So it's neither food nor drink related, but today's poem by Ai is domestic and dark.
It's a story of a poem. Very simply told in prosy language. It's a chilling poem with its childish game of hide-and-seek contrasting with pedophilia and incest. I have a hard time dealing with the language or poetic merit of the thing, because of its emotional impact. I do wonder why this is a poem instead of written out in prose. Why isn't it an essay or article? Would the impact be lessened?
Favorite line: "It's after dinner playtime."
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
A Pot of Tea (Richard Kenney)
Wee! One more drink poem. Yesterday was coffee, today tea. "A Pot of Tea" by Richard Kenney.
It IS about tea, but it's also about sharks and about thoughts/connections. However, as I read I keep being distracted by the inexpert rhyming. It often clangs and is noticeable when it should be quite the opposite.
I love tea and was pretty happy to find this tea poem, but ugh I kind of hate this one. It's boring, but trying to be special. The rhyme is dull (and clangs!); the shark connection is bizarre; the idea being developed is not interesting. I truly dislike this poem.
Favorite line: "And the future's in Darjeeling --"
It IS about tea, but it's also about sharks and about thoughts/connections. However, as I read I keep being distracted by the inexpert rhyming. It often clangs and is noticeable when it should be quite the opposite.
I love tea and was pretty happy to find this tea poem, but ugh I kind of hate this one. It's boring, but trying to be special. The rhyme is dull (and clangs!); the shark connection is bizarre; the idea being developed is not interesting. I truly dislike this poem.
Favorite line: "And the future's in Darjeeling --"
—
And the future’s in Darjeeling—
Monday, September 9, 2013
Time Study (Marvin Bell)
Maybe I should do a week of drink related poems. This one by Marvin Bell would definitely count.
It starts with a cup of coffee and then goes like a random thought in your mind - looping, but there does seem to be some forward motion/some method to the madness, but really if you look very close it's one giant mess. It's nonsensical, but you swear you think there is something to it.
And that's how I feel about today's poem. It's a great read - all that repetition. And at the same time, it seems to say nothing and yet something profound too. It's really rather marvelous how it accomplishes that. Cool cool. I just love the way this poem rambles.
Favorite line: "The coffee was cold so I said so. I said, "
It starts with a cup of coffee and then goes like a random thought in your mind - looping, but there does seem to be some forward motion/some method to the madness, but really if you look very close it's one giant mess. It's nonsensical, but you swear you think there is something to it.
And that's how I feel about today's poem. It's a great read - all that repetition. And at the same time, it seems to say nothing and yet something profound too. It's really rather marvelous how it accomplishes that. Cool cool. I just love the way this poem rambles.
Favorite line: "The coffee was cold so I said so. I said, "
The coffee was cold so I said so. I said,
Sunday, September 8, 2013
The light of a candle (Yosa Buson)
Haiku is fun, no? Sweet, short poems - extremely distilled language - about poetic and poetry can be. Neh? I dunno. I have a fondness for them. Today's entry is a haiku by Yosa Buson.
It has superb visuals. It names the season. It links nature to a human experience. It wastes not a word. It uses a word's double meaning ("springs") to add a 2nd layer to the poem.
But, sadly, despite its key-on haiku-ic nature, I can't really get enthused about this poem. It doesn't strike me as interesting or unusual. It just seems fine to me. Technically, fine, but lacking spark (for me). How about for you?
Favorite line: "spring twilight"
It has superb visuals. It names the season. It links nature to a human experience. It wastes not a word. It uses a word's double meaning ("springs") to add a 2nd layer to the poem.
But, sadly, despite its key-on haiku-ic nature, I can't really get enthused about this poem. It doesn't strike me as interesting or unusual. It just seems fine to me. Technically, fine, but lacking spark (for me). How about for you?
Favorite line: "spring twilight"
spring twilight.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Wedding Cake (Naomi Shihab Nye)
Okay, so I am cheating. 1) I didn't post a food-related poem (or any poem, for that matter) yesterday and 2) today's entry (by Naomi Shihab Nye) has a food title, but there isn't really food in the poem itself.
Instead, this poem is a little story - about how a woman got stuck with an infant while the mother went to the airplane's bathroom to change. She becomes fascinated with the child, starts to feel the pangs of motherhood - the caring, the worries, the hopes.
Instead, this poem seems to say that the whole of something can be distilled and smooshed into something more compact and meaningful. How the child knows "the small finger / was funnier than the whole arm"; how the poem's narrator can feel connected to the child, for life, in less than an hour; how a poem less than 50 lines can explain a mother/child bond and paint the portrait of an infant; how this poem shows the wonder of poetry - full stories and prose-y truths in their most condensed forms.
Favorite line: "I read new new new."
Instead, this poem is a little story - about how a woman got stuck with an infant while the mother went to the airplane's bathroom to change. She becomes fascinated with the child, starts to feel the pangs of motherhood - the caring, the worries, the hopes.
Instead, this poem seems to say that the whole of something can be distilled and smooshed into something more compact and meaningful. How the child knows "the small finger / was funnier than the whole arm"; how the poem's narrator can feel connected to the child, for life, in less than an hour; how a poem less than 50 lines can explain a mother/child bond and paint the portrait of an infant; how this poem shows the wonder of poetry - full stories and prose-y truths in their most condensed forms.
