Posted in celebration of national poetry month.  Today is the birthday of William Shakespeare. You can find a fascinating, if short, summary of his life, from Garrison Keillor here. Have a favorite poem you have read or written? Please email it to frank@mytownmatters.com.

Sonnet 73 That Time Of Year Thou Mayst In Me Behold – William Shakespeare

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish’d by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.