High Diver (Kurt Brown)

Back from vacation and back to poetry! Today's is a poem by Kurt Brown.

When I started the poem I liked its clarity and how it reminded me of 'Elegy for Jane' - another sympathetic portrait of a young girl. But as I read on, I got bored with how melodramatic it was and how seriously it takes itself. I feel as though I was supposed to see the beauty in the poem, in the diver, in acts of youth - the mocking and discovery of love, but all I kept wondering was who is the speaker in the poem? A coach? Another teen? A creepy man? This poem did not resonate with me because I wasn't enthralled with the subject nor did I sympathize with the speaker (because I don't know their intentions).

Favorite line: "Straight-backed, clean-limbed, freckled like a trout"

Affirmation (Donald Hall)

I like the straightforwardness of this poem on aging by Donald Hall. It is calm, almost didactic and I supposed frightening in its implications ("To grow old is to lose everything."), but its pace is steady, its conclusions so obvious and unavoidable that I find the poem to be comforting overall.

After all, the poem's conclusion (as its title indicates) is an affirmation that all go through aging and that that is something worthy savoring ("delicious"). So, a toast 'to life!' might as well be the same as 'to getting old!'. Enjoy them equally.

Favorite line: "New women come and go. All go."

New women come and go. All go.

June Light (Richard Wilbur)

Happy Anniversary to me and my husband (of 3! years!!). A happy day full of love made me turn to romantic, lovey poetry tonight. This poem by Richard Wilbur does nicely.

A month earlier, so not quite in season, but still the romance of the poem infuses our day today. My husband's love to me is a gift I still can't quite believe. I see what N means when he says her love to him seems like "the first great gift of all". It's extraordinary, love.

This poem is not the perfect love poem for me (I appreciate it, but I don't feel it), so the hunt is still on, but I like the sense of love=a pure gift=something in nature. Love is whole; love is true.

Favorite line: "It seemed as blessed with truth and new delight"

It seemed as blessed with truth and new delight

The Essay (Brian Culhane)

I don't really care for this poem by Brian Culhane.

I don't like the length of the lines - the boxiness of the poem. The allusions seem non-ideal and put in for show. I guess you can make the case for their academic nature, but using terms like 'Gates of Horn' and 'Etruscan' just put me off. 

Honestly, this poem seems like it has too many words - a fine draft, but that it should be edited down to its essence before you can call it done.

Favorite line: "I watch them now bend low to their work, smudging ink"

Poem [Lana Turner Has Collapsed!] (Frank O'Hara)

This poem by Frank O'Hara is so quick, so glib it's almost gleeful. It's fun and it's light to read, but all the subtext is lugubrious.

It's such a Hollywood poem - it deals with a movie star and a tabloid story of her collapse. It's such an inconsequential story. N of the poem is walking when his world is suddenly stopped short by this story and he seems to have such a visceral reaction to it - he implores her to 'get up', 'we love you'. It makes me wonder about that kind of connection people feel toward far-away movie stars. And it made me wonder if that feeling of connection is sad or empathetic.

I like the sense of N you get from this poem. All of the 'ands' and run-on sentences in the poem makes the speaker seem really young. And then his seemingly random concern with Lana Turner makes N seem immature - his feelings, like his thoughts are scattered and all over the place.

I like that this poem can be both a portrait of a person and also contain talk of the glibness of Hollywood culture (and also a bit about the weather in NYC!). It's a short, quick poem that contains more and more the longer I look at it.

Favorite line: "I was trotting along and suddenly / it started raining and snowing"

I was trotting along and suddenly it started raining and snowing - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20394#sthash.cBOOhrbN.dpuf

to my last period (Lucille Clifton)

I love Lucille Clifton! Who else has written a poem about menopause - about having a last period?

This poem is unglossed - I mean, it's very direct and easy to understand. Even though I don't have first-hand experience, it's still a relate-able poem.

I like how friendly she is toward her period - "well, girl". It always brought her misery, but once gone, she misses it - or misses what it stood for - her youth and sexuality.