Favorite line: "I read new new new."
the small finger
was funnier than the whole arm.
the small finger
was funnier than the whole arm.vv
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Chocolate Milk (Ron Padgett)
Who doesn't love a tall glass of chocolate milk?? Poet Ron Padgett sure does!
He also loooves exclamation points! Teehee! It's such a cute poem with such a cute voice. It's a childish poem and is sweet in precisely the way that a glass of chocolate milk is - simple, sugary and full of giddy love. Wee!
Favorite line: "Oh God! It’s great!"
He also loooves exclamation points! Teehee! It's such a cute poem with such a cute voice. It's a childish poem and is sweet in precisely the way that a glass of chocolate milk is - simple, sugary and full of giddy love. Wee!
Favorite line: "Oh God! It’s great!"
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Coolness of the melons (Matsuo Basho)
One more food related poem. Today's is a haiku by Basho. It's translated by Robert Hass. I actually got to go to a reading he (a pretty good poet in his own right) performed at.
It's a great poem because it brings to mind melon in a country field. So few syllables and yet a full, emotionally-charged view of such a rustic scene.
It is comforting and picturesque.
Favorite line: "flecked with mud"
It's a great poem because it brings to mind melon in a country field. So few syllables and yet a full, emotionally-charged view of such a rustic scene.
It is comforting and picturesque.
Favorite line: "flecked with mud"
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Wine Tasting (Kim Addonizio)
What luck! The poem of the day on poets.org today is food related. Wine Tasting by Kim Addonizio.
Okay, so maybe not food, but drink is close enough. This poem starts by comparing wine to some of the more common comparisons. This wine tastes of 'cracked leather' and 'cherries'. Then it goes a bit more broad - wine yields talk of poets and human relations. She then seems to say that these connections, like the buzz from the wine she's drinking, will soon end. However, that doesn't stop one from tasting or trying it all.
Favorite line: "the moon dove / in the river"
Okay, so maybe not food, but drink is close enough. This poem starts by comparing wine to some of the more common comparisons. This wine tastes of 'cracked leather' and 'cherries'. Then it goes a bit more broad - wine yields talk of poets and human relations. She then seems to say that these connections, like the buzz from the wine she's drinking, will soon end. However, that doesn't stop one from tasting or trying it all.
Favorite line: "the moon dove / in the river"
the moon dove
in the river
in the river
Monday, September 2, 2013
Strawberrying (May Swenson)
Food themed poetry. Who knew there were so many? Today's poem by May Swenson is about picking fresh strawberries. Yum!
I'd guess that food is such a ripe (to use a related term) subject for a good poem since food is essential, primal and it is linked to lust and love and life and creation and destruction.
In the poem, picking strawberries comes across as very violent what with her hands being "murder-red" and the fruits with their "bleed" and "rot". It's a contrast with the poem's only other subjects - children on a shore vacation with their mother.
Maybe her way of talking about strawberry picking is supposed to reflect the unexpected intrusion of violence on ordinary life? The inescapable darker side?
After all, at the end, if you pick a strawberry which is too mushy, too soft, you just abandon it to the ground to rot. You've got to see the darkness in life to avoid such a fate yourself. Don't get soft since the soft ones are abandoned and left to rot.
Seems awfully dark. Shoot.
Favorite line: "Ripeness / wants to be ravished"
I'd guess that food is such a ripe (to use a related term) subject for a good poem since food is essential, primal and it is linked to lust and love and life and creation and destruction.
In the poem, picking strawberries comes across as very violent what with her hands being "murder-red" and the fruits with their "bleed" and "rot". It's a contrast with the poem's only other subjects - children on a shore vacation with their mother.
Maybe her way of talking about strawberry picking is supposed to reflect the unexpected intrusion of violence on ordinary life? The inescapable darker side?
After all, at the end, if you pick a strawberry which is too mushy, too soft, you just abandon it to the ground to rot. You've got to see the darkness in life to avoid such a fate yourself. Don't get soft since the soft ones are abandoned and left to rot.
Seems awfully dark. Shoot.
Favorite line: "Ripeness / wants to be ravished"
Sunday, September 1, 2013
This Is Just To Say (William Carlos Williams)
Continuing the food theme, today's is This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams which talks about plums (a gorgeous, delicious fruit).
It's short and sweet and tartly funny (eh, just like a plum - sweet/tart??). The language is plain and basic. It almost reads like a hand written note instead of a polished poem.
Its confessional tone is endearing and forgiveness is automatic. How could you be mad at someone who has such a child-like response to beauty? 'I had to have them - they were so meant to eaten, so perfect and so beautiful ('so sweet and so cold')'.
Favorite line: "Forgive me / they were delicious"
It's short and sweet and tartly funny (eh, just like a plum - sweet/tart??). The language is plain and basic. It almost reads like a hand written note instead of a polished poem.
Its confessional tone is endearing and forgiveness is automatic. How could you be mad at someone who has such a child-like response to beauty? 'I had to have them - they were so meant to eaten, so perfect and so beautiful ('so sweet and so cold')'.
Favorite line: "Forgive me / they were delicious"
Forgive me
they were delicious
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