My interest in poetry has grown in recent years, although I cannot really explain why. Much of the reason surely stems from my love of the written word, which began during my childhood and has never diminished. Additionally, by nature I have always been sensitive and sentimental, and I know I have mellowed considerably as I have grown older and the slings and arrows of fortune have smoothed some of the rougher edges of my personality. But whatever the reasons, this is a project I have been considering for some time.
The creation of this blog was inspired, in part, by several members of the Kennedy family, beginning with our 35th President, himself a poetry aficionado. Several years ago, a collection of the favorite poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was published, and I browsed through it one evening during one of my frequent visits to Border's bookstore. As I recall, it was edited by their daughter Caroline, and among the poets represented in the anthology were Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Long ago, I also learned that Robert Kennedy had developed a serious interest in poetry during the last few years of his life. When asked by a friend when this had started, he replied that he thought it was sometime around December of 1963 -- not coincidentally, shortly after the President's untimely death, which proved to be the most shattering experience in the younger Kennedy's life. Having gone through considerable upheaval in my own life in recent years, I can relate to that, at least to some degree. Pain, though never welcome or pleasant, can serve as a refining experience.
I will be setting up this new blog over the next several days, and gradually adding new poems to it, along with commentary of my own. To anyone who follows this site, or merely drops in on it occasionally, I wish you a pleasant and edifying visit, and hope that what has contributed so much to my own life might also benefit yours as well.
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