Poems for Life (13 page)

E
LIZABETH
W
INTHROP

Dear Erica,

Thank you for your letter which I am confused to see is dated June 9, 1993. I received it last week! I wonder if you still wish to receive a poem for your International Rescue Committee book. If so, here is one of my favorite poems. I love it because it reminds us that all the people of the earth belong to one family. Good luck with your project.

Best Wishes,

Elizabeth Winthrop

W
ILD
G
EESE

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

— Mary Oliver

T
OM
W
OLFE

Dear Miss Kalayjian,

I must confess that the poem I most often recite to myself and anyone who will listen is Noel Coward's “I've Been to a Marvelous Party.” Why? I can't explain it. The sheer aimless rollicking silliness of it just appeals to me. I offer a sample stanza:

I've been to a marvelous party,

I must say the fun was intense,

We all had to do

What the people we knew

Would be doing a hundred years hence.

Dear Cecil arrived wearing armor,

Some shells and a black feather boa,

Poor Millicent wore a surrealist comb

Made of bits of mosaic from St. Peter's in Rome,

But the weight was so great that she had to go home,

I couldn't have liked it more!

— Noel Coward

With best wishes,

Grade V, 1992–93

Christine Alicea

Kate Auletta

Sasha Bernstein

Melissa Butler

Katherine Clifford

Rachel Coll

Louisa Conrad

Clare Cosman

Enerria Edmond

Adrienne Ellis

Amber Ellis

Alexandra Hagerty

Eugenia Hamshaw

Rebecca Hessel

Margot Hill

Samantha Hill

Lara Kalayjian

Louise Lamphere

Kathryn Lawton

Carah Lucas-Hill

Celene Menschel

Lee Katherine Miller

Hillary Nammack

Elizabeth Niemiec

Chloe Polemis

Lindsay Richardson

Annabelle Saks

Kristina Scurry

Zoe Settle

Emma Sheanshang

Ginger Shields

Margarette Steele

Rebecca Tanenbaum

Cara Thomas

Allison Toombs

Stefanie Victor

Ellison Ward

Alison Weisser

Laura Wheater

Fernanda Winthrop

Erica Wolff

Deborah Wolfson

Karen Yeung

Grade V, 1993–94

Agnes Ahlander

Nicole Arens

Elaine Blanck

Adriana Boulanger

Lia Brezavar

Carolyn Centeno

Francesca Forrestal

Lauren Friedman

Juliet Fuisz

Candice Gorman

Antoinette Grannum

Stephanie Greco

Laura Hampton

Alexia Jacobs

Shanthini Kasturi

Leslie Kaufmann

Olivia Kirby

Emily Kracauer

Hillary Matlin

Alfia Muzio

Evelyn Ngeow

Alexandra Odevall

Jean Petrek-Duban

Anne Rabbino

Elana Rakoff

Margaret Ross

Molly Shaw

Anne Stephenson

Cecile St. Hilaire

Jenny Tolan

Alexis Versandi

Lily Vonnegut

Elettra Wiedemann

Sophia Withers

Venetia Young

Contributors

Jane Alexander
is director of the National Endowment for the Arts. She won a Tony award for
The Great White Hope
, and has appeared in a number of films.

Brooke Astor
was president of the Vincent Astor Foundation and corporate board member of the Astor Home for Children. Her books include
Patchwork Child, Footprints
, and
The Last Blossom on the Plum Tree
. Astor passed away in 2007.

Ken Auletta
is a columnist for the
New Yorker
and the author of five national bestsellers, including
Googled; Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way
; and
Greed and Glory on Wall Street
.

Harolyn M. Blackwell
is a lyric coloratura who made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1994 and achieved renown for her roles in
Die Fledermaus
and
Daughter of the Regiment
. She has sung at the White House, and with many national opera companies.

Martin Charnin
won a Tony award for his lyrics to
Annie
, which he directed on Broadway. He also directed
The First
and
A Little Family Business
and is the author of
The Giraffe Like Ole Blue Eyes
, a children's book.

Mario Cuomo
was governor of New York State from 1982 to 1994. He is the author of
The New York Idea: An Experiment in Democracy
, and coeditor of
Lincoln on Democracy
. Cuomo has also written a children's book based on his own experiences called
The Blue Spruce
.

