I had forgotten how much some of my readers appreciate the poem about the wild geese.
After I included it in this space two weeks ago, I got numerous comments. I understand it even caused a good natured minor disagreement between a husband and wife. All this means is that I need to remember to print it each fall. Rachael Field is an excellent writer and having something of hers in my column raises the standard for the week.
One lady who called wishes she had written that poem. I concur. Although it is not well known and not often found in literature anthologies (do they still print anthologies?), it is to me a true classic. At least, I am in a position to give it a bit of exposure from time to time.
People tell me they enjoy poetry and don’t read it much. I must try to include a bit of verse now and then in this column.
If you are also a reader of The Post, you may enjoy the verses Steve Geeding does in that paper.
He is not the conventional poet, more of the free-spirited, off-the-wall kind of poet, but I enjoy every word he pens. Steve’s work evokes both ends of the emotional scale.
Perhaps I’ll take my own advice and include a little verse I enjoy. I suspect the pelicans may have left Grand Lake, but they are a grand sight each year. One of my favorite little lines about that bird is this one:
What a wonderful bird is the pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belican.
He can hold more in his beak,
Than I can eat in a week.
And I don’t know how in the helican.
There seem to be several version of this little limerick — some more “colorful” than others. But the original came from the editor of The Tennessean newspaper and was written in 1910. After doing some research on the limerick, I learned that the author of it was Dixon Lanier Merritt. Not only was he editor of the newspaper, he was also president of the American Press Humorists Association.
Reading that such an organization as the American Press Humorists Association existed really got my attention. I hope to find some time to do a little more research to see if that organization is still in existence. In days past, it was common to have humor in a newspaper beyond the comic strips. Even poetry and a short story now and then were common. Unfortunately today, most of our comics fail to provide humor.
Maybe one day that will change. We can only hope.
Kay Hively is the editor of The Post, and writes a weekly column for the Daily News.
