Focus on Flowers

"It’s one thing to have hit records; it’s another thing to create something that has become completely incorporated into the culture." —Todd Rundgren

This week, more poems from James Tate's book Distance from Loved Ones, including "An Extraterrestrial," "I am a Finn," and "I am Still a Finn."

Late-baroque sonatas (Arsis), 17th-century Spanish song (Anima e Corpo), lute music of Sylvius Leopold Weiss (BGS), and "histories" of Heinrich Schütz (Dacapo).

There is an old saying that the time to prune the roses is when the forsythia blooms. Here in my Midwestern garden our forsythia blooms in March.

One of the 17th Century’s most famous women—her life, arts patronage, and historic accomplishments are explored as well as music associated with her court.

Today, I'm reading poems from Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry by Jim Harrison & Ted Kooser, published by Copper Canyon Press in 2003.

We’re all something larger than ourselves. We’re not one voice, we’re many voices. We’re many campuses. We come from any places. And we go all over the world. —JT Forbes

17th-century music with Stephen Stubbs and Maxine Eilander (ATMA), and Rolf Lislevand with Ensemble Kapsberger (Astree).

One of the earliest trees on earth, identified through fossils, was the Ginkgo biloba, which was one of the predominant trees on earth 250 million years ago.

James Tate has become one of the most beloved contemporary American poets.