Go with your Inner Hermit

Having to live with problems in today's world--war in Europe and a lot of conflict between people in society--I would prescribe gardening for anyone who wants some inner peace and quiet. Go with your Inner Hermit, the eremite gardener, the almost-recluse, the walking in society but not of society... and a few birds along for the journey. Even a tiny garden, a few containers on a balcony, is escape from the world and an invitation to birds and insects to visit. 

Walking to Meadowbrook Golf Course

It's been a few months since I walked to Meadowbrook Golf Course located at the far western end of Cote St. Luc Road. Here are some photos from the walk beginning with the completed construction of burying the St. Pierre River (seen looking over a fence at Toe Blake Park); what was left of the river (more of a creek) is gone, shrubs and grass planted, a road along the edge, and a man hole cover.

Here (below) is Cote St. Luc Road as it approaches Meadowbrook Golf Course; it used to be tree lined and quite pleasant, here it is earlier this week. 

Review of GEC's J'Accuse (Poem versus Silence)

Here is my review of George Elliott Clarke's J'Accuse, in which GEC fights back against the kancel kulture that tried to destroy his literary career, and could have succeeded. 

Go to https://poets.ca/review-gec-jaccuse/

Honeybees at Mountainview School

I was walking through the parking lot at Mountainview School, just a few blocks from here, when I discovered they have a beehive. The bees are being fed sugar water, which is common in spring, to build up the hive and it looks like a pretty robust hive; the bees are coming and going. I hope they visit my garden, I like seeing honey bees on my flowers, it's one of the things I really like to see as it reminds me of when I was an amateur beekeeper many years ago. The school also has a garden and it looks like they're growing a lot of garlic, and nothing else. 

All garlic?

Mountainview School, beehive is behind the fence on the right

I returned the morning of July 8 and the hives are doing well; the beekeeper has added another box for the bees to expand making honey.

Review of Ken Norris's South China Sea in periodicity

Here is my review of Ken Norris's South China Sea, just published in periodicity journal.

The garden's progress; the height of summer

It's an incredible summer for the garden, lush, green, flowers, an abundance of everything and everything in the garden never better than this summer. Even I am impressed!

 

Review of The Green Archetypal Field of Poetry

Here is a link to Cynthia Coristine's review of my new book, The Green Archetypal Field of Poetry; what a terrific review for which I am very grateful!

The review can be found here, or copy and paste the following: https://poets.ca/review-the-green-archetypal-field-of-poetry-stephen-morrissey/

Robin in the bird bath

Yesterday morning, I saw a blue jay in the bird bath, an early morning visitor; perhaps some visitors don't want to make their presence known so they come and go at an early hour. Later yesterday I took these photographs of a robin in the bird bath, he knew I was there but stayed in the bird bath for about five minutes. Seeing birds, seeing birds in the bird bath, it gives a lot to life...

You're a cheeky one, aren't you, little robin?

The garden's progress; insects, birds, and urban wildlife

A large lawn is like a paved parking lot; it is better than a parking lot but not a lot better. I can see this everyday in my garden; a garden attracts a variety of insects, more insects every summer, and more birds every summer, a lawn doesn't attract anything. If this is important to you, or interests you, then plant more flowers or vegetables, plant a perennial garden; this way you'll be making a home for insects, birds, and urban wildlife that will never know you have made their habitat a better one for them, they will make use of your garden as they would anywhere else in the natural world. Also, you'll be making your environment a lot nicer for yourself and you'll also be doing a service to the insects, birds, and urban wildlife. One of the good things about nature is that it doesn't take long for it to return; the only ghosts in ghost towns are human ones, nature is quick to move in and make deserted towns their own. In the old days we all sang Joni Mitchell's song, "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot", now we know that the parking lot didn't necessarily last long and paradise returned.  

Photographs of my garden taken on July 7, 2022.

The next morning I took these photos:

The Green Archetypal Field of Poetry

Here is the front and back cover of my new book, The Green Archetypal Field of Poetry, on poetry, poets, and psyche, published by Ekstasis Editions a few months ago. The book was published at the same time as Ekstasis Editions published books by Ken Norris and Endre Farkas, both of whom I've known since the mid-1970s. I thought I had reached the end of writing, now it seems I have a few more years left in me. 

Books can be ordered from Ekstasis Editions.

The Green Archetypal Field of Poetry: on poetry, poets, and psyche gathers a selection of essays and short statements on poetry by Stephen Morrissey. While best known as a poet, Morrissey’s critical writing is an important part of his literary work. In this book he writes on the legacy of Canadian poets who helped bring modernism to Canadian poetry. Morrissey’s approach to poetics reminds us of the enduring importance of Beat, Romantic, and shamanic poetics. Morrissey suggests that poems originate in what he calls the green archetypal field of poetry. This is Stephen Morrissey’s second volume on poetry and poetics, after The Poet’s Journey: on poetry and what it means to be a poet (2019).

 

The garden's progress on July 3

Every evening, around 9 p.m., I go outside for a few minutes to see the fireflies, they won't be here for long. There seem to be more fireflies this year than last year or the year before. The first evening I saw fireflies this year it had been raining and I saw a firefly glowing on and off in the wet grass. I separated the blades of grass and the firefly walked onto my hand and then he was gone, off into the night.