Saturday, April 30, 2022

Filling the Well: Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Joyce, and Brandon Oldenburg

 
 
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.
 
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
 
 "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"
(Oscar winner for best animated short 2012)
Written by William Joyce
Directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
 

Thank you for coming along on my Filling the Well journey for National Poetry Month. I've appreciated the company, as well as all the comments, emails, and poems these posts inspired! I hope you are feeling refreshed and have found something beautiful, interesting, joyful, or curious to take with you. If you missed or would like to revisit any of this month's posts, you'll find them listed below. Browse through all of the Filling the Well posts from the last two years by clicking on "Filling the Well" in the sidebar list to the right.
 
Be well and be kind to yourself. 
          –Michelle



April 30: Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Joyce, and Brandon Oldenburg
 
 

Friday, April 29, 2022

Filling the Well: Jennifer Clement, Henry Cuyler Bunner, & Tori Amos (Arbor Day)

 
Remember
the tree is older than you are
and you might find stories 
in its branches.
 
– Jennifer Clement, from "Lemon Tree"
 
Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day. Since it is Arbor Day as well, I've chosen "Lemon Tree" as my #PocketPoem. You can find it in its entirety HERE.
 
The Arbor Day Foundation is celebrating 50 years of planting and distributing nearly 500 million trees to more than 50 countries around the world.
 
 
The Heart of the Tree
               Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855-1896)
What does he plant who plants a tree?

  He plants a friend of sun and sky;

He plants the flag of breezes free;

  The shaft of beauty, towering high;

  He plants a home to heaven anigh;

     For song and mother-croon of bird

     In hushed and happy twilight heard—

The treble of heaven's harmony—

These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?

  He plants cool shade and tender rain,

And seed and bud of days to be,

  And years that fade and flush again;

     He plants the glory of the plain;

     He plants the forest's heritage;

     The harvest of a coming age;

The joy that unborn eyes shall see—

These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?

  He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,

In love of home and loyalty

  And far-cast thought of civic good—

  His blessings on the neighborhood,

     Who in the hollow of His hand

           Holds all the growth of all our land—

A nation's growth from sea to sea

Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.
 
 
Tori Amos
"Speaking With Trees" from Ocean to Ocean
 Tori Amos talks about "Speaking With Trees" HERE.


 
 "How Trees Secretly Talk to Each Other in the Forest"





 

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of April. (I guess I was able to manage a full month of daily posts after all!) Jone Rush MacCulloch is hosting our final Poetry Friday roundup of National Poetry Month 2022 and sharing her beautiful, meditative poem from IMPERFECT II. See you there!
 
 
 

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Filling the Well: Nellie Bly, Pufferfish, and Danny MacAskill

 
Easter Island, photo by Andrea Vera Sasso

 
 Energy rightly applied and directed
will accomplish anything.

– Nellie Bly
 
 
"Puffer Fish Constructs a Masterpiece of Love" 

 
 
 "Danny MacAskill: The Ridge"
 

 
 

April 12: Beverly Cleary
 
 

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Filling the Well: Rumi and Paul Smith

 
"By The Sea" by Paul Smith

 
Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
 
– Rumi
 
 
(1921-2007)

 
 View more of Paul Smith's work at his Facebook page or on YouTube.


 

April 12: Beverly Cleary
 
 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Filling the Well: Edith Wharton and Valérian Desterne

 
 
My little old dog:
A heart-beat
At my feet

– Edith Wharton
 
 
 
"After the Rain"
A short animated film by Valérian Desterne
 
 
 
 

April 12: Beverly Cleary
 
 

Monday, April 25, 2022

Filling the Well: Romain Rolland, Georges Lemmen, NASA, and The Jive Aces

 
 
 If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he must first of all have it within himself.
 
 – Romain Rolland
 
 
 
 
 
The Jive Aces
"Bring Me Sunshine" from King of the Swingers
 
 
 
 

April 12: Beverly Cleary
 
 

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Filling the Well: Victor Hugo and Eugène Carrière

 
"The Contemplator" (1901)          Eugène Carrière

 
What makes night within us may leave stars.

–Victor Hugo

According to the Cleveland Museum of Art website, "in this painting Carrière captures the atmosphere of Victor Hugo's poems through his expressive brushstrokes and monochromatic palette."



April 12: Beverly Cleary
 

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Filling the Well: William Shakespeare, Marc Colagiovanni, and Peter H. Reynolds

 
"Dissociation" by Layne.

 
This above all: to thine own self be true.
 
– William Shakespeare, from Hamlet
 
 
"The Reflection in ME"
Written by Marc Colagiovanni, Art by Peter H. Reynolds

 
 
 

April 12: Beverly Cleary

 

Friday, April 22, 2022

Filling the Well: Emily Dickinson and Louie Schwartzberg (Earth Day)

 
 
 
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
 
 
 
Read Emily Dickinson's advice on prairie restoration at WingraSprings.
 
 
 "The Beauty of Pollination" 
 
 
Meet the artist who is painting 50,000 bees to raise awareness of their plight HERE.
 
 
 

April 12: Beverly Cleary
 
 
The Progressive Poem is a crowd favorite during National Poetry Month. Today it's making its 22nd stop at Reflections on the Teche, where Margaret Simon is also hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup. 
 
You'll find the National Poetry Month kidlit events roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup.