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Starward commented on: Content by Morningglory 2 years 12 weeks ago
And now, in this world, we: And now, in this world, we have entered a "nuclear winter" of discontent, to tweak a phrase from Shakespeare's play, Richard III.
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Starward commented on: Update by J-C4113D 2 years 12 weeks ago
Please forgive me for failing: Please forgive me for failing to acknowledge this comment.  No disrespect was intended.
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patriciajj commented on: Postcards from Eons Past (Images from the James Webb Space Telescope) by patriciajj 2 years 12 weeks ago
It is no small thing trying: It is no small thing trying to match your sublime and poetic impressions with an expression of gratitude equal to their value and depth, so I'll just say plainly:  thank you, great scholar, wordcrafter and interpreter of the cosmos, for such a generous evaluation filled with striking descriptions and profound personal experiences. That it brought forth memories of pivotal moments makes me feel that I've fulfilled an important purpose in my writing.   Your astonishing review is a gift I accept with deepest humility and immeasurable gratitude.   Sending prayers for your safety and comfort. Peace and every blessing. 
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Starward commented on: I Have Failed, But I Have Been Led Successfully Despite My Failures by J-C4113D 2 years 12 weeks ago
Thank you for your: Thank you for your understanding of this small essay, and also for writing and posting your poem, which I have just read a few moments ago.  You bestowed a great gift upon me with that mention in the Notes section.  Tp be connected to such a Poem, as stated by the great Poet herself, is a privilege of the rarest order.  Thank you so very much.
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Starward commented on: Postcards from Eons Past (Images from the James Webb Space Telescope) by patriciajj 2 years 12 weeks ago
I love to comment on a: I love to comment on a Patriciajj poem when it posts, because the posting and sharing of each of her poems is an event of importance and significance.  I think my previous comments have demonstrated my genuine admiration of this Poet and her tremendous cosmic vision; and while I am more grateful than words can express for being mentioned in the notes---quite an honor to be included---my motive for writing this comment is the same as it has been for all the other comments I have posted:  admiration for, and literary interest in, the Poet whom I believe embodies the very best aspects of postpoems as a website and a community of poets.    Reading this poem tonight is a special treat, because tomorrow I must face a painful medical procedure.  I have had several of these same procedures before, but I can never get used to them; and the night before is almost always loaded down with fears, real and imagined.  But this poem will give me some relief from that.     When I first viewed, on the nightly news, the preliminary photographs from the James Webb, I was overwhelmed by a plethora of thoughts going back to 1964, when the end credits of the series Outer Limits used to appear over a montage of astronomical photographs from (I believe, with faulty memory) Mount Palomar, which was then using a cutting edge telescope to obtain these images.  Since that time, the stars have been important to me, and the James Webb has taken us further toward them than any other human endeavor.  And one of the thoughts that kept revolving in my mind was, What will Patricia make of these?  I am not claiming to have inside knowledge of the poem's origin or the time of its appearance; but I was convinced that the photographs would provide some inspiration to her . . . because they have arisen from her chosen venue, the area of reality---human and cosmic---which she has chosen as the setting and subject of her magnificent poems.  And in her exploration and cartography of that subject, she never---and I do mean, NEVER---strikes a false note, and never strikes out.  She always knocks it right out of the park, in a textbook example (including this poem) that I would recommend to any new Poet studying the art and the craft of Poetry.      I think this poem perfectly captures the sense of awe and of inspiration that comes from viewing the JWST photographs, the same wonder that I, a six year old only child whose only siblings were books and depictions, felt when my parents' old-fashioned, twelve channel television brought before my eyes those marvelous Palomar photographs.  Astronomical photographs are not shackled by time:  they connect past, present and future; as does this poem.  The vision of outer space, and of the furthest distance, in time and physical length, that we can see---whether through the Lighthouse at Pharos, the royal observatory at Greenwich, the Hubble, or the JWST---gives us the impetus to construct cosmologies to explain what we can, and to acknowledge the mystery of what we cannot explain.  I happen to believe we are alone in this Cosmos, and that one of our specoes' vocation is to construct, extend, and adjust our cosmologies as a way for the Cosmos, into which we have been placed, to explain itself to itself.  It is not egotistical to believe this (and I can only speak for myself); it is, imstead, a good reason to restrain the ego so that it gives way to the presence of the Cosmos in our souls.     And Patricia's Poetry, of which this poem is one of her centerpiece examples, shows us how it is done.  Just as the constellations were named for poetic creations and symbols, by the astronomers (which means, star-namers; but they only assign stars to the names which the Poets have already created), so it remains a  task given to Poets to assign words and phrases in precise verbal constructions, as carefully chiselled as the finest statuary, in an explanation that Poets offer to their readers; that Patriciajj offers to us, who are privileged at postpoems to be her readers.  During the early part of my adolescence, I loved to read science fiction stories in which one or more characters seemed to have a deep connection to outer space.  I never, then, dreamed that a rare and small number of Poets, people who have really proven themselves to be Poets, retain and present that same deep connection.  Patricia is one of those poets.  I do not think that perspective can be chosen, the way, say, I might choose what necktie to wear, or what I request for supper.  The perspective that Patricia has, and that makes her so distinguished among all of us at postpoems, is a gift; it is a part of her nature, as deeply imbued in her as her DNA; and, to put a metaphysical spin on it, even more deeply imbued than DNA.     The JWST has provided us with a glimpse into the grandeur of the Cosmos.  This poem by Patriciajj is a celebration of that grandeur, and a lasting testimony to the effect upon us of that grandeur.      
