April is National Poetry Month: Great Poems by American Women

A favorite anthology I chose today is Great Poems by American Women edited by Susan L. Rattiner. One thing I love about this anthology is how it spans the time from the colonial-era to now so the reader gets a history of subjects and themes from American women poets.

Today I am going to share the following:

God's World
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
   Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
   Thy mists, that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag
To cruch! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, world, I cannot get the close enough!
Long have I known a glory in it an,
   But never knew I this;

  Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart,-Lord, I do fear
Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;
My soul is all but out of me,-let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

Sibling Assignment #130: April

Silver Valley Girl gave us the last assignment relating to the theme of April. "The name April is very common for girls born in this month.  Write about a person you know whose name is April, and what impact they have made on your life."  

This is my friend April. I love the pensive look on her face in this photo. This was taken last September as we enjoyed an amazing Peruvian feast with friends in Moscow. 

April came into my life through the Northwest Inland Writing Project.  We met at a leadership retreat, wrote together at a writing retreat, have kept in contact via email and our blogs, and continued to work together with NIWP. Last summer I had the privilege of co-faciliating the Summer Institute with April. We have stayed up way too late and had meaningful discussions about life, solved all the problems of the world, and shared good food, coffee, and laughs. I learned by being friends with April that you don't have to be close in age, work in the same school, go on shopping trips together, or text each other ten times a day to have a close friendship. Our friendship is built on muture respect, our passion for teaching and learning, love of books, writing, and poetry, NIWP, similar values, and an appreciation of simple things in life. I always look forward to the time we do spend together because we can always pick up where we left off last time.  I feel blessed that our paths crossed in this crazy world of ours and we were able to built this special friendship. Thanks April for being my friend. You have helped me realize I can enjoy the genre of fantasy, an effective leader can be gentle and nurturing, and  Patti's Kitchen is by far the best place to grade papers at the end of SI!