42 poets celebrate National Poetry Day (2018)

[NZ Poetry Shelf]

Paula Green:
42 poets celebrate National Poetry Day: A memory suite

A. E. Housman: Collected Poems (1956)

Being the youngest in a family of four tends to make you extra sensitive to snubs. My eldest brother was the brainy one, the next brother was the writer, and my sister was the arty one. So what was I?

One day my father came home with a little book of poems he’d picked up for my number-two brother (not present) in a second-hand bookshop.

“Why is everything always for him!” I screamed (was I ten, twelve at the time?). Off I ran to my room.

Later my father knocked on the door and, silently, put down the book beside my bed. It was the collected poems of A. E. Housman.

Its cover eventually came off from over-use. Housman’s poetry still moves me. It’s so simple, so right. It reminds me of my Dad.

(18/8/18)

'42 poets celebrate National Poetry Day: A memory suite.' Ed. Paula Green.
NZ Poetry Shelf: a poetry page with reviews, interviews, and other things.
[Available at: https://nzpoetryshelf.com/2018/08/24/41-poets-celebrate-national-poetry-day-a-memory-suite/ (24/8/18)]

[134 wds]


Poetry Box: Paula Green


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