Happy Birthday, poem and drawing by Shel Silverstein

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
by Shel Silverstein

So what if nobody came?
I’ll have ALL the ice cream and tea,
And I’ll laugh with myself,
And I’ll dance with myself,
And I’ll sing, “Happy Birthday to me!”

…And on the first birthday of the Silver Birch Press blog, we would like to extend our appreciation to comic genius Shel Silverstein for his fun, uplifting poetry — and for providing some of our most popular posts of the past year.

Drawing: “Happy Birthday to me!” by Shel Silverstein, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

First Birthday, poem by Brad Leithauser

FIRST BIRTHDAY
by Brad Leithauser

You have your one word, which fills you to brimming.
It’s what’s first to be done on waking,
Often the last at day-dimming:
Lunge out an arm fiercely,
As though your heart were breaking,
Stab a finger at some stray illumination —
Lamp, mirror, distant dinner candle —
And make your piercing identification,

“‘ight! ‘ight! ‘ight!”
Littlest digit, you’ve got the world by the handle.
Things must open for you, you take on height,
Your sole sound in time reveal itself
As might, too, and flight. And fright.
Some will be gone. But you will come right. 

Happy 1st Birthday to the Silver Birch Press Blog

On the first birthday of the Silver Birch Press blog — June 24, 2013 — we’d like to thank our visitors for spending time with us. A sincere thank you to our valued guests from 144 geographic designations around the world (listed in order of number of visits): 

United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, India, Brazil, Poland, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Turkey, Belgium, Sweden, Philippines, Greece, Japan, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Argentina, Ireland, Finland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Singapore, Switzerland, Romania, Indonesia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Norway, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Colombia, Denmark, Malaysia, Israel, South Africa, Pakistan, Thailand, Bulgaria, Chile, United Arab Emirates, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Peru, Egypt, Ukraine, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cyprus, Puerto Rico, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya, Luxembourg, Albania, Viet Nam, Latvia, Jordan, Estonia, Uruguay, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco, Panama, Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Malta, American Samoa, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Moldova, Guatemala, Nigeria, Belarus, United Republic of Tanzania, Bahrain, Mauritius, Algeria, Iraq, Mongolia, Paraguay, Montenegro, Palestinian Territory–Occupied, Honduras, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nepal, El Salvador, China, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Guam, Iceland, Cayman Islands, Greenland, Mozambique, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Bermuda, Saint Lucia, Uganda, Bahamas, Maldives, Libya, Réunion, Oman, Sudan, Jersey, Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Barbados, Macao, Micronesia, Federated States of Martinique, Namibia, Burkina Faso, Guyana, Cambodia, Mayotte, Congo, Botswana, Zambia, Senegal, Grenada, Aruba, Guernsey, Ghana     

We share a slice of birthday cake with each of you! 

Moon Haiku by Matsunaga Teitoku

MOON HAIKU
by Matsunaga Teitoku (1571-1654)

Many solemn nights
Blond moon, we stand and marvel…
Sleeping our noons away. 

PHOTO: The moon rises behind the helicopter from the original Batman television show, which people can ride at the New Jersey State Fair, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in East Rutherford, N.J.  (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The Heart of the Moon, quote by Haruki Murakami

 

“The moon had been observing the earth close-up longer than anyone. It must have witnessed all of the phenomena occurring – and all of the acts carried out – on this earth. But the moon remained silent; it told no stories. All it did was embrace the heavy past with a cool, measured detachment. On the moon there was neither air nor wind. Its vacuum was perfect for preserving memories unscathed. No one could unlock the heart of the moon.” HARUKI MURAKAMI, 1Q84

PHOTO: Fans sit as the moon rises behind them during the Los Angeles Angels’ baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Anaheim, California. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Just One Moon, quote by Haruki Murakami

“There was just one moon. That familiar, yellow, solitary moon. The same moon that silently floated over fields of pampas grass, the moon that rose–a gleaming, round saucer–over the calm surface of lakes, that tranquilly beamed down on the rooftops of fast-asleep houses. The same moon that brought the high tide to shore, that softly shone on the fur of animals and enveloped and protected travelers at night. The moon that, as a crescent, shaved slivers from the soul–or, as a new moon, silently bathed the earth in its own loneliness. THAT moon.”

HARUKI MURAKAMI, 1Q84

PHOTO: A full moon rises through a hazy sky past a string of green lights, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in Baltimore, Maryland. The moon reached its full stage on Sunday morning, June 23rd, when it was 13.5 percent closer to earth during a phenomenon known as supermoon. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The Moon, poem by Robert Louis Stevenson

THE MOON
by Robert Louis Stevenson

The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbour quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house,
The bat that lies in bed at noon,
All love to be out by the light of the moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day
Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;
And flowers and children close their eyes
Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.

PHOTO: A “supermoon“– closer to the Earth than normal and appearing 14% larger — rises behind roadside plants growing in Prattville, Ala., Saturday, June 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

The Dogs at Live Oak Beach, Santa Cruz: poem by Alicia Ostriker

THE DOGS AT LIVE OAK BEACH, SANTA CRUZ
by Alicia Ostriker

As if there could be a world
Of absolute innocence
In which we forget ourselves
 
The owners throw sticks
And half-bald tennis balls
Toward the surf
And the happy dogs leap after them
As if catapulted—
 
Black dogs, tan dogs,
Tubes of glorious muscle—
 
Pursuing pleasure
More than obedience
They race, skid to a halt in the wet sand,
Sometimes they’ll plunge straight into
The foaming breakers
 
Like diving birds, letting the green turbulence
Toss them, until they snap and sink
 
Teeth into floating wood
Then bound back to their owners
Shining wet, with passionate speed
For nothing,
For absolutely nothing but joy.

“The Dogs at Live Beach, Santa Cruz” appears in Alicia Ostriker’s collection The Little Space: Poems Selected and New, 1968-1998 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998), available at Amazon.com.

Photo: “Retriever at Live Oak Beach, Santa Cruz” by Christopher Matthews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Golden Retrievals, poem by Mark Doty

GOLDEN RETRIEVALS
by Mark Doty

Fetch? Balls and sticks capture my attention
seconds at a time. Catch? I don’t think so.
Bunny, tumbling leaf, a squirrel who’s—oh
joy—actually scared. Sniff the wind, then

I’m off again: muck, pond, ditch, residue
of any thrillingly dead thing. And you?
Either you’re sunk in the past, half our walk,
thinking of what you never can bring back,

or else you’re off in some fog concerning
—tomorrow, is that what you call it? My work:
to unsnare time’s warp (and woof!), retrieving,
my haze-headed friend, you. This shining bark,

a Zen master’s bronzy gong, calls you here,
entirely, now: bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.

“Golden Retrievals” appears in Mark Doty’s collection Sweet Machine: Poems, available at Amazon.com.

PAINTING: “Corbi,” watercolor by Susan Crouch.

The Power of Words, New Yorker cartoon by Drew Dernavich

CAPTION: “You’ll have to phrase it another way. They have no word for ‘fetch.'”

CREDIT: New Yorker cartoon by Drew Dernavich, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED