Articles About First Lines

• First Lines — Many human hearts

  By Audrey HackettDecember 28, 2020

  

  “Completing the harvest” of two years of poetry columns in the News, a final column of thanks to poets and readers. Eighteen local and regional poets have appeared in this space.

• First Lines — Perfect as they are

  By Audrey HackettSeptember 3, 2020

  

  We have bugs on our porch. Lots of them. Not just the usual ants and spiders — but monarch butterflies, in all stages of their lives.

• First Lines — What remains

  By Audrey HackettAugust 1, 2020

  

  In the July column, a delicate and image-rich poem by Delaware, Ohio, poet Kip Knott. What is our place in the world? Can the question be transcended, or better — simply let go?

• First Lines — Heart of compassion

  By Audrey HackettJune 18, 2020

  

  Amid the turmoil on Earth, have you looked at the stars? Villager Tim Morand contributes this month’s poem, a meditation on compassion, the shifts in human life and the grandeur of the night sky.

• First Lines — Staggered

  By Audrey HackettMay 1, 2020

  

  This month, this strange month, this unforgettable month, has been in some ways so sweet. This sweet world is as much the world as the frightening one is. April’s poetry column, written from lockdown, with a poem by column editor Audrey Hackett.

• First Lines — ‘Underground river of poetry’

  By Audrey HackettApril 2, 2020

  

  The poetry of spring is gushing forth — the poetry of eternal spring, and the poetry of this strange spring, virus-tossed, virus-laced. A visionary poem by villager Robert Paschell, from the March column.

• First Lines — An ‘old soul’ poem

  By Audrey HackettMarch 15, 2020

  

  Were you an “old soul” as a child? You may find yourself seen and understood by villager Ben Cronin’s delicate poem, from the February column.

• First Lines — ‘And the heart calls me …’

  By Audrey HackettFebruary 7, 2020

  

  Who am I, really? A contemplative poem by villager Khara Scott-Bey explores self-definition to the edges of identity, and beyond.

• First Lines — JOY JOY JOY

  By Audrey HackettJanuary 10, 2020

  

  A poem from a former villager, the late Jean Barlow Hudson. Strange, dreamlike, filled with somberness and joy, Jean’s poem helps us welcome the turning of the year.

• First Lines — Poetry of the sleeping breath

  By Audrey HackettDecember 6, 2019

  

  The voice of the dog. Simple, straightforward. And then, like a child who speaks an uncanny truth, soulful. Two “poems for dogs” from villager Artie Isaac.