Charles Ghigna on Poery from Daily Life

Hi everyone,

Today I’m glad to say that my guest columnist on Poetry from Daily Life is CHARLES GHIGNA, who many know as FATHER GOOSE. His message is entitled “The Eye of the Poet” and in it he provides six steps to seeing like a poet. If you don’t take the Springfield News-Leader of Columbia Tribune, here’s a link to take you directly to today’s article. https://www.news-leader.com/in-depth/entertainment/2023/12/03/poetry-from-daily-life-seeing-with-eyes-of-poet/71759295007/

Charles is the 5th contributor to this new weekly column. I led off, followed by TED KOOSER (Nebraska), MARYFRANCES WAGNER (Kansas City area), MARILYN SINGER New (York/Connecticut), and now Charles Ghigna (Alabama).

We have enough poets, professors, and teachers from across the United States standing by to carry us into 2025. In the last two weeks we’ve added poets from Canada and England. Thank you for looking for us in the Sunday editions of News-Leader and Columbia Tribune or clicking on the link to take you straight to the week’s column.

Please let the newspapers that carry us know if you are enjoying Poetry from Daily Life. They need to hear from you. Who doesn’t want to hear well deserved expressions of gratitude? If you have contacts at newspapers in other parts of the country, consider using your influence to help us get started with them by having them contact me and/or AMOS BRIDGES, Editor-in-Chief, Springfield News-Leader. Few poetry columns anywhere provide more practical information about poetry. I suggest that you keep the weekly links in a folder for future reference because this is going to be a valuable asset for those with an interest in writing their own poetry or learning more about appreciating the work of others.

Charles Ghigna to appear on “Poetry from Daily Life”

Hi everyone,

This week’s guest on “Poetry from Daily Life” is CHARLES GHIGNA – Father Goose ®, who lives in Homewood, Alabama.

Charles has been a writer for fifty years and is one of the most prolific, involved poets I know. He has authored more than 100 books and 5,000 poems and given readings at The Library of Congress and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Learn more about Charles and what he has to tell us about poetry tomorrow (Sunday, December 3). I’ll post the link to the article in News-Leader and Columbia Tribune as soon as I receive it. Thank you in advance, Charles!

Arranging priorities

Hi everyone,

Yesterday was a good day for finding ideas. The first came while watching a taped segment of Saturday Night Live. It’s not really an idea for a story but a way to tell a story that appealed to me. I’ve tucked it away until I think of a way to use it. The second came from reading the newspaper. I think I’ll get a book going based on that one. Earlier in the week I was reading about a subject I’m working on with Charles Ghigna and stumbled across a somewhat related idea that also appeals to me.

I don’t know when I’m going to have time for any of these new thoughts. I still have one that came from kidding around with Jeff last time we were in Florida together. Jane Yolen and I have the beginning of a collaboration waiting for us to both have time to finish. On the flights to and from New York I decided to rewrite my middle grade novel with a desert setting and know how I’m going to do it so I’m eager to get back to that one. I still have a few poems and texts to write for my book with Laura Robb and any day now Mary Jo Fresch and I should hear back from our editor and learn how much tweaking, if any, he’s going to ask us to do.

Over the next few weeks I have a lot of traveling to do so it’s going to be hard to put together a lot of time in useful blocks. Writing on planes is never as practical as sitting here at the keyboard in my pajamas. Sooner or later I’ll get to all these priorities but for now I’m struggling to put them in the best order.

Two favorite poems by Charles Ghigna

BULLETIN: Please see additional poems by Charles Ghigna, which he supplied and I added after this post went up this morning.

Hi everyone,

I’m glad you enjoyed getting better acquainted yesterday with Steven Withrow. My thanks again to Steven for his informative essay. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

Today I continue the series of bringing you poems selected from the titles I bought at the recent Friends of the Library book sale in Springfield. ANIMAL TRACKS, WILD POEMS TO READ ALOUD was written by well known poet Charles Ghigna and published by Harry Abrams in 2004. I featured Charles waaaaay back on May 7, 2010 ( https://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/charles-ghigna-today ).

I’ve chosen two brief poems to share, “The Snail,” and “Fly Swatter.” My thanks to my friend, “Father Goose,” for letting me share his work.

THE SNAIL
by Charles Ghigna

Though he has no hands,
Only a tail,
Do not pity the lowly snail.

Though he has no pencil,
Or pen,
He leaves a message wherever he’s been.

(c) by Charles Ghigna, all rights reserved

FLY SWATTER
by Charles Ghigna

The house is full of flies again,
I swat them for a penny
Until there aren’t any.
Then I open the door — for more.

(c) by Charles Ghigna, all rights reserved

Hi again,

Charles answered the question concerning his total output of poems. He has now passed the 5,000 mark!!

He also asked if I would post the following three poems as examples of his more recent work. Gladly, Charles. Here they are:

My Tree House
by Charles Ghigna

Welcome to my tree house,
my free house,
my me house,

where I come to ponder,
to wonder,
to look up at the sky,

where I come to daydream,
to play dream,
to watch the clouds roll by,

where the air is fresher,
no pressure,
where treetops swish and sway,

where I come to look at
the books that
take me far away.

(c) by Charles Ghigna, all rights reserved

* * *

The Poet Tree
by Charles Ghigna

Among the tops of tulip trees
whose branches dance each spring,
there is a place of purple lace
where words like birds can sing.

Upon the breeze that stirs the leaves
in whispers made of air,
poems rise above the clouds
like songbirds singing there.

And if you listen close enough,
you can hear them too.
The trees are full of poetry
each time the wind blows through.

(c) by Charles Ghigna, all rights reserved
* * *

The Poet Tree House
by Charles Ghigna

Let’s build poems
made of rhyme
with words like ladders
we can climb,
with words that like
to take their time,

words that hammer,
words that nail,
words that saw,
words that sail,
words that whisper,
words that wail,

words that open
window door,
words that sing,
words that soar,
words that leave us
wanting more.

(c) by Charles Ghigna, all rights reserved