Ex Libris NC (aka Lynn Roundtree)
@exlibrisnc.bsky.social
Posts about poetry, history, antiquarian books, spirituality, and wordplay. Louisiana native, longtime North Carolina resident.
"Go up into the gaps. If you can find them; they shift & vanish too. Stalk the gaps. Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn, & unlock more than a maple: a universe. This is how you spend this afternoon & tomorrow morning & tomorrow afternoon. You can’t take it with you.” (Annie Dillard)
#Poetry #Poems
#Poetry #Poems
September 16, 2026 at 3:08 PM
MUSEUM
Here are plates with no appetite.
And wedding rings, but the requited love
has been gone now for some three hundred years.
Here’s a fan–where is the maiden’s blush?
Here are swords–where is the ire?
Nor will the lute sound at the twilight hour..
muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/articl...
#Poetry #Poems
Here are plates with no appetite.
And wedding rings, but the requited love
has been gone now for some three hundred years.
Here’s a fan–where is the maiden’s blush?
Here are swords–where is the ire?
Nor will the lute sound at the twilight hour..
muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/articl...
#Poetry #Poems
September 16, 2026 at 11:00 AM
MUSEUM
Here are plates with no appetite.
And wedding rings, but the requited love
has been gone now for some three hundred years.
Here’s a fan–where is the maiden’s blush?
Here are swords–where is the ire?
Nor will the lute sound at the twilight hour..
muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/articl...
#Poetry #Poems
Here are plates with no appetite.
And wedding rings, but the requited love
has been gone now for some three hundred years.
Here’s a fan–where is the maiden’s blush?
Here are swords–where is the ire?
Nor will the lute sound at the twilight hour..
muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/articl...
#Poetry #Poems
Ted Kooser, "Post Office"
The wall of identical boxes into which
our Aunt Sticky sorted the daily mail
was at the far end of her dining room,
and from the private side looked like
a fancy wallpaper upon which peonies
pushed through a white wooden trellis...
voetica.com/poem/12902
#Poetry #Poems
The wall of identical boxes into which
our Aunt Sticky sorted the daily mail
was at the far end of her dining room,
and from the private side looked like
a fancy wallpaper upon which peonies
pushed through a white wooden trellis...
voetica.com/poem/12902
#Poetry #Poems
September 15, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Ted Kooser, "Post Office"
The wall of identical boxes into which
our Aunt Sticky sorted the daily mail
was at the far end of her dining room,
and from the private side looked like
a fancy wallpaper upon which peonies
pushed through a white wooden trellis...
voetica.com/poem/12902
#Poetry #Poems
The wall of identical boxes into which
our Aunt Sticky sorted the daily mail
was at the far end of her dining room,
and from the private side looked like
a fancy wallpaper upon which peonies
pushed through a white wooden trellis...
voetica.com/poem/12902
#Poetry #Poems
James Crews, ALLOWED TO BE ORDINARY
When I stop comparing and allow myself
to be ordinary—folding tea towels
and T-shirts into neat squares, rinsing out
the sticky jar that once held honey—I taste
a piece of eternity...
jamescrews.substack.com/p/allowed-to...
#Poetry #Poems #Ordinary #Comparison
When I stop comparing and allow myself
to be ordinary—folding tea towels
and T-shirts into neat squares, rinsing out
the sticky jar that once held honey—I taste
a piece of eternity...
jamescrews.substack.com/p/allowed-to...
#Poetry #Poems #Ordinary #Comparison
Allowed To Be Ordinary
Accepting the Assignment
jamescrews.substack.com
September 14, 2026 at 1:10 PM
James Crews, ALLOWED TO BE ORDINARY
When I stop comparing and allow myself
to be ordinary—folding tea towels
and T-shirts into neat squares, rinsing out
the sticky jar that once held honey—I taste
a piece of eternity...
jamescrews.substack.com/p/allowed-to...
#Poetry #Poems #Ordinary #Comparison
When I stop comparing and allow myself
to be ordinary—folding tea towels
and T-shirts into neat squares, rinsing out
the sticky jar that once held honey—I taste
a piece of eternity...
jamescrews.substack.com/p/allowed-to...
#Poetry #Poems #Ordinary #Comparison
Elizabeth Bishop, "North Haven"
I can make out the rigging of a schooner
a mile off; I can count
the new cones on the spruce. It is so still
the pale bay wears a milky skin; the sky
no clouds except for one long, carded horse¹s tail...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/197...
#Poetry #Poems #Grief
I can make out the rigging of a schooner
a mile off; I can count
the new cones on the spruce. It is so still
the pale bay wears a milky skin; the sky
no clouds except for one long, carded horse¹s tail...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/197...
#Poetry #Poems #Grief
September 14, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Elizabeth Bishop, "North Haven"
I can make out the rigging of a schooner
a mile off; I can count
the new cones on the spruce. It is so still
the pale bay wears a milky skin; the sky
no clouds except for one long, carded horse¹s tail...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/197...
