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Archive for the ‘Poetry on Blogfinger’ Category

Just Wondering: Will you post a poem about Ocean Grove? 2014.

Posted in Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , on October 16, 2023|

 

The Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove. By Paul Goldfinger © The Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove. By Paul Goldfinger.  Click image to enlarge.

From Leslie Cannon:

My sister-in-law sent me this poem, which she said reminded her of Ocean Grove, but after reading it, I am convinced it was written about OG.   I hope you will publish it, so others can enjoy it.

Editor’s note:  The poem  “One Summer” by W.S. Merwin was indeed about Ocean Grove, and we did post it on Blogfinger a couple of years ago. Merwin is a famous poet who has won a Pulitzer Prize twice. He has been the United States Poet Laureate and he has published over 50 books.

Since I can’t locate our post, I  will do so again now, since Leslie Cannon has contacted us.   Merwin’s poem will resonate for anyone who loves this town. Except, for me, the part about “Aida.”    We  once saw that long extravaganza at Lincoln Center and, horrors, we left before the end. God knows how many more animals they were going to bring on stage.

Ocean Grove has been admired by other poets, and we have recently posted two poems by Charles Pierre. Painters and photographers  have also been inspired by the Grove. See our piece tomorrow about Stephen D’Amato’s latest OG painting. —Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

 

ONE SUMMER

 

It is hard now to believe that we really

went back that time years ago to the small town

a mile square along the beach and a little more

than a century old where I had been taken

when I was a child and nothing seemed to have changed

not the porches along the quiet streets

nor the faces on the rockers nor the sea smell

from the boardwalk at the end of the block

nor the smells from the cafeteria in a house

like the others along the same sidewalk

nor the hush of the pebbled streets without

cars nor the names of the same few hotels

nor the immense clapboard auditorium

to which my mother had taken me

to a performance of Aida

and you and I walked those streets in a late

youth of our own and along the boardwalk

toward music we heard from the old carousel

 

by W.S. Merwin

Published in The American Poetry Review, Nov.-Dec., 2010

 

CARMEN McRAE   and SAMMY DAVIS, JR.

 

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Reprieve. A poem by Charles Pierre

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Photography: Ocean Grove Gallery, Poems by Charles Pierre, Poetry on Blogfinger on September 25, 2022|

Late November garden in Ocean Grove. Paul Goldfinger photograph. ©

 

 

Reprieve

By Charles Pierre

From a rusted nail
on the south wall

of an old boathouse
weathered to gray,

a small pail of
red impatiens

swings in the mild
November sun,

where the rush
of stark sea wind

has yet to dim
the arc of lush color.

 

 

EVA CASSIDY

From her album Songbird.

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Haiku by George Held

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, George Held on Blogfinger, Poem by George Held, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , on December 23, 2021| 3 Comments »

Chester, New Jersey. Paul Goldfinger ©.

 

 

Morning shrubs bending

in December wind—-

the full moon sets

 

 

Leonard Cohen  “Winter Lady.”

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Speaking of poets, here is “Robert Frost” sung by Karrin Allyson from her album “Collage”

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Photography Central Park, Photography: New York City Street Series, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , , on December 19, 2021| 2 Comments »

“I’ll take Manhattan.”   Central Park in early spring (April 22, 2014) by Paul Goldfinger ©  Blogfinger.net

 



By Paul Goldfinger, Poetry editor @ Blogfinger.net.   Re-post from March, 2018.

 


This song is dedicated to those New York poets who enhance our e-pages with their art.  Charles Pierre and George Held often reference New York City in their poetry.

Both of them have sent us offerings set in early spring as crocuses emerge from the snow and as a poet finds nocturnal inspiration in a City park,  but I am waiting till all the nor’easters fly with the birds to other locales.

I try to make the reality of life provide a backdrop for their work when it is presented on Blogfinger.

The song below, sung by 5 time Grammy nominee jazz singer Karrin Allison from her album Collage,  was written by jazz bassist and songwriter Jay Leonhart.  I believe Jay is the bassist on this recording.

I have heard Jay perform live  on a number of occasions, and he is known for singing his original and funny songs while playing his upright bass. Sometime he works alone—singing while accompanying himself.

