{"id":4739,"date":"2021-05-24T15:29:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T19:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/?p=4739"},"modified":"2024-02-04T10:41:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T15:41:47","slug":"susan-higgins-donnelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/susan-higgins-donnelly\/","title":{"rendered":"Susan Higgins Donnelly"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dear Liz,<\/span>
\n     It was enjoyable talking with you and others at the reunion this weekend.  Thank you very much for all the work you did to help put it together, and for the great slide shows.  I am taking you up on your request to send something to the MHC class website.  I attach below two of what they call ekphrastic poems, basically one art reflecting on another.  In my case they are quite personal reflections and projections.  I hope you will enjoy them and can use one or both for the website purposes.
\n     I also attach an image of the cover of my new book (which includes the art poems): <\/span>The Maureen Papers and Other Poems<\/i>.  It’s my fourth full-length collection, is published by Every Other Thursday Press, and is just now getting out into the world.  I am distributing it at present.  Class members may be interested.  I know you can’t give my contact information on the site but perhaps you can give the name of my website, as well as referring people to the Alumnae office.  the website is   <\/span>www.susandonnellypoetry.com<\/a><\/span>
\n     I trust you are getting some well-deserved rest this week.
\n     Best,
\n     Susan Higgins Donnelly, May 24, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/div>\n
     (Editor’s Note:<\/em>  In her letter to me, Susan included this excerpt from an application for review:  “I am the author of three poetry books, including <\/span>Eve Names the Animals<\/em> and Capture the Flag<\/em>, as well as six chapbooks.  My poems have appeared in Poetry, The New Yorker, The Atlantic and other journals and anthologies.  I live, write, and teach poetry from my home in Arlington, Massachusetts.”)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
\n

Two personal looks at art from Susan Donnelly:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Madame Cezanne au Chapeau Vert<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Madame Cezanne has put on
\nher new green ribboned hat
\nand now wishes she hadn\u2019t.
\nWith an afternoon\u2019s errands to run
\nand several calls to make,
\nshe has had the bad fortune
\nto run into Paul coming out
\nof his studio. He is struck
\nby the hat\u2019s not quite matching
\nthe color of the plush-green
\nchair by the door and insists
\nshe pose there a few moments.
\nWhich she does, but very reluctantly,
\nvery \u201cjust off,\u201d her eyes of nearly
\nthe same shade glancing to the side,
\nas she mentally reviews her lists,
\nher straight spine condescending
\nto lean just a bit on the chair\u2019s arm
\nas her feet twitch to stay still,
\nher lips to keep silent.<\/span><\/p>\n

                              ———————————————–<\/p>\n

Homme au Bain<\/span><\/strong><\/em>
\n     painting by Gustave Caillebotte<\/span><\/p>\n

Impressionist women
\nforever step in
\nand out of baths
\nin various graceful ways
\nbut now for a change
\nhere\u2019s a young fellow
\nbrisk with his towel
\nslight of build but with
\nshapely shoulders
\nwhose spine
\n\u2014if it weren\u2019t
\npast my time
\nfor such things\u2014
\nI would draw
\none finger down
\ntill it reaches
\nthe small
\nof his sweet back
\nand take so long about it
\nthose wet footsteps of his
\nacross the tiled floor
\nwould almost have dried.<\/span>
\n
\n     Susan Donnelly<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Liz,      It was enjoyable talking with you and others at the reunion this weekend.  Thank you very much for all the work you did to help put it together, and for the great slide shows.  I am … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literary"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}