Poem a Month for October
National Poetry Day is celebrating its 21st anniversary in October. This year the theme is 'Light' which is why we've chosen The Singing Girl by Joan Link. We really liked the strong sense of place created in the poem and also the descriptions of light which we thought would be perfect for this month's poem.
'This was written from a prompt at a Matlock Writing Group, which I love as it has made me write again after many years. The poem evokes a long ago trip with my then husband, when we heard a piano playing from an open window in the Place des Vosges in the Marais district of Paris. I have added in the idea of the geometric harmony spreading from nature to art, architecture and music, which I would not have heard of then!'- Joan
The Singing Girl
Golden light on gold Parisian stone,
The air warm, the evening still at bay,
The tall town houses stately frame the grass,
At perfect centre stands the fountain poised.
The square is shining, dazzling in beauty.
We stand dazed, enraptured by the magic,
Man made, but more, its perfect geometry,
Synchronised with nature’s symmetry.
And gently down the falling sunbeams comes
The wandering harmony of a young girl’s voice,
Its purity and elegance fills the square,
Captures, entrances, another geometry.
Mozart ‘s Ave Verum meets the fountain air.
by Joan Link
Forthcoming poetry events in Derbyshire Libraries include:
Poetry and Song with Sally Goldsmith
Tuesday 20th October, 10.30am – 12.00pm at Staveley Library
Join Sally for a feast of words and music in the library. Sit back and relax with tea and cake. All welcome. Free. For more information and to book a place please ring Staveley Library on 01246 472448.
Made in Derbyshire: Derbyshire Poets Laureate
Wednesday 21st October 2015, 7.30-8.45pm at Buxton Library
We hope you can join us for this unique opportunity to hear laureates Helen Mort, Matt Black, River Wolton and Cathy Grindrod reading their poems. This event will include readings from a new posthumous collection of poems by Ann Atkinson, Derbyshire Poet Laureate 2009-11. Free. For more information and to book a place please ring Buxton Library on 01629 533460.
If you’re in Chesterfield why not pop into the library to see the Made in Derbyshire Textile Panels? Over the last eight months members of the Ashbourne, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and Trent & Erewash Branches of the Embroiderers’ Guild have been working with Matt Black, former Derbyshire Poet Laureate, and Paula Moss, Photographer and Digital Artist, to create four stunning textile panels depicting life in all its diversity in Derbyshire.