In recognition of National Poetry Month, I perused my mother’s 7th grade poetry book that she never returned to the nuns in 1943. She clearly loved the tattered brown volume filled with her notes and dog-eared pages.
This poem reminds us how a simple moment can remain in our memory for a lifetime. It’s the premise of my essay collection titled Musing Off the Mat – memories and everyday moments.
Memory
My mind lets go a thousand things,
Like dates of wars and deaths of kings,
And yet recalls the very hour —
‘Twas noon by yonder village tower,
And on the last blue noon in May —
The wind came briskly up this way,
Crisping the brook beside the road;
Then, pausing here, set down its load
Of pine-scents, and shook listlessly
Two petals from that wild-rose tree.
– Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Take time to read poetry. It will comfort you.
Joyce Poggi Hager 
A most memorable ‘simple moment’ was watching Robert Frost read at JFK’s inauguration in 1961. The day poetry became alive. I still have my old ‘poetry file’ from eighth grade, containing my favorite Frost poem…”Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” I could read ‘But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep’ every day and never tire of it. Thank you Robert Frost.
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Robert Frost is my favorite poet! My husband had the honor of shaking his hand and getting his autograph a year before he died. My husband was an elementary school student at the “new” Robert Frost School in Lawrence, MA and had been selected to read at the dedication ceremony in 1961 or 1962. It’s one of his most memorable moments.
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