By Christina Freitas
Everyone leaves traces of themselves, ideas and actions, impressions carved into the ever-expanding portrait that we call life. Across histories and continents, there have always been those whose stamp reflects upon those words that they bestow upon the world, cornerstones of a life spent connecting humanity, a population more alike than it may recognize in our troubled times. If anyone has accomplished this monumental task, the late Kate Barnes is one such individual, whose poetic lines strike straight to the core of all that makes us human, fears, dreams, and all.
Born in 1932, Kate Barnes, daughter of Henry Beston and Elizabeth Coatsworth, was perhaps destined to become a writer, with both parents practicing the art themselves. Her poetry had already begun appearing in literary magazines in her early twenties, sparking what would become a life of treasured literary works.
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| Where The Deer Were |
She was named Maine’s first poet laureate in the 1980s and, over her long career, could claim four published poetry collections for her own –
Talking in Your Sleep (1985) and
Crossing the Field (1992), published by Blackberry Books, as well as two titles published by Godine,
Where the Deer Were (1994) and
Kneeling Orion (2004). Barnes passed away earlier this month and with her, an irreplaceable artistic force has been lost. Yet her words live on and with them, an echo of herself.
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| Kneeling Orion |
Just perusing her most recent poetry collection,
Kneeling Orion, I am both struck and humbled by the effortless grace with which she connects phrases and creates simple images, embracing nature and twining its beauty together with the daily routines, and struggles, of herself, her family, and ultimately all of mankind. Her pen serves as the vessel, the tool, through which we can dip our toe into her world and find ourselves immersed, awed, and hopelessly, though never needlessly, in love.
Every image, no matter how simple, appears as the prettiest wildflower on the page, from the broad mountains to the simple picture of a dog greeting its master, or a child playing in the kitchen. In each poem we encounter love, family, the simultaneous fear and awe of time. They are happening to others, mothers and fathers and daughters, and yet they are our fears, our hopes, and our dreams exposed on the page all the same.
As poet and master of the page, Barnes weaves together threads of our own collective consciousness, to remind us that we are, and always will be, creatures linked not only to one another, but also to nature, the spirit that provides for us all. It is her command of the seemingly simplistic, her ability to expand this idea into a universal truth, a common human bond through compassion, or fear, or loss, which is a gift often unique to poets, and certainly unique to Barnes herself.
Like those individuals scripted into her literary creations, Barnes is forever present in her works, a gentle guide and a kindred spirit. Though her imaginative, intelligent spark will be missed, her life and work remains as much a blessing as ever before, an eternal reminder of the power of words, and art, to unite the human experience. And we thank her for the literary gifts she has graced us with.
You can purchase both of Kate Barnes’ collections with Godine,
Where the Deer Were and
Kneeling Orion, on our
website. To learn more about Barnes or to hear audio excerpts from readings and interviews, you can visit
her page on the Poetry in Maine website.
1. Cut out a five inch square of tissue paper. You'll want to twist and then tie the four corners with a slip of thread. It's recommended that you make each thread about eight inches long, to ensure the twists hold. 
1. You can use either wrapping paper or writing paper, depending on what materials you have readily at hand. You'll want to cut your paper into circular spiral forms, as demonstrated in the picture.
. . . In Le Clézio's characteristically intimate, poetic voice, the narrative relates both the dazzled enthusiasm the child feels at discovering newfound freedom in the African savannah and his torment at discovering the rigid authoritarian nature of his father. The power and beauty of the book reside in the fact that both discoveries occur simultaneously. While primarily a memoir of the author's boyhood, The African is also Le Clézio's attempt to pay a belated homage to the man he met for the first time in Africa at age eight. . . .
. . . The vacationers arrive as they always have, a sampling of Jewish middle-class life: the impresario Dr. Pappenheim, his musicians, and their conductor; the gay Frau Tsauberblit; the historian, Dr. Fussholdt, and his much younger wife; the "readers," twins whose passion for Rilke is featured on their program; a child prodigy; a commercial traveler; a rabbi. The list waxes as the summer wanes. To receive them in the town are the pharmacist and his worried wife, the hotelier and his large staff, the pastry shop owner and his irritable baker, Sally and Gertie (two quite respectable prostitutes), and, mysteriously, the bland inspectors from the "Sanitation Department." . . .
. . . In this selection of five of his finest narrative poems, all his essential qualities are on display – his ironic poise, his stylistic variety, his confounding of expectations, his creation of poetry out of everyday language. "The Gypsies" is modern Russian literature's first masterpiece. Telling the anti-Romantic tale of an effete city-dweller whose search for "unspoiled" values among a band of gypsies ends in tragedy. . . .
What’s great about the summer program is that participants
who might have found November too hectic can now take advantage of all the
glorious free time that comes with summer vacation (when they’re not swimming
or going to cookouts or, you know, actually camping). This year the April
challenge has come and gone, but it’s not too late to prepare for July! You can
head to the Camp NaNoWriMo website right now to choose a cabin,
post a blurb for your novel, and chat with other campers. As soon as the clock
strikes midnight on July 1st, you can start pounding out those
50,000 words.