Jay Leonhart has played bass with all the greats, including Sinatra, Gerry Mulligan, Marian McPartland, Tony Bennett and so many others.


I suspect our BF poets will enjoy this song called  “Robert Frost.”  It’s wonderful!

 


 

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“Absence” a poem by Charles Pierre

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Poems by Charles Pierre, Poetry on Blogfinger on April 23, 2021|


Ocean Grove. Sept. 2010. Two years prior to Sandy. Paul Goldfinger photo



Absence

A poem by Charles Pierre

Of what was written down
or spoken aloud onshore,
eye and ear find scant remains

A few letters in the sand
or murmurs on the salt wind 
show, not who was here,

but how the sea 
swallows up
most human traces.



LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA   "Enigma Variations."

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Poem by Charles Pierre: “Orient Point.”

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Poems by Charles Pierre, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , on April 21, 2021| 1 Comment »

Hi Paul:
     Greetings from Manhattan. When March ends, and the last few patches of snow melt from the yards, and ice disappears from the ponds, those of us who live along the coast shed our heavy coats and head for the shore. Here is the poem “Orient Point,” from my 2008 collection, Father of Water.

Best Wishes,

Charles Pierre

 

 

Early spring morning. Deal Lake. Ocean Township.  March 29, 2015,   By Paul Goldfinger ©  Click to enlarge.

 

 

Orient Point

By Charles Pierre

To find words again, after winter’s pause
and the stifled months of life ashore —
to hear voices, if none but the shrill sounds
of sailors boundless in April winds.
I slip from silence, English my ship and sea.
Speech as fresh as the first mild gusts of salt air
billows my cheeks, flying from my lips
to take me as far as sound can sail —
Speak, as if spring is all there is!

 

BEN PATERSON TRIO:  “Here, There, and Everywhere”   by Paul McCartney.

 

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A Poem by Charles Pierre: “Toward Winter”

Posted in Poems by Charles Pierre, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , , on November 24, 2020|

Ocean Grove. November 28,  2014. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©

 

 

Toward Winter

 

By Charles Pierre.

 

In late November, after the abundance

of summer and early fall, when withered

vines and leaves deepen the solitude

of the land, one can walk almost unseen,

like the wind coursing through bare trees

or a dust mote crossing a shaft of sunlight.

In this diminished scene, the emptiness

can unburden, almost free, the self,

until one becomes aware of the season

but not the date, on an hourless afternoon,

neither mild nor cold, the slight stiffness

in the joints a certain sign of the short

clipped days and long crystalline nights

to come, as one walks the hardening earth,

with a hunger for less and less of the year,

into the devouring mouth of December.

 

 

 

BEVERLY KENNEY   from Sings For Johnny Smith

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Poems @Blogfinger: “The Surf Caster” by Charles Pierre.

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Poems by Charles Pierre, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , on May 18, 2020| 1 Comment »

Ocean Grove beach. By Paul Goldfinger ©

Ocean Grove beach. By Paul Goldfinger ©  Click to enlarge.

 

Hi Paul:

Greetings again from Manhattan. In late summer, I like to visit Ocean Grove and watch the surf casters, with their long rods and spinning reels, working on the shore, usually alone, hurling their lures far into the dark Atlantic, and then waiting patiently for the bluefish, striped bass, or other gift the ocean might offer up. Here is a poem, “The Surf Caster,” from my collection, Father of Water.

Best wishes,

Charles Pierre

Charles Pierre. 2009. Photo by Marcella Kerr

Charles Pierre. 2009. Photo by Marcella Kerr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Surf Caster

 

The fine line that keeps him connected to the depths

runs long into the night, a translucent filament

of strength through the dark and turbulent surf.

How quietly it flows from shore to ocean floor,

from his practiced wrist along the flexing rod,

as each tug of the tide, each questioning nibble

and answering jig, pulses through the eye loops

down to the spooling reel. He probes the ocean

with a lure of his own devising, charm and hook

tooled not for local fish but the far-swimming schools.

