Pam Webb
a writer's journey as a reader
Archive for the tag “Poetry”
Umbrellas and Choice
One of the benefits of taking on April’s National Poetry Month was discovering cool stuff like Poem-a-Day. Everyday, free of charge, straight to my mailbox, I get to savor a new verse flavor. I like it. This one especially feathered my appreciative factor:
L’Avenir est Quelque Chose
by Dobby Gibson
All day for too long
everything I’ve thought to say
has been about umbrellas,
how I can’t remember how
I came to possess whatever weird one
I find in my hand, like now,
how they hang there on brass hooks
in the closet like failed actors,
each one tiny or too huge,
like ideas, always needing
to be shaken off and folded up
before we can properly forget them on the train.
Most of my predictions are honestly
just hopes: a sudden sundress in March,
regime change in the North, the one where Amanda
wins the big book award from the baby boomers.
There’s that green and white umbrella
the cereal company interns handed us
outside the doomed ball game,
the one just for sun,
the one with the wooden handle
as crooked as the future
that terrifies me whenever one of us uses it
as a stand-in for a dance partner.
You once opened it in the living room
so Scarlett could have a picnic
beneath something that felt to her like a tent
as it felt to me like my prediction
When I want to try to understand now
I tend to look up and how
truth be untold, I might see nothing
more than a few thousand pinholes in black nylon,
it’s enough to get you to Greece and back,
or something to kiss beneath,
who knows how this is going to play out?
I know you won’t ever be able to say
exactly what you’re feeling either,
the way worry might pop open overhead
like fireworks oozing pure midnight —
will we ever see the sun? —
the way we’re sure to pull closer
to whatever’s between us, the rain playing
the drum that’s suddenly us.e would live forever was already true.
About This Poem: from the author
“‘Rather than approaching a new poem as if it might be your last, try approaching it as if it’s simply your next.’ I had scribbled this advice to myself in my notebook just before I wrote this poem. It was a cold and rainy day in Minneapolis. The future seemed impossible. I grabbed the first thing I could find nearest the door.”
Roughly translated I believe the title means: “The future is a thing that overcomes. It is undergoing not the future, it is fact.” Does anyone have a truer translation (I *cough* never took French in school, and um, sailed in the low passing in German).
Why Pick This Poem:
Umbrellas are a fave of mine. That instant bubble zone of being in the weather, yet being protected at the same is both cozy and reassuring. It’s a lot like getting an idea and being immersed in it while coping with paying bills, driving in traffic, grading papers–I’m involved in the everyday, but walking in the bubble of an idea. Just like I carry an umbrella in my car, have one in my classroom, and there’s one hanging in the home hallway. One never knows when walking in a bubble is needed.
Fare thee Well, and so it ’tis…
English: Daguerreotype of the poet Emily Dickinson, taken circa 1848. (Original is scratched.) From the Todd-Bingham Picture Collection and Family Papers, Yale University Manuscripts & Archives Digital Images Database, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
we part with such sweet sorrow,
the course is spent,
Come again Aprile as would t’morrow.
True–it’s over. Every day the Cricket has Mused her way through National Poetry Month. Thanks for joining and I look forward to next year. Thanks for the stop bys, comments, and new followers.
My favorite poems? Certainly. Glad you asked. Here a a couple I never tire of:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
254
“Hope” is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—
And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—
I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.
Emily Dickinson
English: Billy Collins at D.G. Wills Books, La Jolla, San Diego Deutsch: Billy Collins bei D.G. Wills Books, La Jolla, San Diego (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Introduction To Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Billy Collins
Emily rocks. Hands down, she is ThE Poet who has changed the landscape of verse, that is except for The Bard. Now, as for Billy. He’s cool. He is such a poet pro he’s even been named Poet Laureate (high honors, that). His “Teaching Poetry” always reminds me to NOT beat the snot out of a poem when teaching poetry.
What are your absolute all time favorite poems?
Related articles
- Lovely Voices: Billy Collins, the power of understatement. (speak-for-yourself.com)
- Put a Poem In Your Pocket (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- No Fooling It’s National Poetry Month (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
500 Poems on the Wall…
Nope. A month is simply not enough. Thirty days hath April, but it would take a lifetime to truly discover the all and all of poetry.
There are at least a bazillion sites dedicated to poetry. I tend to gravitate towards http://www.poets.org, since they celebrate poetry in a BiG way. There is also http://www.poemhunter.com, which has this massive list of 500 poems. Click and feast.
500 Poems
POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD (Photo credit: summonedbyfells)
Happy Poetry Month!!
