The One Page Poetry Circle at the St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library concluded its 2019 fall season on December 10 with a great turnout for the exploration of Poetry and Confession.

Abigail opened the circle with Robert Browning’s “Confessions,” in which a priest asks a dying man for his confession and the man reminisces without remorse on an affair of his youth: “How sad and bad and mad it was—/But then, how it was sweet!”.

Roger read Pablo Neruda’s “If You Forget Me” in which the narrator expounds upon the reciprocal nature of love: “if little by little you stop loving me/I shall stop loving you little by little.”

Hazel read Christina Rossetti’s “Winter: My Secret,” in which the narrator never makes her confession: “You want to hear it? well:/Only my secret’s mine, and I won’t tell.”

Elizabeth read Joan Larkin’s “Afterlife” concerning a young girl whose father forgives her when he says “Kids get into trouble” and goes with her to get an abortion even though he admonishes her, “Don’t ever tell this to anyone.”

Gail read Chard deNiord’s “Confession of a Bird Watcher” where the narrator enjoys watching birds out his window despite seeing hundreds of birds break their necks: “I’m sorry for my genius as the creature inside/who attracts with seeds and watches you die against the window/I’ve built with the knowledge of its danger to you.”

Cate read Jane Clarke’s “The trouble” about the relationship between mothers and daughters: “how to forgive/the one to whom/you owe too much … and cannot, will not/leave you alone.” You can hear Jane Clarke read her poetry here.

Pat read John Berryman’s “Dream Song 14,” which begins: “Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so./After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns,/we ourselves flash and yearn.”

Karen read Billy Collins’s complaint about his students in “Introduction to Poetry”: “I ask them to take a poem/and hold it up to the light/like a color slide” but “they begin beating it with a hose/to find out what it really means.”

Carol read “Skunk Hour” by Robert Lowell which describes a town devoid of people: “I hear/my ill-spirit sob in each blood cell,/as if my hand were at its throat…./I myself am hell;/nobody’s here—.”

AnnaLee closed the circle with another John Berryman poem, “Sonnet 13,” which begins: “I lift—lift you five States away your glass,” and ends, “I blow my short ash red,/Grey eyes light! and we have our drink together.”

Daria, our resident librarian, had to leave before the circle began, but left “The Last Slice” by Freddie Robinson Jr. in which the provider of the pizza wants to hear a confession from whoever ate the last slice; then he sees the dog, “Is that pizza sauce I see all over your paws!”.

Kai couldn’t attend, but suggested Anne Sexton’s “Admonitions to a Special Person”: “To love another is something/like prayer and can’t be planned, you just fall/into its arms because your belief undoes your disbelief.”

Enjoy the holidays! We look forward to seeing you in 2020. In the meantime please blog with us here, about all things poetry at onepagepoetrycircle.wordpress.com.

Upcoming Spring 2020 Schedule
February 11, Poetry that Makes You Cry
March 10, Poetry and Muses
April 14, Poetry and Satire
May 12, Poetry and Joy

~Abigail Burnham Bloom and AnnaLee Wilson

The One Page Poetry Circle is sponsored by the New York Public Library and is open to all. St. Agnes Branch Library is handicap accessible.