I discovered the poet Sara Teasdale on August 4, 2026 after the nuclear war\u00a0had devastated Earth and most of its people had fled to Mars.<\/p>\n
![\""I](\"https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Martian-Chronicles.jpg\")
<\/a>“I was almost finished with ‘The Martian Chronicles’, his 1950’s collection of connected stories about man’s attempt to colonize Mars.”<\/p><\/div>\n
That’s not true of course. It was actually the summer of 1979. I was 10 and\u00a0enthralled by the science fiction writing of Ray Bradbury. I was almost\u00a0finished with The Martian Chronicles<\/em>, his 1950 collection of connected\u00a0stories about man\u2019s attempt to colonize Mars.\u00a0In one of the final chapters, a futuristic, computer-run house goes on with its\u00a0daily routine of preparing breakfast, doing laundry and sending robotic mice\u00a0to vacuum the floors. Outside, the family that once lived there \u2013 a father,\u00a0mother, son and daughter \u2013 remain only as flash-burned silhouettes on the\u00a0side of the house. In the evening, the computer in the library asks the absent\u00a0wife which poem she would like to hear, but since she can\u2019t answer, a poem\u00a0is chosen at random: Teasdale\u2019s \u201cThere Will Come Soft Rains.\u201d<\/p>\n Written in 1920 and included in her collection Flame and Shadow<\/em>, the words\u00a0about war, humankind disappearing and the world going on without us was\u00a0shockingly prescient. The creation of the atom bomb was still decades away,\u00a0but Teasdale, after the horrors of World War I, foresaw a future when birds\u00a0and trees would not miss us and when Spring came again, \u201cWould scarcely\u00a0know that we were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n This was my first introduction to poetry, and I couldn\u2019t wait to get to the\u00a0library in my little Georgia hometown to find more Teasdale. Her \u201cCollected\u00a0Poems\u201d sat dusty on a shelf and hadn\u2019t been checked out in years. I took it\u00a0home and read it in just a few days. And read it again.<\/p>\n Nuclear war and catastrophe was a grave concern in 1979. Before school had\u00a0let out for summer, we had practiced hiding under our desks to protect us\u00a0from the bomb. Even then I knew it was a ridiculous drill. In March, the\u00a0nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island had gone into meltdown and a\u00a0computer glitch at NORAD in the autumn would lead the military to believe\u00a0the Soviet Union had launched a massive strike against North America.\u00a0Teasdale\u2019s lyrical work was preoccupied with war and love \u2013 something else\u00a0I was on the verge of discovering.<\/p>\n The summer of 1979 was also the year of my first crush on a boy – my best\u00a0friend and playmate. Teasdale\u2019s poem \u201cA Boy,\u201d although framed by war,\u00a0included this line that described my friend perfectly.<\/p>\n Clean boyish beauty and high-held head. \u2028<\/em><\/p>\n Eyes that told secrets, lips that would not tell them\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n As my friend and I began to explore our sexuality together, those lines\u00a0remained with me. Secrets, excitement, and the danger of exposure all\u00a0mingled together, of being caught in our furtive exploration of each other\u2019s\u00a0bodies.<\/p>\n Pulitzer Prize winning poet Sara Teasdale<\/p><\/div>\n Only the words mattered then. It would be many more years before I\u00a0bothered to find out more about the poet herself: her debilitating illness as a\u00a0child in St. Louis, her move to New York City and unhappy marriage, the\u00a0awarding of the first Pulitzer Prize for her Love Songs<\/em> collection in 1918, her\u00a0divorce, and her suicide in 1933.<\/p>\n \u201cLet It Be Forgotten,\u201d another of her most famous poems, took on different\u00a0meaning as I grew older and I began to tally up the parade of bad boyfriends\u00a0and failed relationships I\u2019d endured over the years.<\/p>\n Let it be forgotten for ever and ever,<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0Time is a kind friend, he will make us old.<\/em><\/p>\n Teasdale was only 48 when she took her own life. She wasn\u2019t old. She\u00a0couldn\u2019t know that memories linger, especially those about beautiful boys. I\u00a0haven\u2019t forgotten any of them. And while poets go in and out of fashion\u00a0(there is still debate on whether Teasdale is a \u201cmajor poet\u201d), Teasdale will\u00a0remain for me as a turning point, a doorway, a harbinger of my future and a\u00a0calm voice radiating heat and light on long-ago summer day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Collin Kelley<\/p><\/div>\n About the Author:<\/strong> Collin Kelley is an award-winning poet and novelist\u00a0from Atlanta, GA. He is the author of The Venus Trilogy<\/em> of literary\u00a0mysteries (Conquering Venus<\/em>, Remain In Light<\/em> and the newly published\u00a0Leaving Paris<\/em>) and the American Library Association-honored poetry\u00a0collection Render \u2013 all from Sibling Rivalry Press. His poetry, essays and\u00a0interviews have appeared in literary journals and magazines around the\u00a0world.