sort of chap
Well look where I am now, on a desert
island
With so far as I can see no one at all
on hand
I know what has happened thought I
suppose Mother wouldn’t see
This hat being so strong has
completely run away with me.
Stevie Smith also wrote one of the most poignant and terrifying poems of the 20th century,
Not waving but Drowning offers me a journey to understand what it means to be much too far out?
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
South China Morning Post quotes Diane on the recent tragic cluster of childhood suicides In Hong Kong
March 21, 2016
The recent cluster of suicide among children in Hong Kong is disturbing and has provoked some much needed soul searching for all adults. It is critically important to speak openly and candidly with children about the pressures they feel to succeed, to be the best.The burden children feel inside the overriding message— that only the […]
Hong Kong March 2016: Book Camp & Masterclass By Diane Frankenstein
March 1, 2016
Diane will be returning to work with Bring Me A Book Hong Kong; The leading advocate for family literacy in Hong Kong Learn the art of Conversational Reading from the educator who coined the phrase herself, Diane Frankenstein. Conversational Reading follows a simple equation: Read a book, Ask a question, Start a conversation. Diane’s workshops […]
Bilingual toddlers show greater skills in mental control
February 20, 2016
Read to Grow, an organization dedicated to building literacy from birth, makes findings available from Science Daily. It’s estimated that half of the world’s population speaks two or more languages. The unique feature of the study was the finding that the more language switching toddlers engaged in, the more it benefitted the problem-solving skills of […]
The importance of a significant other when it comes to children and reading.
February 14, 2016
The writer, Graham Greene said books are at their most powerful in childhood—when our minds are most open and innocent; when our imaginations are most alive. Nothing short of another living, loving human being can equal a book in its power to simultaneously move, influence, change, heal, excite, educate, and inspire. BUT initially books are […]
