Michael McCarthy
“While the novelist is banging on his typewriter, the poet is watching a fly in the windowpane.” –Billy Collins
Michael McCarthy is, in his words, “a lifelong explorer of the sacred.” Through a deepening poetic lens, he seeks beauty in the commonplace. The ordinary is truly extraordinary. Michael, a husband, father, and high school teacher of religion, lives on Long Island in New York. He has degrees in theology and psychology.
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From Michael’s Blog
Monique’s Poem
Monique Melendez, the author of the following poem, was a former student in my junior religion class. Here is a copy of her original work: Poetry’s Magic I love Monique’s poem. I love its simplicity, straight-fowardness and strength. She reveals herself. Like the sweetest of melodies, her poem makes its …
Celebrating McCarthy’s Selection with a Goodreads Giveaway!
Poet Michael McCarthy’s work “The Strange People in Long Beach,” from his Goldfinch title The Ways of Grace, has been selected for inclusion in the 2017 edition of the Suffolk County Poetry Review. Way to go, Michael! To celebrate, we’re running a Goodreads Giveaway of the title until the end of …
DOUBT: from Michael McCarthy’s Blog
Lately, I’ve been feeling doubt. I am not so sure anymore. Am I kidding myself? I know all too well my foibles and shortcomings. I am an actor, at best. And I am a fraud, at worst. I really know very little about theology – the subject I teach. I …
In a Word: from Michael McCarthy’s Blog
I recall making an embarrassing (and revelatory) utterance some years back while participating at a youth leadership conference in Syracuse, NY. During one of the small group discussions (in which I was serving as the facilitator), a young person was describing a colorful banner that his parish youth group created …
Glowing: from Michael McCarthy’s Blog
Sail on Silver Girl, Sail on by Your time has come to shine All your dreams are on their way ~ Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Michael McCarthy teaches at the Mary Louis Academy, a college preparatory high school for young women.) I think of the first time …
Bards Day 2016 Highlights Long Island’s Best Poets
On July 23, poets on Long Island, including Goldfinch’s own Michael McCarthy, gathered to celebrate “Bards Day,” a creation of the Bards Initiative. Michael’s poem “Kindred Souls,” from the Goldfinch book The Ways of Grace, was selected for publication in the book tie-in, Bards Annual 2016. The Annual is published by the Bards …
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Books by This Author
The Ways of Grace: A Book of Poems
by Michael McCarthy"Expect loss and know that / tender eyes moisten / setting free / teardrops of humanity." This is just one of the many powerful verses in this meditation on the beauty and grace found in the commonplace. From the loss of love, to a single, yellow flower screaming out to be seen, to the deepness of a tree's roots, McCarthy challenges us to take time to notice the beauty, pain, immensity, and love in the very small moments of our lives. Read this collection of poems and you will want to notice more. Read more