2024 is L.M. Montgomery’s 150th birthday! The L.M. Montgomery Institute (LMMI) at the University of Prince Edward Island is celebrating with 150 tributes – celebratory statements or greetings – that reflect upon personal connections to Montgomery or on an aspect of her life, work, or legacy.

As both a reader and writer, Montgomery first loved poetry. What better way to celebrate World Poetry Day on 21 March than through poetic lenses. Featured today are tributes from Jessica Brown, Joy Lenentine, and Rosalee Peppard Lockyer.

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Transfigured

For L.M. Montgomery on her 150th birthday

by Jessica Brown

Fir trees have names

and alongside old brooks are

tiny hollows that become

clefts for the imagination

 

Not for climbing out of the workaday world

but out of what we do to it:

often belittled, hanging from the shoulder-blades

like clipped geese wings

You learn instead to unclip the tethers,

real things brighten real things

 

Sunshine lands on water

water glows

 

Shadows fall among molting leaves

and purrs the path into new shapes

The fault lines between heaven, earth

handshaking rather, pearl-wise gleam

of dawn’s light lands on low hills,

far pastures, Houston sidewalks—I mean to say

over all the light falls, gives over to the mind

what can be transfigured

 

with eyes that see

 

Loneliness, ache, ghosts, ambition,

garret secrets, anything too long hidden away—

the playground elm, a daisy weed, one single sunset

these stretch out, become meals for the mind

And for the heart, kin.

 

Jessica Brown is a writer, poet, and narrative practitioner. She lives (and walks the hills) in County Clare, Ireland.

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I Am Anne and Anne Is Me

by Joy Lenentine

I am Anne and Anne is me

Well, Anne is who I want to be

We met when I was just a child

I loved her heart, so free and wild

 

And so began a deep fixation

Upon this girl from my own nation

Red-haired, ugly, freckled, too

I understood her point of view

 

Neither is it my native loam

Dear PEI, our souls’ true home

Enchanted shores and rolling hills

Sure to evoke a series of thrills

 

A contented, plain and simple life

Though not without its scrapes and strife

To live outdoors and to pretend

Each and every tree a friend

 

Anne cherished those for whom she cared

Brimful of joy and zest, she dared

Always one to speak her mind

Rarely failing to be kind

 

Gratitude wells up within

For her blithe spirit, so like kin

Anne yet inspires me to see

How sweet this life can truly be

 

Joy Lenentine lives and writes in the shadow of the World’s Longest Covered Bridge, under which runs the mighty Wolastoq/Saint John River in Hartland, New Brunswick. She is a passionate lover of words, sea glass, Octobers, and all things Anne of Green Gables. Joy writes from her heart for connection and consolation to remind herself and others that we need not walk this delightful/disappointing life-path alone. Joy warmly invites you to visit her poetry page on Facebook!

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A Sesquicentennial Year Recipe

celebrating L.M. Montgomery

by Rosalee Peppard Lockyer

A mix and a mingle

Of words that tingle

The silverest tongue

And tickle the tum

Of old and young

For years to come...

 

Before you begin, hold your heart “just so”

You know what I mean – and only you know

 

Make sure it’s Twilight

Before the New Moon

Use your soul for a bowl

And your mind for a spoon

 

Then open a book

–  Any book on Maud’s shelf –

To cook up a Friendship, in spite of yourself!

 

Add the I’s of:

Innocence

Intelligence

Imagination

 

Then E’s in:

Encouragement

Empathy

Education

 

The measures and mixes are different for all

The method’s your secret

The proofing, your call

 

Remember to sprinkle a twinkle of Love

That you held in your heart from the start (see above)

 

Et voila, the Moment of Magic appears

‘Round the bend of your cheek

In Friendship’s tears

 

 

Rosalee Peppard Lockyer is a published Canadian women’s oral historian, poet/author, and musical performer who creates “song portraits” of our heroines, including L.M. Montgomery. She has loved her lifelong friendship with Maud. www.rosalee.ca

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Next week we will be celebrating performance artists celebrating Montgomery.