Thursday, September 29, 2011

Endings Hold Mixed Emotions

Poetry Friday is at Read Write Believe this week.


I love poems of goodbye, and have collected them for many years.  Most of the time, I’ve searched for them so that I can have a way to say goodbye to students at the end of the school year.  I would laminate copies of my chosen poem to give to students on the last day of school.  I’ve written a post about those kinds of poems earlier this year, but there are other kinds of goodbyes or endings, too.  Now, we are enjoying a change of seasons and welcoming the chillier evenings, but sorrowing for the ending of summer, all the good times that that season holds for us.  I have posted my own goodbye to summer, especially to the gardening, but in the blogs I’ve read lately, there is one poem I printed and have posted at my desk.  It is a recent favorite titled Twilight of Summer, by a fellow blogger named Tam, and begins with

                        Mornings come later.
Shadows cast early.
Cicadas play songs.
Petunias lose flair.

You can find the rest of her poem here.  I hope you enjoy the poem as much as I do, and the change of seasons is a celebration for you.  

7 comments:

  1. This post has brought a smile to my lips. When I was a young teacher of undergraduate students (roughly 13 years back), I would do the same thing at the end of the semester. I would collect lovely quotes, write them down in beautiful stationeries and give it to them during our last session as part of our 'goodbye' ritual. Over the years, though, I've kind of gotten bogged down by administrative duties - and now I teach graduate students who happens to be a different group altogether and the dynamics is likewise different. Somehow, your post has made me whimsical. ;) Lovely poem.

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  2. Yes, there are so many different kinds of endings. This poem's imagery captures "summer's twilight" perfectly. Thanks for sharing it.

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  3. Poems of goodbye would be a lovely collection to have all in one volume, as a teacher or as a reader. We think of these times as sad, but really, it can be a celebration of having known someone or been somewhere special or of really, truly living!

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  4. As in Tam's poem, winter's portal is peeking open a crack today, and I am saying a final goodbye to summer as we step onto the leaf-covered path of autumn.

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  5. lovely lines...nicely crafted words!

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  6. Hi!
    I have nominated you for 2 awards Blogs on Fire and The Versatile Blogger Award. You can go to my blog and copy/paste the awards and then nominate 10 of your own. Don't forget to tell us 7 things about you!
    Happy Blogging!
    Tammy
    www.klingercafe.com

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  7. Thank you,Linda, for quoting me in your post Sept. 29. I've never been quoted before! You made my year in regard to blogging!! What a great way to say farewell to students at the end of the year--poetry allows us the freedoms to say that special something to someone. I've been having Google issues when it comes to commenting on blogs--my oldest son has helped me to reach you--finally.

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