The following poem is from Paul Hudon’s big poem-a-day book written in 2005-2006, “All in Good Time” (Loom Press, 2011). At various times, Paul has been a professor of history at Merrimack College, curator of pre-industrial artifacts at the Merrimack Valley Textile Museum (now the American Textile History Museum in Lowell),…
Dust of Snow By Robert Frost (1874–1963) . The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. . According to the Robert Frost encyclopedia online, this poem was first…
Joe Donahue (Joseph Donahue of Duke University in North Carolina and the literary constellation Lowelliana) has a poem in the Dec. 24 issue of The Nation magazine, one of the few remaining nationally distributed publications that regularly make room for poets–and thus a fantastic location for widespread viewing of literary compositions.…
I wrote the first draft of this poem in 1976, and worked on it on and off for a long time. I had in mind the extensive outdoor lighting displays in Dracut (the town) and Lowell, but, especially as it evolved, the dense array of Christmas decorations in Lowell’s Pawtucketville…
“The Bridge Review: Merrimack Valley Culture” is an online bio-regional magazine that was launched in the late 1990s. After publishing several issues, the original editors rested. The beauty of the web, of course, is that the previous issues remained available to interested readers. With the coming of the 2012 Bread…
Seeing Tony’s stunning sunset image posted yesterday reminded me of this poem, which I wrote in the 1980s. I’ve always been fascinated by the sundown skies over the river channel looking west from Pawtucketville, particularly the vantage point from the O’Donnell Bridge that connects Mammoth Rd and School St. There’s…
This is a revised version of a poem of the season from my second full-length collection of poems, “Middle Distance,” published in 1989. The setting is drawn from the view across fields in Dracut, off Mammoth Road looking toward Lakeview Avenue.–PM . Desire Lines . At Runaway Hill, where a horse…
I went deep into the vault for this poem that I wrote more than 20 years ago. I thought about the poem around 5:30 p.m. today, when I was walking Ringo-the-dog on the South Common in perfect October weather. The scent of dried leaves was all around. The air was…
For the past few weeks, I’ve been posting new South Common haiku on my Facebook page. For those who are not into the FB thing, following are some that got the best responses.—PM . Return of the South Common Haiku . Mourning doves en groupe. Red hawk atop gray steeple.…
On Saturday, October 13, at 3.30 pm, Tom Sexton will be at the Parker Gallery of the Whistler House Museum of Art reading from his new book of Lowell poems, “Bridge Street at Dusk,” and signing books for his loyal readers as well as those who have just discovered him.…