Monday Music: Dan Fogelberg

There's a Place in the World for a Gambler

From Dan Fogelberg's second album, Souvenirs. The first time I remember hearing this sang was when I was gathered with a group of fellow missionary Journeymen. We had all been serving for two years at various points on the globe and had come back to the U.S.A. for debriefing. It was an uncommon fellowship that we shared as we gathered at a mountain retreat at Glorietta, New Mexico. One night we were all sitting around outside, enjoying the cool mountain air. A couple of folks had guitars and we would pass the guitar around taking turns singing songs together. Someone started in with "There's a Place in the World for a Gambler." Others joined in making beautiful harmony. I liked the song almost as much when I heard it played on the radio.

New Poem: My Father at 58

Celebrating National Poetry Month

This is a first draft of a poem that I am posting today. I sat down this morning and wrote it.  A first draft will always change. There will invariably be ways to improve it, tweak it, expand it or contract it to create a better poem. Moreover, no poem is complete until it has had a chance to "rest" for a few months.  The reason I post this one today is that I am determined to use National Poetry Month as an impetus to put more poems on paper. I also want to promote the art and to encourage everyone who reads this post to take some time to write your own poem. No one can speak to your experience better than you can.

My Father at 58

At certain times

I stop to check my life.

Where am I going?

How am I doing?

Where might I be headed?

Am I doing okay?

My automatic measure is to ask,

Where was my father at this point in his life?

Just as I walked in his shadow on summer days

Trying to match my steps to his

As we walked down toward the pond,

Even now I tend to automatically measure my steps to his

To see how I’m doing.

I count back the years –

Where was my father when he was 58?

Oh, but that was 1968.

A year of upheaval.

Our small community was frightened

By racial integration.

Our larger community was shocked by assassinations.

My father took one day at a time.

He did his best as teacher

To prepare one school for change.

He did his best

To provide for a family

And to see to our future

During unsettling times.

Turning my eyes to the present day,

I think I can be happy

Taking one day at a time.

I can keep on going

Because he made it through

Those unsettling times.

                              ~ Charles Kinnaird

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Poets in Performance with Bill Moyers

Celebrating National Poetry Month

Here is another one from Bill Moyers & Company:

"What if some of the greatest poets in America came together to read their works, and you were the only person in the audience? It might be something like this, and a great way to celebrate Poetry Month."

Over the years, Bill Moyers has welcomed some of America’s best poets to share their works and inspiration. Many of those writers have performed at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, which Bill and his colleagues covered for television specials including Fooling with Words (1999), The Language of Life (1995) and Sounds of Poetry(1999). Below, enjoy a showcase of such poetry from past productions and very recently from Moyers & Company, performed by the poets who dreamed them up, or by other artists who, like Bill, simply adore poetry.

Go here to see an astounding line up of poets with Bill Moyers.