Enjoy poetry for rhyme and reason

   Happy Saint Columba's Day/May di-verse blessings come your way/Poetic justice that would be/For this patron saint of poetry.
   OK, it's corny. But what better way to honor the blessed bard than with at least a feeble attempt at a poem?
   According to legend, St. Columba, an Irish missionary, died June 9, 597 while reading the psalms and the church declared him the patron saint of poetry. He will be honored with proper glory at a special Mass this Sunday at St. Columba's Episcopal Church of Suwanee. (saintcolumba.net) 
   But you don't have to be religious to celebrate St. Columba's feast day any more than you need to be religious to send flowers on St. Valentine's Day or wear green on St. Patrick's Day. In fact, late this afternoon, I'll be getting together with a bunch of friends to celebrate the beauty of poetry in his honor. We'll each bring a favorite poem to share and I am expecting that the di-verse-ity of the ladies involved will provide lively con-verse-ation.
   Maggie Hunt-Cohn, an 86-year-old local poet will probably bring one of her own creations. Eight-year-old Steffi Zwarg of Lilburn said she's looking for a poem about sailing, a favorite activity. My friend Susan Abken, a harpist, suggested to her daughters, Elise, age 12 and Carol, age 10 that they could bring verse from the Harry Potter books if they wished. She said Elise retorted, "Mom, I can do better than that!" 
   As I write, I'm still not sure which poem I'm going to share. When I was child my dad gave me some tattered poems he'd tucked in his wallet to comfort him while serving in World War II. With D-Day so close behind, it might be appropriate to share one of those. But then I have so many favorites of my own. As a child my favorite was "October's Party" by George Cooper. In high school, during the beatnik era, I memorized poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Koch, which I recited at parties while my friend Marty Hanlon played his bongo drums. Well, at the time it was cool. 
   As a teacher's aide in college, I got hooked on Aileen Fisher and her talent for painting with words. "I like days with a snow white collar and nights when the moon is a silver dollar…"I used to love reading her poems to both my kindergartners and fifth graders. 
   My college roommate and I discovered Mary O'Neill's "Hailstones and Halibut Bones," a collection of poems about colors. We used to read it aloud to each other and brainstorm about all the creative activities it could inspire when we became teachers. I know I got my money's worth out of it and the book is still on my library shelf.
   I don't know yet which poem I'll bring/But I think it would be a wonderful thing/If everyone would stress allay/with a favorite poem for St. Columba's Day.


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