Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

The poem “POET’S LAMENT” was written to share with her poet friends.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

“POETS AND MANGLED WORDS, A Case for Absolution” by Kathleen Roxby. The author, like many other young readers, questioned the “misspelled” words in the poems her mother read to her or those she read at school. In college many of the poets who abuse the language in this way were strongly disparaged. Their poetry had been shuffled into the file labeled “old-fashioned”, “stuffy” or just “bad”. But, some of those same poems were favorites of the author. She has always felt a responsibility to defend them.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“DENIAL FAVORS ANAPEST” was written in response to a poetry class assignment.

 

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

The poem “The Uncontained“ in part inspired the title of Margaret Roxby’s first chapbook Glass Rain, Golden Rain published in 1990 and was the poem first published in The Swordsman Review, 1967. In a letter to Discovery/The Nation, she wrote, “these poems express for me the exhilaration and frustration of designing poetry. The design, for me arises from the happenstance of life and nature when the imagery provided by the unexplainable workings of the creative forces blends the emotional experience with some event or physical phenomenon. Confronted with the mysteries of the universe and the human condition, the poet becomes a kaleidoscope in which the patterns bring a small bit of order out of the seeming chaos of the indefinable…I have striven to…make ‘the sound seem an echo to the sense.’’

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

“A CATCH OF CHANGELINGS” by Kathleen Roxby. The title of this piece comes from a poem by Margaret Roxby (appearing on this site later this month).

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“THE POET AND THE NIGHT” was first published in Voce Pena, 2000. The “D.S” was a fellow poet and friend of the author’s. After Kathleen shared the poem with this friend, she told Katheen that Debussy was her favorite composer, something unknown to the author before that moment.

 

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

The poem “BREAD FROM THE HEART” echoes the author’s opinion that a poet is more than a skilled writer. Margaret believed that a sense of the poetic is not something that can be learned. It must be innate.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

In some nations, poets are national heroes, in others they occupy a much lower rank. In “THE PERENNIAL ALSO RAN,” the author describes the second.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“IN THE SILENCE” was the author’s solution to writer’s block. Someone told her, “If you feel you can’t write, write about that.” This poem first appeared in the author’s chapbook, Chameleon Woman, published in 2000.

 

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Author’s Notes

 

 

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“YEARNING (From the Snow Forest)” was published 1974 in Bitterroot, An International Poetry Quarterly, and again in 1975 in The Pen Women.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

In ‘BOONDOCKS”, the author explores another “borrowed” word of the English language. This word fascinated the author as a child when the word “boon” was as yet unknown to her. She felt, then, that the word sounded like baby talk.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“THE TOUCH OF YELLOW” is another poem from the author’s series entitled “A Singular Prism.” For the author, yellow is the color of joy which is appropriate for the first day of the first month in Spring.

 

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Author’s Notes

 

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“REAR VIEW” was published in Treasures of Parnassus, Best Poems of 1962 and in Ipso Facto, an International Poetry Society Anthology. It is included for Red Cross Month for the work they do to help the homeless. The event described did occur when the poet was out driving. It is possible that the person reminded her of Charlie, a WWI veteran with PTSD. She often saw him drunkenly slumped in doorways when she was a child.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

In “CONFUSION ALL AROUND”, the author continues her exploration of the problems homonyms create.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“PAPER DOLL” is the title poem for one of the author’s chapbooks published in 2000. She drew upon her childhood memories of playing with paper dolls for many of the images used. It appears this week in honor of Women’s History Month.

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“A TALE FROM KILLARNEY”. This light verse was probably first suggested in a poetry workshop and later may have been chosen to join a series of poems she and her daughter were assembling as the work of a fictitious poet, Ariadne Garbishe, for a piece of satire regarding the awarding of prizes to poems of questionable merit.

REFRACTIONS

“IRISH?”–Robert Roxby was happy to be welcomed into his wife’s Irish heritage and this poem reflects that enthusiasm.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“THE PUB BY THE WEIR” is essentially a summary of what the author saw when she watched the play, The Weir by Conor McPherson. An early version of this piece was sent to the theater in appreciation of the excellent performances and staging.

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“BUTTERFLY FLOWN” was written after the poet heard a reading focused on Pavlova. The poet’s daughter remembers her mother talking about the impact of Pavlova, almost as if her mother had seen the dancer perform in person. This poem was found among the poet’s papers, dated 1992. She had submitted it for review to her Round Robin team, a group of fellow poets. They had suggestions for editing. There is no evidence the poet ever rewrote the poem.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

“THE CONSONANT CONUMDRUM”. This piece reflects the author’s childhood learning experience.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“AS IN ROYAL ELEGANCE” was written after the author attended her ten-year high school reunion and is part of a series.

 

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“DISCOVERY, THE GREAT ADVENTURE, THE WONDER SPELL” was published in 1984 in Reaching High, California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Prize Winners. This poem appears in honor of Women’s History Month. Helen Keller came to the author’s high school and spoke in Margaret’s classroom, for by that time Helen had learned to use her voice. The author never would forget that visit, later reading what Helen had written as well.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

“MORE FUN WITH HOMONYMS”. This is just one of several blogs the author will write concerning homonyms.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“EN LA PLAZA DE MAYO” was written after seeing a documentary a circumstance that happened in Argentina. In the period between 1976 and 1983 thousands of people were killed or disappeared, including babies.  In 1977 the mothers of the vanished young people began to walk in the main plaza of Buenos Aires (Plaza de Mayo) as a way to call attention to this terrible fact and to get the government to release the names of those removed and their fates. Their march became international news. Eventually names were released, though many say the list is incomplete. Families continue to search for answers. The poet wrote the poem in elementary Spanish present tense because it was the only verb tense she felt she could be certain would be written correctly. She was taking a refresher course in conversational Spanish for a trip to South America at the time. It is included this month in honor of Women’s History. This poem first appeared in the chapbook, “Tangent Allusion” published in 2001.

 

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“SELMA”. The author wrote this poem in 1965 in reaction to what she had seen and heard during the Civil Rights March in the city of Selma, Alabama. In one of the television reports, the words “dog spelled backward is god” was said. This phrase found itself into her dream and this poem. This selection is included for this National Black History Month.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

“ANOTHER ODD COUPLING” continues the theme of paired words begun last week.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“THERE IS A PAIN WHICH IS NOT MY PAIN, AND YET IS”. This is one of the poet’s depression poems written sometime in the late 1960s through most of the 1970s. It seemed an appropriate poem to follow “SELMA” which appears this week.

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“WEDDING”. This poem was inspired by the poet’s honeymoon in February 1941. They left the wedding reception and drove into an unexpected blizzard.

KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby

“ODD COUPLE.” February is the month when “pairing” is a topic for February 14. This suggested to the author the circumstances where certain words almost always appear together.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“LOVING” was written after viewing a televised version of the play, A Painting of Churches. The scene described occurred near the finale of the play. Years later, a friend used this poem, slightly revised as part of the fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration for her parents. All the participants received a copy of the poem as a keepsake.

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