#Poetry #Poems #Grief
I can make out the rigging of a schooner
a mile off; I can count
the new cones on the spruce. It is so still
the pale bay wears a milky skin; the sky
no clouds except for one long, carded horse¹s tail...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/197...
#Poetry #Poems #Grief
THE JOURNEY
Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again
painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.
Sometimes everything
has to be
enscribed across
the heavens
so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you...
thedewdrop.org/2018/10/10/t...
#Poetry #Poems #Loss #Grief
Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again
painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.
Sometimes everything
has to be
enscribed across
the heavens
so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you...
thedewdrop.org/2018/10/10/t...
#Poetry #Poems #Loss #Grief
September 13, 2026 at 11:24 AM
THE JOURNEY
Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again
painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.
Sometimes everything
has to be
enscribed across
the heavens
so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you...
thedewdrop.org/2018/10/10/t...
#Poetry #Poems #Loss #Grief
Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again
painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.
Sometimes everything
has to be
enscribed across
the heavens
so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you...
thedewdrop.org/2018/10/10/t...
#Poetry #Poems #Loss #Grief
Frank O'Hara, "My Heart"
I'm not going to cry all the time
nor shall I laugh all the time,
I don't prefer one "strain" to another.
I'd have the immediacy of a bad movie,
not just a sleeper, but also the big,
overproduced first-run kind...
poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-mo...
#Poetry #Poems #Heart
I'm not going to cry all the time
nor shall I laugh all the time,
I don't prefer one "strain" to another.
I'd have the immediacy of a bad movie,
not just a sleeper, but also the big,
overproduced first-run kind...
poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-mo...
#Poetry #Poems #Heart
September 11, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Frank O'Hara, "My Heart"
I'm not going to cry all the time
nor shall I laugh all the time,
I don't prefer one "strain" to another.
I'd have the immediacy of a bad movie,
not just a sleeper, but also the big,
overproduced first-run kind...
poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-mo...
#Poetry #Poems #Heart
I'm not going to cry all the time
nor shall I laugh all the time,
I don't prefer one "strain" to another.
I'd have the immediacy of a bad movie,
not just a sleeper, but also the big,
overproduced first-run kind...
poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-mo...
#Poetry #Poems #Heart
Always remember.
#9/11
#9/11
September 11, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Always remember.
#9/11
#9/11
Wendell Berry, OUR REAL WORK
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
#Poetry #Poems #Life
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
#Poetry #Poems #Life
September 9, 2026 at 10:06 AM
September 9, 2026 at 12:53 AM
i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes...
-- e. e. cummings (1950)
writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3F...
#Poetry #Poems #ChocunaLandscape
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes...
-- e. e. cummings (1950)
writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3F...
#Poetry #Poems #ChocunaLandscape
September 8, 2026 at 10:53 AM
i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes...
-- e. e. cummings (1950)
writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3F...
#Poetry #Poems #ChocunaLandscape
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes...
-- e. e. cummings (1950)
writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php%3F...
#Poetry #Poems #ChocunaLandscape
E. E. Cummings, "Love is the every only God"
love is the every only god
who spoke this earth so glad and big
even a thing all small and sad
man,may his mighty briefness dig
for love beginning means return
seas who could sing so deep and strong...
ripe-tomato.org/2014/07/12/l...
#Poetry #Poems
love is the every only god
who spoke this earth so glad and big
even a thing all small and sad
man,may his mighty briefness dig
for love beginning means return
seas who could sing so deep and strong...
ripe-tomato.org/2014/07/12/l...
#Poetry #Poems
September 7, 2026 at 11:26 AM
E. E. Cummings, "Love is the every only God"
love is the every only god
who spoke this earth so glad and big
even a thing all small and sad
man,may his mighty briefness dig
for love beginning means return
seas who could sing so deep and strong...
ripe-tomato.org/2014/07/12/l...
#Poetry #Poems
love is the every only god
who spoke this earth so glad and big
even a thing all small and sad
man,may his mighty briefness dig
for love beginning means return
seas who could sing so deep and strong...
ripe-tomato.org/2014/07/12/l...