Favorite line: "well, girl, goodbye"

well, girl, goodbye,

What's the railroad to me? (Henry David Thoreau)

Just like says in his bio, I never knew that Henry David Thoreau was a poet. Apparently, he considered himself one - got his start there, but going off of today's poem I'm very glad he moved on to prose.

Cuz, today's poem is just not doing it for me. It seems mindless and juvenile-ly written. It's nice with its sing-song-y rhyme and I am intrigued by the sole line not in a rhyming couplet - "Where it ends." That line seems so set apart and very adult. I like that.

However, the rest of it doesn't impress or interest me. How about you?

Favorite line: "Where it ends."

Variation on the Word Sleep (Margaret Atwood)

After finding yesterday's entry, I had hoped to find this poem by Margaret Atwood which I had first found in high school. It was a poem that really made me feel something - I read a bunch of poetry in hs, but I'd mostly just 'loved' poetry in the sense that I appreciated it. This poem melted me then as it did when I reread it today.

It's a pure romantic poem. It's sweet. It's storybook-like. I learn about N - her desire for essential anonymity is particularly telling. I learn about her culture - how she imagines her love walking in a world of "wavering forest of bluegreen leaves / with its watery sun & three moons". That image is so very science fiction-y, I feel as though I have read or seen this world before in some other work.

I love the storybook in this poem. It's very linear - how the love goes from sleep to the cave to the boat and back to the body. I like to imagine that that has to do with Atwood's more famous life as a novelist.

I like her books a lot and this poem is all kinds of wonderful. The kind of love that N has for her lover is so strong and kind, creative and lovely. All of those words equally apply to the poem as well, of course. Love this poem very very much.

Favorite line: "I would like to watch you sleeping, / which might not happen. / I would like to watch you, / sleeping."

You Begin (Margaret Atwood)

OMG, I love this poem by Margaret Atwood. I'm sleepy and was browsing around for a limerick or something short/sweet when I found it.

It's not short, but it is written with simple/storybook words. It is calm; it is sweet. It is aw-inducing (in a wonderful, non-saccharine way).

I like the way it reads like a kid's book. This is ... this is.... -- all that repetition. Somehow it reminded me of Goodnight Moon. The book starts like that, but then the mother's adult voice takes over (her worries) and at the end you get the mother's gift of language (hand) - protective and caring.

Loved reading this.

Favorite line: "This is the world; which is fuller / and more difficult to learn than I have said."

This is the world, which is fuller and more difficult to learn than I have said. - See more at: https://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16789#sthash.KnRd1Wbe.dpuf

The Author to Her Book (Anne Bradstreet)

I like the idea behind this poem by Anne Bradstreet a lot. The talking to your offspring/your newly created book which has been sent off for publication.

I love the idea of your book being akin to your child; the idea that you'll have to explain to your book its deficiencies and why you let it go out.

There is a lot of humor in this poem. The language is stilted since it was written so many centuries ago. The rhyming couplets are rather great - the rhymes are almost all true rhymes (not slant) and yet they are natural-sounding and don't make the thing sing-song-y. Neat poem.

Favorite line: "I washed thy face, but more defects I saw"

I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,

Ode to Ironing (Pablo Neruda)

I was hoping for a bit of humor from this poem by Pablo Neruda. Not a guffaw or anything, but I was expecting something to make me smile (I mean, an ode to ironing??). Instead, this poem is very serious, very calm and instructive.

Or at least, I think so. The poem seems to say - poetry is good. The earth needs work (needs to be ironed out). The daily 'ironing'/the fixing of the earth is what defines poetry. Maybe then this is a sort of ars poetica? It gives a definition of the art, at least.

Any way, a fine poem, but I guess I wanted more lilt. What do you think of it?

Favorite line: "the sea's whiteness has to be ironed out"

The Coming of Light (Mark Strand)

The Coming of Light by Mark Strand.

It's short (and I always tend to like short poems), but the double meaning here is so coying, it's almost maudlin. I mean, evening hours or old age? Hmm, what could this poem be about. And I find the symbols (light, love, stars, dust) to be cliche and uninteresting. It's a well written poem in that it doesn't waste any words. But I just wish that the words chosen were more exciting.