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ specialty=”off” _builder_version=”3.9″ global_module=”2287″ prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row global_parent=”2287″ background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”iTunes Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/itunes.png” url=”https:\/\/geo.itunes.apple.com\/us\/movie\/guys-reading-poems\/id1330861332?mt=6″ \/][et_pb_image admin_label=”Amazon Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/amazon.png” url=”https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reading-Poems-Blu-ray-Patricia-Velasquez\/dp\/B07895ZWWF\/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1530808335&sr=8-2&keywords=guys+reading+poems” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Google Play Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/google-play-badge.png” url=”https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/movies\/details\/Guys_Reading_Poems?id=bQ4Tt-DfRWM&hl=en_US” \/][et_pb_image admin_label=”Vudu Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/vudu.png” url=”https:\/\/www.vudu.com\/content\/movies\/details\/Guys-Reading-Poems\/921534″ \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”YouTube Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/youtube-logo.png” url=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bQ4Tt-DfRWM” \/][et_pb_image admin_label=”Blu-Ray Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Blu-Ray.png” url=”http:\/\/www.blu-ray.com\/movies\/Guys-Reading-Poems-Blu-ray\/199089\/” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Vimeo Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/vimeo.png” url=”https:\/\/vimeo.com\/ondemand\/guysreadingpoems\/248898991″ \/][et_pb_image admin_label=”Microsoft Buy Now” global_parent=”2287″ _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/guysreadingpoems.com\/grp_wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Microsoft.png” url=”https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/p\/guys-reading-poem\/8d6kgwxp6gnt\/0001″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Collin Kelley<\/strong><\/p> I discovered the poet Sara Teasdale on August 4, 2026 after the nuclear war\u00a0had devastated Earth and most of its people had fled to Mars.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_1387\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"] That's not true of course. It was actually the summer of 1979. I was 10 and\u00a0enthralled by the science fiction writing of Ray Bradbury. I was almost\u00a0finished with The Martian Chronicles<\/em>, his 1950 collection of connected\u00a0stories about man\u2019s attempt to colonize Mars.\u00a0In one of the final chapters, a futuristic, computer-run house goes on with its\u00a0daily routine of preparing breakfast, doing laundry and sending robotic mice\u00a0to vacuum the floors. Outside, the family that once lived there \u2013 a father,\u00a0mother, son and daughter \u2013 remain only as flash-burned silhouettes on the\u00a0side of the house. In the evening, the computer in the library asks the absent\u00a0wife which poem she would like to hear, but since she can\u2019t answer, a poem\u00a0is chosen at random: Teasdale\u2019s \u201cThere Will Come Soft Rains.\u201d<\/p> Written in 1920 and included in her collection Flame and Shadow<\/em>, the words\u00a0about war, humankind disappearing and the world going on without us was\u00a0shockingly prescient. The creation of the atom bomb was still decades away,\u00a0but Teasdale, after the horrors of World War I, foresaw a future when birds\u00a0and trees would not miss us and when Spring came again, \u201cWould scarcely\u00a0know that we were gone.\u201d<\/p> This was my first introduction to poetry, and I couldn\u2019t wait to get to the\u00a0library in my little Georgia hometown to find more Teasdale. Her \u201cCollected\u00a0Poems\u201d sat dusty on a shelf and hadn\u2019t been checked out in years. I took it\u00a0home and read it in just a few days. And read it again.<\/p> Nuclear war and catastrophe was a grave concern in 1979. Before school had\u00a0let out for summer, we had practiced hiding under our desks to protect us\u00a0from the bomb. Even then I knew it was a ridiculous drill. In March, the\u00a0nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island had gone into meltdown and a\u00a0computer glitch at NORAD in the autumn would lead the military to believe\u00a0the Soviet Union had launched a massive strike against North America.\u00a0Teasdale\u2019s lyrical work was preoccupied with war and love \u2013 something else\u00a0I was on the verge of discovering.<\/p> The summer of 1979 was also the year of my first crush on a boy - my best\u00a0friend and playmate. Teasdale\u2019s poem \u201cA Boy,\u201d although framed by war,\u00a0included this line that described my friend perfectly.<\/p> Clean boyish beauty and high-held head. \u2028<\/em><\/p> Eyes that told secrets, lips that would not tell them\u2026<\/em><\/p> As my friend and I began to explore our sexuality together, those lines\u00a0remained with me. Secrets, excitement, and the danger of exposure all\u00a0mingled together, of being caught in our furtive exploration of each other\u2019s\u00a0bodies.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_1386\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"] Only the words mattered then. It would be many more years before I\u00a0bothered to find out more about the poet herself: her debilitating illness as a\u00a0child in St. Louis, her move to New York City and unhappy marriage, the\u00a0awarding of the first Pulitzer Prize for her Love Songs<\/em> collection in 1918, her\u00a0divorce, and her suicide in 1933.<\/p> \u201cLet It Be Forgotten,\u201d another of her most famous poems, took on different\u00a0meaning as I grew older and I began to tally up the parade of bad boyfriends\u00a0and failed relationships I\u2019d endured over the years.<\/p> Let it be forgotten for ever and ever,<\/em><\/p> \u00a0 \u00a0Time is a kind friend, he will make us old.<\/em><\/p> Teasdale was only 48 when she took her own life. She wasn\u2019t old. She\u00a0couldn\u2019t know that memories linger, especially those about beautiful boys. I\u00a0haven\u2019t forgotten any of them. And while poets go in and out of fashion\u00a0(there is still debate on whether Teasdale is a \u201cmajor poet\u201d), Teasdale will\u00a0remain for me as a turning point, a doorway, a harbinger of my future and a\u00a0calm voice radiating heat and light on long-ago summer day.<\/p><\/a><\/a><\/a> \"I was almost finished with 'The Martian Chronicles', his 1950's collection of connected stories about man's attempt to colonize Mars.\"[\/caption]<\/a> Pulitzer Prize winning poet Sara Teasdale[\/caption]