Related articles
- PoemHunter (sites.wakingbraincells.com)
- Take Your Next Poem to Lunch (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- April is POETRY MONTH (aboquistschoolthehomeedition.wordpress.com)
Video Poems
While there are many ways to share poetry, be it by book, blog, spoken, or some such communique, I have found video posts to be like Dark Chocolate Dove Bites–savory and long-lasting.
Here is the poem:
This is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
William Carlos Williams
And here is the video:
The poem came alive for me in a different way once viewing the performance. I remember studying William Carlos Williams in college. I thought his poems rather mundane–I mean, he talked about wheelbarrows, chickens, plums–all ordinary stuff. And then I realized there is a cadence, a melody, in all those everyday aspects of life.
For more video poems go to:
and
www.favoritepoem.org/videos.html
Happy Poetry Month!!
William Carlos Williams: writer of wheelbarrows, plums, and chickens
Related articles
- Coming to Terms with Poetry (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- Shaping Up Poetry: Concrete Poems (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- “Red Wheelbarrow” William Carlos Williams 1923 (lazylanguage.wordpress.com)
- Imagery Vs. Sound (zennisproject.wordpress.com)
- Spoken Poetry (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
Poetry Workshop: #3 Inside, Underneath and Beyond
INSIDE, UNDERNEATH AND BEYOND
This is a poem of exploring matters contained within or underneath or beyond something everyday or even unexplained. Choose something to explore and decide which direction of discovery to investigate: will it be to dive inside to see what makes it tick or will it be a burrowing sense of exploration where layers are removed and examined, or does the exploration go beyond known boundaries?
Inside All Poems
Inside all poems
Is a question
And inside this question
Is a quest.
The poet rides out
on a journey to find
the meaning
or an answer
or maybe to hear
an echo of reply
from one who seeks
an answer to the
same question quest.
CM-2012
This form of poetry isn’t quite as popular as the other workshop poems. Upon reflection it might be due to having to look at something from several different viewpoints at the same time to really see it, which can be difficult. It’s like those crazy illustrations of one viewpoint yielding two faces, one on each side of the goblet–but look again, and it is an old woman. It means slowing down life for a few nanoseconds and really thinking about: am I looking or seeing?
Creative Challenge:
Take a look at something you see everyday and try on your perspective specs and really look at it–is there something more to it than you thought, or think? For a real challenge, try this on a person you know. Uh mmm, now that’s taking it to a new level of seeing instead of looking.
Related articles
- We All Need Poetry – Do We, Really? (thelintinmypocket.wordpress.com)
- Blogs by poets as opposed to Poetry Blogs (josephinecorcoran.wordpress.com)
- Shaping Up Poetry: Found Poems (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
Poetry Workshop: #2 Definition Poems
DEFINITION POETRY
Take any word or concept or topic and define through a mix or poetical flow and concrete definition to better understand what it is all about, especially on a personal level.
So It Is With Language
Grammar is the spine
Of prose and all we know
That is called language,
Which is can be spoken
Or written down.
And all those nouns
And verbs
And prepositions
And modifiers that often dangle
And nominative clauses that
Sometimes tangle
Up
Our understanding
Are the vertebrae
And without our vertebrae
There would be not spine
To stand us up
So it is with language
CM-2012
Childhood
Childhood is that momentary suspense
of disbelief and discovery
That happens all too quickly
Yet,
that eye blink lasts a goodly twelve years by the book
Or quicker
depending on the generation
And for a lucky few
childhood remains
only hidden in discretion
likely to pop out
as the sun peeps behind
the seriousness of gray skies
to offset the dour day
CM-2012
What I appreciate most about definition poetry is how it allows flexibility of perspective. It captures connotation and denotation without being all textbookish. And isn’t it oh so clever to sneak in a vocabulary lesson whilst having fun creating wordplay?
Related articles
- Rule One (leeroyberlin.com)
- “Playing With Definitions” (studentpoetry2013.wordpress.com)
- Shaping Up Poetry: Found Poems (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
Poetry Workshop: #1 Repetition Poems
I take seriously the celebration of poetry (understatement–AP terms #179).I took on the personal challenge of posting once a day some poetically inclined muse about poetry and as we wrap up the month I shall share some workshop poems from my creative writing class.
Poetry Workshop Poem #1: Repetition Poems
REPETITION POETRY
- Pick a word or short phrase for the first line
- Add a word or phrase to it for the second line
- Take the ending line to create the consecutive lines, adding a new word or phrase each time until poem reaches a satisfactory conclusion
In the garden there is a tree
And in that tree is thinking spot
And in that thinking spot are my daydreams
And in my daydreams are pathways
And on those pathways are choices to make
And from those choices to make I will decide
And from those decisions will become my destiny
And from that destiny I will live my life
And I will live my life always dreaming, always thinking
And I am thankful for trees
CM–2012
Repetition poems are perfect for those students who lament how they can’t get into the poem groove and get something on paper. It’s also perfect for those who can take its simplicity and play with it. And yes, I create poems along with my students. Who can resist coaxing a poem onto the page?