Favorite line: "Even this late the bones of the body shine"

Even this late the bones of the body shine

Mimesis (Fady Joudah)

It's been a long day, but I smiled as I read this poem by Fady Joudah. It's short, easy to understand and has a kind, direct heart.

I can easily picture the child at the center of the poem and her logic. When I smiled as I read the poem, I was really smiling at her, at her empathy and brainy kindness. 

Favorite line: "This isn't a place to call home"

4/40/92 for rodney king (Lucille Clifton)

I was very young when the Rodney King event happened, so this poem by Lucille Clifton doesn't resonate with me much.

I mean, I like the sound of it. The musicality that comes through even though there is no punctuation.

I like that even if you had zero idea of who Rodney King was, you would still get that a sense of ethnic/racial inequity.

Favorite line: "so the body / of one black man / is nobody"

so the body of one black man is nobody

so the body of one black man is nobody

If the World Was Crazy (Shel Silverstein)

A long day, so a lite poem by Shel Silverstein.

"If the World Was Crazy" nothing would make sense! I admire Shel Silverstein's creativity as he lists numerous nonsensical foods, clothes and activities. An amusing list, plus it rhymes in pairs?? That's pretty crazy. Crazy talent.

Favorite line: "A big slice of soup"

A big slice of soupA

Humoresque (Edna St. Vincent Millay)

Humoresque by Edna St. Vincent Millay is a great title. It already starts me smiling - a made up perfect word.

The poem itself is great in that it rhymes, is short and is both serious (devastating) and funny. So talented!!

And yeah, I am so so tired right now, so even though this poem has a dark dark edge, I won't get into that. Just read it and grieve for the Narrator of the poem. Admire her also for her humor in the face of such tragedy.

Favorite line: "(Love, by whom I was beguiled, / Grant I may not bear a child.)"

(Love, by whom I was beguiled, Grant I may not bear a child.) - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23303#sthash.wKWiKquR.dpuf

Eyes Fastened With Pins (Charles Simic)

I started this blog as a way of getting more exposure to poetry and to stretch, intellectually, a bit. Charles Simic is an example of a poet who I have been introduced to through this blog. I really like his poetry because it is simple and yet conveys a grandness beneath the veneer. An example - today's poem. You can also search for his name on the lower right where I have included a list of every poet I've talked about. The names are ranked by their frequency. So many (talented) names!

Anyhoo, today's poem is about death - the personification of death - the humanizing of the concept. In the beginning, I was getting bugged by this poem - many of the images are cliches and I have a personal dislike of beginning every line with a capital. But then with the last image, I get that death is everyone's partner (life's partner = true!). That maybe the earlier cliches are appropriate since isn't a cliche just a commonly repeated truth? Sounds like death itself is the biggest cliche, so why not emphasize that by having stuff like these lines:

The little
Wife always alone
Ironing death's laundry.
The beautiful daughters

Setting death's supper table.
The neighbors playing
Pinochle in the backyard
Or just sitting on the steps
Drinking beer.

Perhaps, there is no escaping death, so there is no escaping cliches? I dunno, or maybe this is just a weak poem. Maybe I am stretching too much. What do you think?

Favorite line: "Undressing slowly, sleepily, / And stretching naked / On death's side of the bed."

Undressing slowly, sleepily, And stretching naked

The little Wife always alone Ironing death's laundry. The beautiful daughters Setting death's supper table. The neighbors playing Pinochle in the backyard Or just sitting on the steps Drinking beer. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15259#sthash.AepVqxX8.dpuf

The little Wife always alone Ironing death's laundry. The beautiful daughters Setting death's supper table. The neighbors playing Pinochle in the backyard Or just sitting on the steps Drinking beer. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15259#sthash.AepVqxX8.dpuf

The little Wife always alone Ironing death's laundry. The beautiful daughters Setting death's supper table. The neighbors playing Pinochle in the backyard Or just sitting on the steps Drinking beer. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15259#sthash.AepVqxX8.dpuf

The little Wife always alone Ironing death's laundry. The beautiful daughters Setting death's supper table. The neighbors playing Pinochle in the backyard Or just sitting on the steps Drinking beer. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15259#sthash.AepVqxX8.dpuf

9. (e.e. cummings)

Fun fact: I just learned that e. e. (cummings) stands for Edward Estlin! A neat middle name. Anyhoo, today's poem is the simply titled '9.'

