Sweet Caroline

Caroline Kennedy signing my copy of her new poetry anthology

How like royalty she is

And I can’t help wonder to myself,

amazed at seeing a small piece of history

right in front of me

                                          (She Walks in Beauty)

And she shares her passion for words;

the power of poetry to

shape us, to share with us,

the common folk

just like her, really

                                                         (The World is so full of a number of things)

caring for our children

and a world that

clamors and clangs at them

                                          (I Corinthians Chapter 13)

and she claims (arightly)

that beauty and words

have a way of love-ing up the world

and she urges us, encourages us

inspires us with her stories

from her living room

                                          (Uncle Teddy reciting Paul Revere’s Ride)

and I’m convinced anew

that the way of life and words

which bring wonder to this world

                                           (Bring Me all of Your Dreams)

are worth the time it takes

to put it down on paper

and share with our loyal subjects—

kings and priests and children all.

We all need some poems to learn by heart.

~~~~~~

in order: William Blake, Robert Louis Stevenson, the Apostle Paul, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Langston Hughes, all included in her book.
~~~~~~

Caroline Kennedy was in Seattle for National Poetry Month, 2013, where she spoke and inspired this poem