Ann McGough

West Haven, Connecticut

McGough has been a name in building construction since 1873. Extended family - I started teaching in 1940, Latin et al., retired in 1977. Columbia University graduate, Pi Lambda Theta Honor Society for Educators, Team Swimmer, Glee Club Soloist. In Free Lance writing Aristotelian studies of Concept-Percept indicate that some permanence of ideas is sought among readers. Change is agreeable but it is only percept. Brief examples: Love permeates all fine Literature, Music, Art through the centuries. Add to this studies in Jurisprudence, and the age old idea (concept) that History repeats. Aristotle stands uncontested.

We Who Would Be Poets

We who would be poets write for love.
Just as every other living being
Sifts through vast and complex fragments of
Infinity, so near, yet vaguely fleeing,
We, too, seek in rhythmic thought, that love
That stirs the universe, the spirit freeing.
Every creature reaches out to blend
In substance, with this one desired end--

Insects, dancing through the sunlit grass,
Concert masters drawing forth sweet harmony;
Each performing in a separate class
Joins in heartbeats of eternity.

View Found

Long years of loving you, dear one,
Have focused misted visions of light,
Elusive loveliness and spun
Them close and clear within my sight.

This ivy vine enclasps my hand
And you are here; lilac scented dew
Enfolds my being while I stand
To hear the rushing waters renew
The gladness of my heart -- for you are there!

Gift

Round my chamber window circles a honeysuckle vine.
Petals and twiglets of intricate design.
Scent of some nectar mixed very fine.

Who put it there?
It only grows wild.
Someone must love me.
Who placed it and smiled.

Summons

Wisteria woke me this morning,
And there was all June in the garden;
I felt them, early, warning
Lest I miss any part of the day.

Straight I walked to the trellis vine.
Wisteria touched a lifted nostril:
Feelings of beauty diffused, to entwine
My spirit with June's own aura.

The Bitterest Pill

I knew in my heart I had lost you.
Scarcely a word was left to say.
Through the leaden silence I also knew
The distress you felt on slipping away.

That alone was I embittered of,
For long I had trusted you to foresee
That the clearest sign of a selfless love
Is ever to leave the loved one free!

Reminder

Those brown eyes, so finely framed
With brow and lash of deepest black
Have stopped me quick and brought me back
To where I had late so clearly aimed.

In the depths of your glance I can plainly see
A memorandum there for me:
"There is, indeed there is Infinity."