The poem speaks from the perspective of a girl whose lover has left to fight in World War II. Would have to courtĬoquettish death, whose impudent and strangeĪnd he will be the one to stammer, “Yes.” That my sweet love would have to be untrue. When he went walking grandly out that door

Some day the war will end, but, oh, I knew They took my lover’s tallness off to war, One example of classical form is Brooks’ “A Sonnet-Ballad”. Just like their subjects, Gwendolyn Brooks’ short poems are more complex than they may appear – short forms force an amount of ambiguity which lends more interpretive space. From sonnets to blues rhythms, all her chosen forms accommodate distilled emotion and offer intimacy through simplicity.

The precision arose from careful study of register, dialect, and poetic forms, all of which come together to create personal, vivid portraits of young students to salon-goers to pool players.īrooks worked in a vast array of forms with a range of literary standings. A masterful artist in the medium of language, she documented everyday people in their everyday lives, treating each and every subject with respect, dignity, and precision. A poetry book will be awarded to each contributor.Chicago’s first lady of poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks, gave a voice to the ordinary. Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to. She would like her poetry to encourage otherwise. Pat feels that in today’s consumer-driven, fast-paced world, many in society don’t connect with or even notice, the natural world around them any more. With Parkinson’s disease, she received an Arts SA Richard Llewellyn Arts & Disability emerging artist mentorship grant in 2014.

First published in the 2013 Friendly Street Poetry Reader 37, her poems have since appeared in other Friendly Street Readers, and in a number of other poetry publications both here and in New Zealand. Pat Lee began writing poetry in 2011 and joined Friendly Street Poets in 2012.

Green-glazed-gold on the north-east hills Photo: Indigo Skies Photography / flickr Evensong at Beecher’s Brook Share Tweet Share Linkedin Reddit Email Comments Print article

Poem about a dry brook