Songs of Crocus Hill

By Michael E. Murphy

Most of us wish that our parents and grandparents had left more about themselves and what moved them for us to read and talk about today.

In Songs of Crocus Hill, author Michael E. Murphy presents a poetry collection that focuses on memory poemscandle-lit vignettes related to the memoir genre. The people, places, and experiences he imagines are drawn from his years growing up in the Crocus Hill district of St. Paul, from his experiences as a parent, and from his travels abroad as an international lawyer. Touching and funny, they tell stories of a boys encounters with teachers, sports, girls, and immigrants; of a mans encounters with the loss of family and friends; and of the long arc of romance to love. Through these verses, striking a balance between the narrative and the lyrical, he seeks to help you discover the Crocus Hill in your own life.

This collection of poetry presents a personal narrative in verse, offering a lyrical exploration of one mans recollections of the past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Dec 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781480838499

Michael E. Murphy

Michael E. Murphy taught English at St. Olaf and Macalester Colleges in Minnesota and then followed up with a thirty-year career as an international business lawyer with Medtronic and the Faegre law firm in Minneapolis. In retirement, he has been teaching a course on the law in literature at the University of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis. He lives with his wife, Jane, in St. Paul.

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Copyright © 2016 Michael E. Murphy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Photo Contributions by H.R. Bishop

Rink: acrylic/canvas Virginia Randolph Bueide

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-3848-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3849-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016919042

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/08/2016

Contents

A Note from the Author

Elegies

Eveline

The River

Memories from Mary’s Purse

The Gemini

Sadie Broderick

Mick Aasen

Jack

His Honor

The Home

The Wake

Songs of Crocus Hill

The Ruse and the Rain

Communion

Sister Karen Wadsworth

Numbers and Revelations

Winter Dreams at the Club

From Bruegel to Wimbledon

Mr. Grindheim

Yo-Yo Wayne

The Orphan

Rigoletto in Ichy’s Store

Carl Wolf

In the Market

Marah Wasn’t Shy

Diane of a Thousand Dreams

My Brother’s Harlequin Cap

The Title Game

A Second Crossing

Peto

The Lexington

The Tutor

Red Cyclamen

Other Poems

Buddy

Polonius Takes the Putt

On a Rooftop in Fallujah

Bletchley Park

White Caps

Skating Backwards on Lake Harriet

Helen of Tuscumbia

Deconstruction

Six Seasonal Haiku

Thanksgiving 2008

The Belles of St. Bart’s

Antelope Water

Duvida

The White Swan

The Porch

Silver Lake

The Little Sisters of the Poor

The Sound of Forgiveness

The Commodore

Epitaph

for Cate

A Note from the Author

A family friend—the late novelist Jon Hassler (the Staggerford novels)—often reminded us of the importance of writing down family stories: We owe it to the generations that follow. He’d say, yes, you wouldn’t think what we remember about our own pasts would be all that interesting to others, but do it anyway. Let them decide how interesting our lives were. Don’t we all wish, he’d ask, that our parents and grandparents had left more of themselves and what moved them for us to read and talk about today? So with Jon’s urging in mind, and having been asked over the years by family members to collect my poems for posterity, I decided to get on with it.

While not exactly memoirs in the traditional sense, most of these poems share a border with the memoir genre. The people, places, and experiences they imagine draw on memories of family members, friends, and neighbors in the Crocus Hill district of St. Paul, or experiences I had as a parent and traveling abroad as an international lawyer. In addition to leaving something of myself here for my descendants, I hope these poems will lead readers back to the