A slight vibration and his line now sparkles

with wetness in the glow of phosphor water,

humming in the summer wind, radiating a soft mist,

a sign of something below, something other than

the common catch, something only he would know.

 

 

BILL FRISELL   “Across the Universe.”    From the album  “All We Are Saying” (2011)

 

 

images

      

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Lullaby of Birdland. Osprey. A poem by George Held…

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Poem by George Held, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , on February 18, 2020| 3 Comments »

An osprey nest on a chimney near the Sanibel Island lighthouse. Florida.   Paul Goldfinger photo. Feb. 2020 © Click image to enlarge the bird.

 

Osprey at the Tropicana Coop in Ft. Myers. 2018 © Paul Goldfinger photo.

 

 

Osprey

By George Held.

Osprey, you can see by the dawn’s
Early light

A fish ‘neath the finish of the bay
In your flight

As you circle and soar or you stall
Like a kite,

Ever ready to dive on your prey
When in sight;

Then you drop like a plummet until
You alight

On the brine with your talons outstretched
And they bite

Into scales of that silvery bass, lifting it clear
Of the bight

Of the bay with your ten-horse wings to retake
The sun’s light

And you land on your platform to tend to your nestling’s
End of night

Hunger, tearing the bass with your terrible beak
Into bite-

Sized gobbets for your fledgling to gorge on, its break-
Fast birthright

As your scion, O Osprey, you long-winged king
Of the heights.

 

 

This poem is from George Held’s first collection, Winged (1995.)

 

K.D. LANG

 

“Skylark.”

 

 

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George Held haikus aweigh..

Posted in Poem by George Held, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged on January 31, 2020|

By Paul Goldfinger,  Editor@Blogfinger.net

George Held has published another haiku, this time in the Red Eft  Review  (see their quote in the sentence below.)

“George Held is a prolific writer of haiku and has published them in Red Eft Review, the Aurorean, Blogfinger.net, bear creek haiku, and elsewhere. His latest book is Second Sight (Poets Wear Prada, 2019).”

We thank George for including us in his list of places where his poems roost.  (George loves birds.)

Blogfinger is reproducing that Red Eft Review haiku below.

And speaking of shoes (Poets Wear Prada), here is a Blogfinger link to a very recent post of ours about shoes.

Cobbler’s tool

And now, ladies and germs, we bring you a haiku by George Held…uh, not so fast!  That post will be found if you travel south of here.

Meanwhile, this boy, George, is recognized for what he said, because his words help guide those on journeys:

“Something the Boy Said.”  by Sting from his album   Ten Summoner’s Tales:

When we set out on this journey
There were no doubts in our minds
We set our eyes to the distance
We would find what we would find
We took courage from our numbers
What we sought we did not fear
Sometimes we’d glimpse a shadow falling
The shadow would disappear
But our thoughts kept returning
To something the boy said…

 

 

 

 

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Haiku by George Held

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Poem by George Held, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , , on January 23, 2020| 2 Comments »

Osprey pair feeding young on Sanibel Island. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. Paul Goldfinger photo.

 

Even on Sanibel

hearing the osprey call—-

I miss Sanibel

 

 

Wild Tones Bird Calls  (Osprey)

 

SMASHING PUMPKINS:  “My Blue Heaven.”

 

 

George Held reading one of his poems.

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Poem by Charles Pierre: “Sunset”

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Photography from Florida, Poems by Charles Pierre, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , on October 9, 2019|

sunset florida

Bunche Beach. Fort Myers, Florida. Paul Goldfinger ©.

 

Sunset

By Charles Pierre

 

The offshore sky

is undone

as light slips away:

 

When the blues die

in flame,

and the last display

 

of red ends its slide

seaward,

drowning the day.

 

CACHAO.  “Si Me Pudieras Querer”

 

 

 

 

 

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Haiku by George Held:

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Poem by George Held, Poetry on Blogfinger, tagged , on August 10, 2019|

OG Beach—-in March. Paul Goldfinger photo ©

 

By George Held:

 

Even in Ocean Grove—-

Savoring the Atlantic—-

I miss Ocean Grove

 

 

BOB DYLAN:

 

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