18 Comments
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Celeste Curran's avatar

What a lovely piece. Thank you.

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Katrina Schickel's avatar

Beautiful is the only word that comes to mind…

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Amy Dickinson's avatar

A certain someone says he would like to ride in the trees again. So let's have an ambulance standing by ...

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Dori Berger Wozniak's avatar

Thanks for sharing Frost’s poem. It has been a long time since I last enjoyed the imagery. Family lore includes tales of one of my brothers “riding a young tree down”. It always evokes smiles. Also, the sounds of the trees reminds me not of hissing, but of one of my favorite words-susurration-hearing the leaves whispering and murmuring.

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Amy Dickinson's avatar

"Susurration." A new word for me. And it's one of those words that sounds like what it is describing. Thank you!

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Debby's avatar

We have 6 bird feeders in our back yard here in southwest Ohio, and the red-winged blackbirds visit us every day. A half dozen or so. I'm glad you love them, too. We've counted 16 species of birds in our yard this year, so far.

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Vhc's avatar

I appreciate your writing, but I do not appreciate your comments that GK was "cancelled". He was fired from MPR for numerous incidents of sexual harassment both on PHC and in his bookstore. It's a tragedy; his work was so good in so many ways. But it was also inimical to women. No one should get a free pass. I've read the reports by MPR (see them at: https://www.mprnews.org/minnesota/keillor), and have heard my music teacher's brother talk about his experiences playing on PHC. The stories are true, and it's not cancelling when the perp is guilty.

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Amy Dickinson's avatar

Thank you for your comment. As someone who worked for NPR at the time, I read the accounts of GK's atrocious behavior and thought his fate was completely deserved. Is there another word to use for when this happens?

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Vhc's avatar

I thought you were defending GK, that cancelling always means the charges were fake. I guess I'd say "his career was ended for misconduct". I think something like that comes closer to saying he was rightfully punished. Does that make sense to you?

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Amy Dickinson's avatar

How like GK to pull focus from the point of my essay (!), which is about a poem called "Birches." To me, cancelling does not mean that charges are unfounded or that a person is not guilty. I have literally never heard that or thought that.

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Vhc's avatar

That's helpful... I'll be more aware of your definition the next time I see it..... and now back to Robert Frost!!

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Kim Johnson's avatar

The above conversation alit with respectful resolution. Thank you!

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Cass's avatar

One of my favorite poems. Why say NPR has turned to mush?

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Claudia Weist's avatar

Amy, thank you for sharing this lovely poem.

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Elise Bardsley's avatar

This is lovely! 💗

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Michele's avatar

Your walk found a red-wing blackbird's song. My walk found an angry oriole, protecting her nest and dive-bombing me from behind. And me running like a chicken out of there!

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darby bayliss's avatar

I have never read this Frost poem and am so glad that now I have!

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Amy Dickinson's avatar

It's SO beautiful. I'm happy I could bring it to you.

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