The Saddest Words of Tongue or Pen

[Re-sent to correct formating of a poem]


There are sadder sayings than
"It might have been."
No one should ever have to say,
"But I'm a GOOD person!"

Note: The first 2 lines above refer to lines from a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these; It might have been." The poem above is rather sad. Elsewhere, in a sillier and wittier variation on Whittier I have written (in a long poem about the imaginary failed love-life of Ben Franklin) the following stanza:

[After the woman says he lacks the knack...]

He pleads, "I'd learn with your help, Ma'am!"
"Franklin, my Dear, I don't give a damn!"
(No matter that he whined and whined --
The lady would not change her mind:
The saddest words of tongue or pen
Are simply these: She'll not have Ben.)

Note on the note: "Franklin, my Dear, I don't give a damn!" echoes what Rhett Butler (or Clark Gable) says to Scarlett O'Hara (or Vivienne Leigh) when, near the end of Gone With the Wind, he finally has the good sense to walk out on her. He says "Frankly, my Dear, I don't give a damn" (hope I have the wording right). That was an exciting line in the 1938 movie, when "damn" was still a rarity on screen.
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Since advertising is mostly repetition, here, again, is the data on my new book and our other products:

A 2009 calendar that Pam created, using 12 of her paintings (seasonally appropriate).

A coloring book Pam created out of a long poem I wrote for children, called "The Doll's Journey." It's actually a poem for children and adults--at least has been enjoyed by a fair sampling of both.

The first volume of what will be a 6-volume set of the complete DEANOTATIONS. The first volume is Deanotations issues 1 thru 20 plus some additional poetry related to one of the issues plus a new introduction by me and some notes on the poems. The poems are in their original format with all of Pam's drawings, as originally printed in Deanotatons. The volume is perfect-bound, about 130 pages (which is a lot of poetry, since the pages are 2-column. Background: From 1984 through 2004 -- 20 years -- I published my poetry letter, DEANOTATIONS, just my poems and Pam's drawings. These poetry letters went out to hundreds of subscribers (and, for a time, to thousands). Now the first 20 (of 110) issues is available in book form, with the others to follow later this year.

To order any of these new products, you can either go to http://www.lulu.com/ and search on "Blehert" (which brings up all of them) or email me. There are two advantages to getting them from me directly: 1) Autograph(s). 2) Lulu apparently mails orders Priority. I can mail them media mail, saving you a few dollars. On the other hand, ordering them on the web from Lulu is quick and convenient.

By the way, if you're already a Deanotations fan, please write a review on Lulu.com.

If you're curious to see what an issue of Deanotations looks like, there are samples on our web site at http://www.blehert.com/poems/deanot.html

Best,