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Idle Pursuits
(a poetry collection)
Idle Pursuits is a poetry collection that shows how poetry can be many things with a variety of styles from modern to traditional and topics both serious and humorous, ranging from acrobatics to zephyrs and also love and Jane Austen. Through all of this one is transported on a wonderful journey.
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Idle Pursuits, e-Book ($2.99), paperback ($8.99) and hardcover ($22.25) can be purchased directly from our online bookshop or from all major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and iBooks. To make purchases, please click on the links below:
Idle Pursuits Sample Poems
Poetic Acrobatics
The poet walks along the tightrope dragging her pen along the page,
being careful not to fall for fear of losing her stage.
She does a pirouette of rhyme,
Then a leap of free verse, landing back straight upon the line.
She tightens on a sonnet, then does another turn,
stretching her imagination to the point of no return.
If Byron Were Alive Today
If Byron were alive today
He’d be driving a red Ferrari.
A real ‘Don Juan’ he’d be that is to say
And be living in Hawaii.
He wouldn’t write about ‘roving by the moon’
But be cruising every strip.
For every lady he would swoon
And boy, would he be hip.
He’d hang out at every club and so
No Grecian hero with a cause to fight
Nor a Lord so ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know,’
But more like a rock star partying every night.
The History of Us
Rome was not built in a day
Nor shall we be.
The pillars of the Parthenon
Couldn’t have been stronger than our embrace.
Since first creation, our love has grown.
Primal man fretted and stewed about with fire.
Did we know more? Our passion ruled us.
The seas of Columbus couldn’t have been straighter than our course.
Galileo’s synchronization of the stars follows where we are.
And the colonization of the Americas has brought us together by a far greater force.
And though Rome eventually fell,
We I’m sure shall stand the test of time.
A Nod to Jane Austen
I wish I were a character in a Jane Austen novel
Dancing with Mr. Darcy as did Elizabeth Bennet.
Oh, how many things I’d have to tell
If Mr. Bingley I had met.
How nice it would be to sit and drink tea
With Emma or even better Mr. Knightley.
From all modern cares one could be free
And, perhaps, live one’s life more sprightly.
But, perhaps, our modern world has some good
There are no balls, but we can marry for more
And problems there were even for the Dashwoods,
But how nice it was for Edward and Elinor.
So, I guess one shouldn’t be ‘Prejudice’ and keep some ‘Pride’
For one’s time, but still, at times, to Jane’s world, I like to abide.
Reviews For Idle Pursuits
– San Francisco Book Review
“Idle Pursuits: A Poetry Collection by L.P. Kirkbride comprises… poems in a variety of styles… with… four… beautiful illustrations. The topics…vary enormously, so there is something that will appeal to every poetry lover. There are examples of traditional rhyming poetry such as The Cage…, freestyle, The History of Us… and also A Nod to Jane Austen that has a touch of humor. Readers will have their own favorites… L.P. Kirkbride has given the world a fascinating poetry collection in Idle Pursuits.”