David Dinkins
was mayor of New York City from 1988 to 1992 and currently teaches at Columbia University.

E. L. Doctorow
's works include
Ragtime; Lives of the Poets: Six Stories and a Novella; Loon Lake; Billy Bathgate; Waterworks; The Book of Daniel;
and most recently,
All the Time in the World
. He has received a myriad of awards and nominations, including the National Humanities Medal.

Geraldine Ferraro
was the first woman to run for the vice presidency of the United States. Author of
Changing History: Women, Power, and Politics
, she was appointed to the United Nations Human Rights Commission Conference in 1993. Ferraro passed away in 2011.

Allen Ginsberg
's iconic poetry defined the Beat Generation. He passed away in 1997. Nearly all of his works remain in print.

Rudolph Giuliani
was the mayor of New York City from 1994–2001. He also ran for the Republican Party nomination in the 2008 United States presidential election.

Richard F. Grein
was bishop of the Episcopal Church of New York City, and is coauthor of
Preparing Younger Children for First Communion
. Now retired, Bishop Grein serves as Bishop-in-Residence at St.Mark's Episcopal Church in New Canaan, Connecticut.

David Halberstam
was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for his coverage of Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement. He passed away in 2007.

Sheldon Harnick
is an American lyricist who won Tony awards for his lyrics to
Fiddler on the Roof
and
Fiorello!

Bill Irwin
is a clown, dancer, and stage and film actor whose Broadway credits include
Largely New York, The Regard of Flight
, and
Fool Moon
. He has won Tony awards for his performances in
Largely New York
and
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Peter Jennings
was the anchor and senior editor of ABC World News Tonight, and co-anchor of
Turning Point
, ABC News. He passed away in 2005.

Edward I. Koch
was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989 and is the author of
His Eminence and Hizzoner
and
Citizen Koch
. He is coauthor of a children's book based on his own experiences called
Eddie, Harold's Little Brother
.

Kenneth Koch
, poet and playwright, teaches at Columbia University. His works include
Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry
, and
Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? Teaching Poetry to Children
. In 1996, Koch was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He passed away in 2002.

Jill Krementz
is a photographer and author whose works include
The Face of South Vietnam; Sweet Pea: A Black Girl Growing Up in the Rural South
; and
Lily Goes to the Playground
.

Angela Lansbury
is a five-time Tony award-winning actress and singer. She has recently starred in Broadway revivals of
Blithe Spirit
and
A Little Night Music
.

Yo-Yo E. Ma
is a cellist who has performed with Pablo Casals, Isaac Stern, Leonard Bernstein, and orchestras throughout the world. Among many awards, Ma won the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

David Mamet
's award-winning plays include
Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed the Plow
, and
Oleanna
. He is also the author of
Warm and Cold, The Village
, and
The Hero Pony
.

Jason McManus
was editor-in-chief of
Time
magazine from 1988 to 1994 and the author of a collection of short stories.

Joan S. McMenamin
was headmistress of The Nightingale-Bamford School from 1971 to 1992 and was a member of the board of trustees of Roberts College in Istanbul and the English Speaking Union. She passed away in 2004.

Ved Mehta
was a staff writer for the
New Yorker
. He is the author of
Portrait of India, The Stolen Light
, and
Up at Oxford
.

Ismail Merchant
produced many award-winning films, including
A Room with a View, Howards End
, and
The Remains of the Day
. He and partner James Ivory headed Merchant Ivory films for over forty years. He passed away in 2005.

Ruth W. Messinger
was Manhattan Borough president from 1990 to 1998, and served on the city council for twelve years. Since 1998, Messinger has been CEO of Jewish World Service.

Susan Minot
is a novelist whose works include
Monkeys
and
Folly
. Among other honors, she has received an O. Henry Prize and a Pushcart Prize for her work.

Joyce Carol Oates
is the author of
A Garden of Earthly Delights, Wonderland, Solstice, Black Water
, and
Haunted
. Her novel
Them
received the National Book Award in 1970. Since 1978, she has been teaching at Princeton University.

Ron Padgett
was the director of publications at Teachers & Writers Collaborative, an editor at
Teachers & Writers Magazine
, and the founder of Full Court Press.