#Poetry #Poems
September 6, 2026 at 11:14 AM
In the evening there were flocks of nighthawks
passing southward over the valley. The tall
sunflowers stood, burning on their stalks
to cold seed, by the still river. And high
up the birds rose into sight against the darkening
clouds...
www.instagram.com/p/DcyYCBjxArQ/
#Poetry #Poems #Wendell
passing southward over the valley. The tall
sunflowers stood, burning on their stalks
to cold seed, by the still river. And high
up the birds rose into sight against the darkening
clouds...
www.instagram.com/p/DcyYCBjxArQ/
#Poetry #Poems #Wendell
September 5, 2026 at 12:18 PM
In the evening there were flocks of nighthawks
passing southward over the valley. The tall
sunflowers stood, burning on their stalks
to cold seed, by the still river. And high
up the birds rose into sight against the darkening
clouds...
www.instagram.com/p/DcyYCBjxArQ/
#Poetry #Poems #Wendell
passing southward over the valley. The tall
sunflowers stood, burning on their stalks
to cold seed, by the still river. And high
up the birds rose into sight against the darkening
clouds...
www.instagram.com/p/DcyYCBjxArQ/
#Poetry #Poems #Wendell
September 4, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Eavan Boland, THIS GARDEN
Awake late at night what I see is
faces, faces, their radiance. And realize
I will never see them again. Then
I come to this place, to this garden:
A stretch of grass, fog-wet at dawn
reaching past hutch wire, sweet pea
poems.com/poem/the-gar...
#Poetry #Poems #Gardens
Awake late at night what I see is
faces, faces, their radiance. And realize
I will never see them again. Then
I come to this place, to this garden:
A stretch of grass, fog-wet at dawn
reaching past hutch wire, sweet pea
poems.com/poem/the-gar...
#Poetry #Poems #Gardens
September 4, 2026 at 10:40 AM
Eavan Boland, THIS GARDEN
Awake late at night what I see is
faces, faces, their radiance. And realize
I will never see them again. Then
I come to this place, to this garden:
A stretch of grass, fog-wet at dawn
reaching past hutch wire, sweet pea
poems.com/poem/the-gar...
#Poetry #Poems #Gardens
Awake late at night what I see is
faces, faces, their radiance. And realize
I will never see them again. Then
I come to this place, to this garden:
A stretch of grass, fog-wet at dawn
reaching past hutch wire, sweet pea
poems.com/poem/the-gar...
#Poetry #Poems #Gardens
Seamus Heaney, POSTSCRIPT
And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter...
#Poetry #Poems
poems.com/poem/postscr...
And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter...
#Poetry #Poems
poems.com/poem/postscr...
September 3, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Seamus Heaney, POSTSCRIPT
And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter...
#Poetry #Poems
poems.com/poem/postscr...
And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter...
#Poetry #Poems
poems.com/poem/postscr...
After all things occurred to me,
the void occurred to me.
There is a limit
to the pleasure I had in form—
I am not like you in this,
I have no release in another body,
I have no need
of shelter outside myself—
www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org/poems/end-of...
#Poetry #Poems #Summer #Creation #Gluck
the void occurred to me.
There is a limit
to the pleasure I had in form—
I am not like you in this,
I have no release in another body,
I have no need
of shelter outside myself—
www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org/poems/end-of...
#Poetry #Poems #Summer #Creation #Gluck
September 2, 2026 at 10:57 AM
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation & despair,
Show an affirming flame
#Poetry #Poems
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation & despair,
Show an affirming flame
#Poetry #Poems
September 1, 2026 at 11:28 PM
When despair for the world
grows in me
and I wake in the night at the
least sound
in fear of what my life and my
children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the
wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds...
onbeing.org/poetry/the-p...
#Poetry #Poems #WendellBerry
grows in me
and I wake in the night at the
least sound
in fear of what my life and my
children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the
wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds...
onbeing.org/poetry/the-p...
#Poetry #Poems #WendellBerry
September 1, 2026 at 10:43 AM
When despair for the world
grows in me
and I wake in the night at the
least sound
in fear of what my life and my
children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the
wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds...
onbeing.org/poetry/the-p...
#Poetry #Poems #WendellBerry
grows in me
and I wake in the night at the
least sound
in fear of what my life and my
children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the
wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds...
onbeing.org/poetry/the-p...
#Poetry #Poems #WendellBerry
Seamus Heaney, "Blackberry-Picking"
Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50981/...
#Poetry #Poems #Summer #Berries #August
Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50981/...
#Poetry #Poems #Summer #Berries #August
August 31, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Ex Libris NC (aka Lynn Roundtree)
"I would encourage you to re-read your job description. I call your attention to the section labelled 'Related duties as assigned.'"
April 7, 2026 at 3:26 AM
"I would encourage you to re-read your job description. I call your attention to the section labelled 'Related duties as assigned.'"
Watch the moment on "The Porter Wagoner Show" in 1973 when Dolly Parton begins to assert control over her own writing, her own performing, and her career as an artist.
youtu.be/BpeCa8rud3Q?...
#Dolly
youtu.be/BpeCa8rud3Q?...
#Dolly
Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner Run That By Me One More Time 1973 Extended
YouTube video by feneceos
youtu.be
August 29, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Watch the moment on "The Porter Wagoner Show" in 1973 when Dolly Parton begins to assert control over her own writing, her own performing, and her career as an artist.
youtu.be/BpeCa8rud3Q?...
#Dolly
youtu.be/BpeCa8rud3Q?...
#Dolly