Poets.org categorizes this poem as a poem about passion and sex. I can see passion and romantic entanglement here (not quite sex but somewhere like that). Although, it's not an unbridled passion. The main image is that of a clock - a thing of rigid order. I think that's where the interest (for me) in this poem comes from. After all, it's a love/passion poem that doesn't really describe the people or their features - instead, it goes on about a clock. The tics and tocs of the clock he is describing are the kisses, the acts of love. And that's interesting. No?

Favorite line: "there are so many tictoc / clocks everywhere telling people / what toctic time it is"

there are so many tictoc clocks everywhere telling people what toctic time it is - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21421#sthash.QOFy4KJv.dpuf

"What Do Women Want?" (Kim Addonizio)

Love the verve in this poem by Kim  Addonizio!

Can't you just hear her voice as you read this poem? It sounds like a city sidewalk in summer. It sounds sweet with a tougher exterior. It sounds romantic and pragmatic. It sounds silly and very serious. It sounds very human.

I like her answer to that inane question of the title. It's not my answer, but I do like her response. I like both what she is saying and even more so, the attitude behind her answer.

Favorite line: "all those keys glittering in the window"

all those keys glittering in the window

Cold Tea (Sarah Pemberton Strong)

Oooh, there's an intriguing story afoot in this poem by Sarah Pemberton Strong!

I wonder if she knows the full story, or if she was simply writing a what-if or how-it-may-have-been for a left-too-long tea.

Simple language; killer line breaks. This short poem reads like the opening scene of a mystery story. The telling of a mystery would make for such an awesome series of poems. I wonder if anyone has done something like that.

Favorite line: "Where is she now; the woman/ who poured into a white cup?"

Excelsior (Walt Whitman)

I just got back from a party and I am feeling pretty happy, so I get the vibe of this poem by Walt Whitman though I think that he is in an even happier mood.

It's a little bit (ok, very) braggy, but when you are very, very happy the whole world seems yours for the taking. I think that's where N is in this poem. That kind of powerful joy.

Favorite line: "I am mad with devouring / ecstasy to make joyous"

I am mad with devouring ecstasy to make joyous 

América (Richard Blanco)

Did you know that the poet for today's poem was the one to read a poem at Obama's inauguration? I knew the name from the news surrounding that event, but don't know much more about him. However, this poem is appropriate for today, the 4th of July, since it, in plain language, gets at the heart of the immigrant experience in the U.S.

The melding of cultures is not so fluid as 'melting pot' indicates. I like that in this poem, even though everyone is willing to try the turkey - since it is traditional and since N asked for it - that no one truly cares for it and that the family does their own traditions that night.

It's all a fine way to celebrate, neh?

Favorite line: "like the dittos of Pilgrims I colored in class"

like the dittos of Pilgrims I colored in class.

That Great Diaspora (Rachel Zucker)

That Great Diaspora by Rachel Zucker.

It's short, it's sweet - it's got some really great, memorable lines. I dislike that the first two lines rhyme, but that there is no more rhyme in the poem (unless I missed it) - cuz it sets up an expectation that's not upheld.

Also don't like that in such a short poem with such everyday language that smack in the middle is the clunker "dybbuk". Am I alone in having no idea what that means or references? Totally took me out of the poem. Seemed an odd choice. 

Oh, ok, just Googled it and it's a Yiddish term, so maybe it is familiar if you know about Jewish culture. Dunno, but it struck me as odd and took me out of the poem, but since the title talks about diaspora I can see why having an ethnic word at the heart of the poem is important.

Favorite line: "into the briny dream of elsewheres"