Happy Poetry Month!!
Related articles
- Shaping Up Poetry: Found Poems (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- Shaping Up Poetry: Concrete Poems (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- Coming to Terms with Poetry (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- April is National Poetry Month (silverbirchpress.wordpress.com)
Forming Poetry: Parodies
Helvetica cattle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Parody Poems
“Imitation is the best form of compliment” or so they say. A Parody Poem emulates or copies a known style of poet. Special attention is paid to tone, diction, rhythm, meter—basically getting the poet’s style so that it is recognizable.
Here are some parody poems using the famous “Purple Cow” poem:
A Purple Cow
By Mr. Gelett Burgess
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.
And here are the parodies:
Edgar Allen Poe
Parody by Susan and David Hollander
One lonely, gloomy, windswept eve
A mournful sound did I perceive.
I cast my eyes beyond the pane
And to my horror down the lane
Came a sight; I froze inside
A spectral cow with purple hide.
Emily Dickinson
Parody by Susan and David Hollander
On far off hills
And distant rills,
Sounds a distant moo.
A purple spot
I think I caught,
Yes! I see it, too!
In Bovine majesty she stands,
Her purple tail she swings,
The amethyst cow,
To my heart somehow,
Perfect joy she brings.
And yet the thought of being
Of that race of royal hue,
Though glowing like the violet sweet,
It really would not do.
William Wordsworth
Parody by Carolyn Wells
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dee;
A Cow whom there were few to praise
And very few to see.
A violet by a mossy stone
Greeting the smiling East
Is not so purple, I must own,
As that erratic beast.
She lived unknown, that Cow, and so
I never chanced to see;
But if I had to be one, oh,
The difference to me!
Rudyard Kipling
Parody by Carolyn Wells*
In the old ten-acre pasture,
Lookin’ eastward toward a tree,
There’s a Purple Cow a-settin’
And I know she thinks of me.
For the wind is in the gum-tree,
And the hay is in the mow,
And the cow-bells are a-calling
“Come and see a Purple Cow!”
But I am not going now,
Not at present, anyhow,
For I am not fond of purple, and
I can’t abide a cow;
No, I shall not go today,
Where the Purple Cattle play.
But I think I’d rather see one
Than to be one, anyhow.
Challenge alert:
Do any of you feel the pull of purple cow within your poetry muse?
Shaping Up Poetry: Metaphor Thirds
joyous heart (Photo credit: Leonard John Matthews)
I’ve made this a part of our sophomore poetry curriculum and I am always taken by surprise at the superlative poems students produce with this format. I found this form in the book Risking Intensity by Judith Rowe Michaels.
Metaphor Thirds
1. Fold a piece of paper into vertical thirds
2. In the first third write five emotions, then fold back the paper
3. In the second column write five colors—these can be basic ones like red, blue, yellow or a bit more imaginative like periwinkle, chartreuse, silver-gray—then fold over this section
4. In the last column write objects or animals
5. Open out all the sections and read directly across
anger red door
sad periwinkle mirror
joyful chartreuse star
loneliness indigo blanket
nervous brown rabbit
6. Read each line across to make five metaphorical statements. For example: Anger is a red door, sad is like a periwinkle mirror, joyful as a chartreuse star, loneliness is like an indigo blanket, nervous like a brown rabbit
7. Choose a metaphor statement and begin to think about the feeling, the color, and the object. What associations come to mind? Brainstorm some of what comes to mind with the image.
8. Begin to work the metaphor statement into a poem, either placing the statement as it is written or work the image into a conceptual piece. The metaphor thirds poem actually works best in a free verse form, although internal rhyme works well.
Chartreuse Leaf (Photo credit: teresia)
multicolored splendor
that’s just how my day
has been
confetti bits of happiness
round about me
dancing
bright lights
of promise
like spring after
a tedious winter
A happy day filled
with greens, and light
Joyous like a chartreuse star
-(first draft of the poem found on the Triptych of Daffodils post)
Related articles
- Coming to Terms with Poetry (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
- Enhancing writing skills in poetry (paulmwenelupembe.wordpress.com)
- Hey, You, Where Did You Get That Poem? (writersite.org)
- Defining the Metaphor in Literature (expertscolumn.com)
Pam Webb aka Cricket Muse
A writer's journey as a reader
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