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Dig Up My Heart Selected Poems: Selected Poems 1952-83
- GenresPoetry
221 pages, Paperback
First published May 14, 1983
19 people want to read
About the author
Milton Acorn
28 books5 followersMilton James Rhode Acorn (March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed The People's Poet by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Acorn was a World War II veteran. On a trans-Atlantic crossing, he suffered a wound from depth charges. The wound was severe enough for him to receive a disability pension from Veterans Affairs for most of his life. He returned to Prince Edward Island, and then moved to Montreal in 1956. He also spent several years living at the Hotel Waverly in Toronto.
In Montreal, he published some of his early poems in the political magazine, New Frontiers. He also self-published a mimeographed chapbook, In Love and Anger, his first collection of poems.
He was for a short time married to poet Gwendolyn MacEwen.
In 1967, Acorn helped found the then-"underground" newspaper The Georgia Straight in Vancouver, BC.
Acorn was awarded the Canadian Poets Award in 1970 and the Governor General's Award in 1976 for his collection of poems, The Island Means Minago.
In July 1986, he suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. Acorn died in his home town of Charlottetown on August 20, 1986, due to complications associated with his heart condition and diabetes. According to fellow poet and close friend Warren Kinthompson, he had "lost his will to live after the death of a younger sister."
Acorn was a World War II veteran. On a trans-Atlantic crossing, he suffered a wound from depth charges. The wound was severe enough for him to receive a disability pension from Veterans Affairs for most of his life. He returned to Prince Edward Island, and then moved to Montreal in 1956. He also spent several years living at the Hotel Waverly in Toronto.
In Montreal, he published some of his early poems in the political magazine, New Frontiers. He also self-published a mimeographed chapbook, In Love and Anger, his first collection of poems.
He was for a short time married to poet Gwendolyn MacEwen.
In 1967, Acorn helped found the then-"underground" newspaper The Georgia Straight in Vancouver, BC.
Acorn was awarded the Canadian Poets Award in 1970 and the Governor General's Award in 1976 for his collection of poems, The Island Means Minago.
In July 1986, he suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. Acorn died in his home town of Charlottetown on August 20, 1986, due to complications associated with his heart condition and diabetes. According to fellow poet and close friend Warren Kinthompson, he had "lost his will to live after the death of a younger sister."
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 16, 2014
Giving this anthology a five star rating based on this poem alone (others were good too, though hit-and-miss, but ones like this made it all worthwhile) :
LIVE WITH ME ON EARTH UNDER THE INVISIBLE DAYLIGHT MOON
Live with me on Earth among red berries and the bluebirds
And leafy young twigs whispering
Within such little spaces, between such floors of green, such
figures in the clouds
That two of us could fill our lives with delicate wanting:
Where stars past the spruce copse mingle with fireflies
Or the dayscape flings a thousand tones of light back at the
sun—
Be any one of the colours of an Earth lover;
Walk with me and sometimes cover your shadow with mine.
LIVE WITH ME ON EARTH UNDER THE INVISIBLE DAYLIGHT MOON
Live with me on Earth among red berries and the bluebirds
And leafy young twigs whispering
Within such little spaces, between such floors of green, such
figures in the clouds
That two of us could fill our lives with delicate wanting:
Where stars past the spruce copse mingle with fireflies
Or the dayscape flings a thousand tones of light back at the
sun—
Be any one of the colours of an Earth lover;
Walk with me and sometimes cover your shadow with mine.
Displaying 1 of 1 review