Some, sequential words arranged
according to forms as old
as Athens or David’s Psalms.
Cascading sounds,
crafted complexity
appearing simple,
fecund with meanings
to birth in us
some pleasant response.
Or
Some, hard hammered chaos,
disjointed cacophony,
strewn across a page to
disparage all harmony.
Misarranged,
these lines,
sounds broken ,
meanings scattered
shouting “Fire!”
on a crowded train.
Or
Some, sibilant as a whisper at midnight
awake us from our lingering apathy,
stir us to some change
and require better of us.
Or
Some, stark as ravens on a fence line
waiting somber,
cry “There be Whales!”
and draw us into
the intrigue of hunting words,
and we become their flotsam,
clinging to the wreck of their
pictured abstractions
and drowning images.
And yet.
And yet, all these be poetry.
What makes poetry poetry?
Sorry, you cannot respond to an archived poemReviews
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As long as imagination has no shape and limit, poetry would be of any form and style. wouldn't it be, G?
will get back to this piece sometimes later, dad...just wanna say I am back....
Lv
Kiddy
. Rewarded 4
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As long as imagination has no shape and limit, poetry would be of any form and style. wouldn't it be, G?
will get back to this piece sometimes later, dad...just wanna say I am back....
Lv
Kiddy
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hey G
this is as a fine a poem as can be. your abiltiy to show the contrast of verse was phenomenal, like an actor with unlimited range to boot you have a great message that weather refined or blunt all falls under the umbrella of poetry. can't say enuf.
dave. Rewarded 6
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Excellent!
This poem could have been written by a classic 19th century author, it's that good! You really know your dead white poets.
. Rewarded 4
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If it resonates
I think a poem is a poem if it elicits an emotional response from the reader, just like a great song.
I love free verse imagry, complicated rhyme structure, plays on words, alitteration, and all that poetic goodness, but I think a poem is supposed to get a rise out of the reader; for good, bad, surpised, shocked or anything except indifferent. -
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ladyjanew
To get a rise indeed. All real poetry seeks to elicit some response.
Know my 'white' poets, whoever they are. No, not at all. [I am not a literary person.] Just Dylan Thomas, The Psalms and Robert Frost.
JG
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interesting form
I myself am terrible at writing with any framework whatsoever, so whenever I see someone who is good at it I am awe-struck. Your word choice is really intriguing and really keeps the eye rolling. Very nice.
Andrea
. Rewarded 4
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OOOOOOOH!
Well done! GREAT wording and examples of various forms! I absolutely loved the form. The word,"OR," broke up the thoughts quite well. Nice flow. Good job!
. Rewarded 4
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I admire your broad sweep citing style differentials from the multifarious tones on your palatte of poetry. Good and very well written. Thumbs up from me sir. Frank
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Interesting. You are correct in your assessment in what makes poetry. A good read.
At first, I thought I was reading a syllabic poem, but obviously I was not. Your chosen line arrangement is not the only successful one. Maybe you should play with it more.
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YES!
You got it! that is on point in every regard!! Oh, I'm so excited I am going to read it again :-)
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lovely
a challenge, and entertainment, a story, a question, a visit out (into your words) and a visit in (into my answer). a light touch and a wealth of possibilities. it is true. all these be poetry and mor and more and more. sometimes you gave surprise which is best in poetry the misdirection and then the thing goes with the other that I din't expect which forces me to collide or think or jump. well, done! and thanks.
suggestions: “Fecund” I’d like more as “jumping”, like meaning truth possibilities jumping off in my mind and in the world of ideas, for me the image is more playful and less academic than fecund, which I find perhaps too obvious in the poetic context. 2nd suggestion: “shouting “Fire!” on a crowded train” – I am distanced from the writing at this moment because I wonder if you are using the “cliché” incorrectly, or if there is some intention, like train instead of theater because a theatre is static and a train moving. It is a legitimate use of cliché, but whether intentional or not, it distances me from the text for a moment while I think about your intention, and I think that the cost of that distance in comparison to the benefit of the altered cliché is taking away from the experience of your work.
. Rewarded 8
Kiddy
June 24, 2008
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