Operafred's Journal

DES MOINES REGISTERJanuary 9, 2011Books shine light on Iowa lifeBy MIKE KILENmkilen@dmreg.comBefore last year is filed away, except for paying its taxes, here are a few Iowa books from 2010 that made it across our desk and that can deepen understanding on what it's like to live here.For Literary Tas

I KEEP              a flowering bough within my Heart,         Branched over the calm wide ocean of Time,    So that a singing bird will come at dark,         And pour sweet notes to the moon's slow soft climb.    There no ache, no desire, no breath stirs the calm,         No rude breeze rustles the

Poetry - The Art of the VoiceHow fine will your breath becomefrom listening to these words?How soft will they seem to beas they settle through the mindlike silent snowflakes fallingfrom a windless winter sky?I often marvel at the mystery—how words can workon a listener's heart and mind,upon hearing

              ...and the shadow of mountains will not fall on your heart.                                        —Sara TeasdaleClouds on certain days resemble distant mountains—I’m watching such a mountain now, and far belowCould be—I think—the perfect, crystal lake of dream.On days like these when

From This Enduring Gift - A Flowering of Fairfield Poetryhttp://www.thisenduringgift.comThe Language of the Trees© Freddy Niagara Fonseca                            I never saw a discontented tree.                                    —John MuirII asked the trees one summerWhat they had been thinking

    The Brighter SideIn the garden of lingering shadows,I know a bright and happy way.It’s a pleasure to skirt the trim meadowsAnd walk along there any day.It is leading towards an open spaceOf warm and most alluring rest,And I think that the sun on my faceMay never want to descend west,Because the