In a voice that is reserved only for poets, Ed Hicks began reading,
‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood; And sorry I could not travel both; And be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth…”

Hicks was a reader in the Brown Bag Lunch event at the Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library in Brundidge Thursday. He read from his favorite poets and he has many “favorites.”

However, Robert Frost was the one who seemed to occupy Hicks’ mind and, perhaps, heart on Thursday.

“The Road Not Taken “ is on of Frost’s most popular works and perhaps one of his most misunderstood, Hicks said.

The poem seems to champion the idea of “following your own path” but also expresses some irony regarding that idea.

Hicks also read Frost’s “Birches.”
“When I see birches bend to left and right, Across the lines of Straighter darker trees, I like to think some boys been swinging them. But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay as ice-storms do…”

Hicks said Frost was inspired by his childhood experience with swinging on birches, which was a popular game for children in rural areas of New England at the time.

Larry McLeod, the unofficial poet laureate of Brundidge, was the emcee for the poetry reading. He said that poetry is sometimes called sissy stuff but it is actually nothing of the kind. Poetry is the heart and soul of the human spirit that lies within each and every person. For some, the poetry inside is waiting to be discovered.

McLeod and Hicks lead the Growing Words group that meets monthly at “Tupper” and several members of the group shared poems they have written. Lynn Sutton read a couple of her poems that have been published, one in “Great Poets Across America” and another in “The Harvest of Dreams.”

“The poem, ‘You Are To Me’ was written for her husband and read to him on their wedding day.

“Poetry is truly an outlet for your feelings,” Sutton said. “It is a glimpse into your state of mind. Poetry connects.”

James Youngblood illustrated his “engineering poems” that focused on his interest in the mechanics of life.

“To engineer is to design,” he said. His poems were sprinkled with humor that brought laughter for the audience.
Myrtle Elliard said her poems are “simplified and modern.”

“I lost my husband seven years ago,” she said. “The poem, ‘Ode To My Husband’ is one of my favorites.”

Elliard read several of her poems that expressed the joys, surprises and sorrows of life.

All of the poets agreed that poetry is a language of its own. And, when written with passion from deep within, poetry can be as powerful as the elements.

The Brown Bag is sponsored by the Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library each month. The programs are varied and often themed with holidays and events. The public is invited.

For more information, call “Tupper” at 334-735-2145.