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patriciajj commented on: I Have Failed, But I Have Been Led Successfully Despite My Failures by J-C4113D 2 years 12 weeks ago
The Easter egg was a: The Easter egg was a mind-boggling find and certainly no coincidence.    Yes, I've seen the images and was beyond amazed, but after reading this moving account of just how powerful they were to you, I'm considering writing a poem about the effects of these indelible images on humanity. I haven't been too inspired to write lately, but you lit a fire under me with your expression. Thank you!    Of course. Robin's egg blue. How fitting. God bless. 
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Starward commented on: The Poet and Love, by rosalind 2 years 12 weeks ago
Wow!  This is exquisitely: Wow!  This is exquisitely beautiful.  The skillful repetition of the word, Love, makes the poem seem like a litany in a ritual to which only the initiated are admitted and which they, only, fully understand.
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Starward commented on: Eschatology, 1 by J-C4113D 2 years 12 weeks ago
I am soooo sorry I failed to: I am soooo sorry I failed to acknowledge this comment in a reasonable amount of time after you posted it.  But thanks for the kind compliment.
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Starward commented on: I Have Failed, But I Have Been Led Successfully Despite My Failures by J-C4113D 2 years 12 weeks ago
Thank you so much for: Thank you so much for understanding.  Have you seen the photographs from the James Webb?  I was overwhelmed by them, and though they depicted a much more distant view, they reminded me of that night in July of 1974.  And I just can't turn my back on that.  Nor on the gift I found, like an Easter Egg (painted robin's egg blue?), in Thomas Jones' sonnet on Saint Benedict.  
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Starward commented on: The Omnipresent Grey by cerulean_soulhaze 2 years 12 weeks ago
I really like the exuberant: I really like the exuberant word-play in this poem.
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patriciajj commented on: I Have Failed, But I Have Been Led Successfully Despite My Failures by J-C4113D 2 years 13 weeks ago
Although it's always your: Although it's always your prerogative to change your name, or have as many names as you choose, I always thought your given name, Starward, best tells the story of you. It's the best signature, in my humble opinion, of your journey.   Of course, you're free to disagree with this and change your name at any time, but for now, I'm thrilled that a glimpse of unspeakable splendor brought you back to those amazing moments in your life when you touched infinity and touched Truth.   I never fail to be amazed and moved by all the signposts in your remarkable life and the poetic way you unfold them.    Thanks for sharing this.   
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J9th commented on: A Reading by owlcrkbrg 2 years 13 weeks ago
Excellent verbal sketch!  I: Excellent verbal sketch!  I have encountered many people who have the same attitude---especially about the absence of rhyme.  And, early in my adolescence, being compelled in a junior high English class to read poetry, I objected to the lack of rhyme; not realizing what a surprise I would get in junior year of high school when we were expected to read John Milton's Paradise Lost over the course of three weeks.    Though brief (which, to me, always goes to the poem's advantage), this poem raises a lot to consider.
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J9th commented on: But a Dream by starlite_angel 2 years 13 weeks ago
Quite powerful.  BTW, I sure: Quite powerful.  BTW, I sure do like the quotation from the Irish poet, A. E., on your main page.  He was the first poet of whom I ever read . . . at the tender age of seven.
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mysterypoet commented on: I Did It Perfectly by allets 2 years 13 weeks ago
Wonderous: I love the beauty in what you write. 
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J9th commented on: Musing In A Shady Wood. by sweetwater 2 years 13 weeks ago
Well, Uncle John had a: Well, Uncle John had a dufferent agenda.  But you give us verbal beauty in response to the beauty around you; he did not do that, really.
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