Robert Hedin
Born and raised in Red Wing, Minnesota, Robert Hedin holds degrees from Luther College and the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. He is the author, translator, and editor of twenty-four books of poetry and prose, including The Light Under The Door, The Old Liberators: New and Selected Poems and Translations, The Dream We Carry: Selected and Last Poems of Olav H. Hauge (co-translated with Robert Bly), and Old Glory: American War Poems from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism.
He has taught at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska, the Anchorage and Fairbanks campuses of the University of Alaska, St. Olaf College, and Wake Forest University, where he was Poet-in-Residence from 1980-1992. In 2001-2002, he served as the Edelstein-Keller Writer of Distinction at the University of Minnesota, a special chair in the Program of Creative Writing.
Robert Hedin is co-founder (with his wife, Carolyn) and former Executive Director of the Anderson Center at Tower View, the largest residential artist retreat center in the Upper Midwest, and served as editor of the award-winning literary journal, Great River Review, from 1997-2015. (Robert Hedin Biography)
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I picked this poem in honor of the up-coming election because these men (and women) Hedin is writing about are the very ones who fought to protect our rights as a free America. We’re losing them now. I wonder how soon we’ll forget how we came to have this great freedom that we’re blessed with…
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The Old Liberators
those veterans of the Bulge, Anzio, or Monte Cassino
I see lost in Automotive or back in Home Repair,
bored among the paints and power tools.
Or the really old ones, the ones who are going fast,
who keep dozing off in the little orchards
of shade under the distant skylights.
All around, from one bright rack to another,
their wives stride big as generals,
their handbags bulging like ripe fruit.
They are almost all gone now,
and with them they are taking the flak
and fire storms, the names of the old bombing runs.
Each day a little more of their memory goes out,
darkens the way a house darkens,
its rooms quietly filling with evening,
until nothing but the wind lifts the lace curtains,
the wind bearing through the empty rooms
the rich far off scent of gardens
where just now, this morning,
light is falling on the wild philodendrons.
Martina - Heartbridges Poetry said:
Beautiful!!! Thank you so much for the great tip, I will def look him up💛🌟
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Eugene Uttley said:
Thanks for this poem, and for this poet. It’s a contradiction I think, how I can be such a pacifist and simultaneously so grateful to those who have fought to make it possible for me to be a pacifist…
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calensariel said:
That’s a really good observation. I think a lot of people fit in that category.
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Opher said:
That was timely Cheryl. You find some beautiful poets who paint pictures in my head. I was going to do a series of posts about one of Roy’s greatest songs – One of those days in England.
Here’s his take on the same thing:
‘You know we’ll soon be gone from here, year upon light year
We’ll take the stories with us there, the memories are dear.’
I’ll put up the rest on my blog. Bit of a coincidence that we should both be looking at the past that is slipping away.
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calensariel said:
Well heck, Opher! It’s cause we’re not spring chickens anymore! Moving will drive that home to you REAL quick in case you haven’t noticed! LOL It is sad, though, isn’t it… I’m so thankful that people like Steven Speilberg had the foresight to start recording Holocaust survivors and their stories. StoryCorp has done the same thing on a more general level.
https://storycorps.org/
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cote8050 said:
OH my goodness, this is so beautiful. I have not heard of this gentleman but will certainly look him up, such lovely work. thank you for bringing him to my attention! Michelle
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calensariel said:
Glad you liked it, Michelle. Honestly, I’m not familiar with him at all either. Just bought a couple new anthologies and this was in one. I have a soft spot in my heart for veterans. 🙂
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cote8050 said:
As soon as I have a chance I will read more of his work, seems like a poet I could identify with, and learn from. peace and light to you. Michelle
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calensariel said:
Do you like the confessional poetry style, Michelle? This might interest you if you haven’t heard of it: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-confessional-poetry
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