Parting is such sweet sorrow...

To all my faithful readers:
Well, the time has arrived.  I leave in a few days, and the hustle and bustle of packing is on.  I may not have time to post in between now and Monday when I leave, so this is good-bye.
I have thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  The fact that you are reading my blog is yet another proof that the love of poetry has not entirely left this world.  for that I am most thankful.  Thank you for reading, and for sharing in one of my great loves.
In parting, here are a few quotes on poets and their children - poems.

"He who draws noble delights from sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life."
George Sand

"The smell of ink is intoxicating to me - others may have wine, but I have poetry."
Terri Guillemets

"The poet doesn't invent.  He listens."
Jean Cocteau

"To have great poets there must be great audiences too."
Walt Whitman

"Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet, and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To a poet, poetry is paramount; it is to him nourishment, shelter and love: nourishment to his eternally hungering soul, shelter from the cruelties of mortality, and love when there is no other love to be found.  To him poetry is life, and life is poetry."
David Jamison

International Poet...

The Internet is a marvelous tool.  The scope it can reach is astounding.  In the past six months my blog has been viewed, not only in my own country, (the United States,) but in Russia, Germany, Macedonia, Sweden and Thailand!  Before I started this blog, my poetry had reached very few outside my own family and friends, and now people I have never met on three different continents are reading the things I write!  It is truly a wonder, and one that too often we take for granted.
I don't have much else to say on the matter, except thank you to all those who have ventured forth and taken upon themselves to join me in my celebration of the great wonder that is poetry.

P.S.  Three continents down, four more to go!

Thoughts on poetry?

So, I know how I feel about poetry; I think it's quite obvious since I am writing a blog on the subject.  But what are your thoughts and feelings about poetry?  What place does it occupy in your life?  What kinds do you like or dislike?  Do you prefer to write it, read it, or both?
It's always nice to discover how others feel about your passions and interests.  If you have the time, please comment and share your thoughts and feelings with me.
Wishing all of my readers a wonderful day!

Poetry Challenge

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers!  If you are reading this somewhere other than the USA, well Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
On this day it is traditional to count your blessings, remember what you have been given, and to give thanks.  So in honor of this day, I hereby challenge and invite you to join me in giving thanks in a new way, namely by writing a poem.  The topic: something that you are personally thankful for, or just gratitude in general.  I have already started mine, and will try to post it tomorrow.
If you take me up on my challenge and would like to have your poem displayed on this page, just email me a copy at poetsdesk@gmail.com, or place it in a comment to this post.  I will review any I receive, and will post them as long as they are appropriate.

P.S.  I am thankful for poetry, the heartbeat of creation.

Like it? Share it!

First off, thanks to all those who have come here and read my work.  It's satisfying to have people pay attention to your efforts.  I hope that you have enjoyed reading my thoughts and poetry as much as I've enjoyed writing them.
Second, if you like what you see here, please let others know about my blog.  My whole reason for starting this blog was to share the gifts I've been given and my love for poetry with others.  Thank you for helping me in that quest!

Novel Idea

So the other day I had a new idea on how to share poetry.  I was geocaching with a cousin, (for more on geocaching, see www.geocaching.com,) and didn't have anything to leave in the cache.  So I decided to write down a copy of a poem of mine and put it inside.
If there are any geocachers out there reading this, you might try placing a poem (one of your own or just one you like,) out there.  If you do, I'd love to hear how it goes.

Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms

As I work on compiling my new book of love poetry, I am also reading an increased amount of love poems by other poets.  Here is one that over the years has never failed to touch me.  I even once wrote a poem inspired by it.  Here it is, an example of what true love is all about.

Believe me if all those endearing young charms,
which I gaze on so fondly today,
were to change by tomorrow and fleet in my arms
like fairy gifts fading away;
thou would'st still be adored as this moment thou art,
let thy loveliness fade as it will,
and around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own
and thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear
that the ferver and faith of a soul can be known
to which time will but make thee more dear;
no the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
but as truly loves on to the close,
as the sunflower turns on her god when he sets
the same look which she'd turned when he rose.

Thomas Moore

Welcome to This Poet's Desk!

Greetings!  Welcome to my blog; the world's newest (as of this millisecond,) blog on poetry.  I have been writing and enjoying poetry for over a decade now, and decided to start my own blog on this, one of my favorite subjects.  My purpose here will be to share my love for good poetry with you and everyone else out there.  Here you will find some of my own poetry, poems that I've found and want to share, and my musings on poetry in general.  So feel free to look around, enjoy the world of poetry through my eyes, and return whenever you need a break from the race that we call life.