A title without a poem
— Zumwalt (2012)
Posts tagged ‘Poem’
Solo
Solo
Blinking away caffeine minutes
And hours
With the deli owls
Sparse and sporadic
Savoring the solitude
Of the urban predawn
I watch winter
Convoluted and crystal
Rush the window
The radio unloads
Heavy metal
High volume, howling
Then
Upturned chairs
the busboy plays counterpoint
on a Kirby
Purposeful sips
Premeditated
Prolong the leisure
Hunching over the cup
I feel my midnight independence hobbled
by night’s loneliness
yet, nonetheless,
Satisfying
— Zumwalt (19 Feb 1979, Washington, DC)
Journal For Poetry Challenge #8
Journal for Poetry Challenge #8
WEEK 1: Jan, 1, 2012
Ladder by Ethel Mortenson Davis
The persona of this poem, innocent and trusting, wonders if the Tarantula, a symbol of entrapment can provide the means necessary to leave our earthly prison.
The poet here as chosen a tarantula, more or less the biggest of spiders, appropriate for the biggest trap of all — the physical universe. If one can work with this tarantula, one can find an exit from the deepest of holes; however, the tarantula is not only non-cooperative, but is threatening — not a hopeful sign.
The casual tone of the persona contrasts with the implied reality embedded in the poem — there is no means of escape from the endless cycle that keeps us bound to the physical universe.
WEEK 2: Jan, 9, 2012
One creates their own reality and here memories start to overtake the objects in view. This is not a psychotic break but the every day feelings we have when alone with objects that have built up associations to past events that we have been a part of. The author gives us just enough (but not more than we need) to be able to follow and ultimately identify with the persona recounting what is an everyday experience in a way the bring us into the room and sharing these associations.
Example Response For Poetry Challenge #8
Response to Poetry Challenge #8.
This can be done as a page or a post. Doing this as a post.
Journal for Poetry Challenge #8
WEEK 1: Jan, 2, 2012
Pretty Little Scars by Vampire Weather
I like a strong message but am especially pleased when the mastery of handling words is directed at supporting that message. This poem does this particularly well! In addition, this poem allows for enough interpretation to remain interesting and worth re-reading and mixes and contrasts the wanted with the unwanted and rejoices at the result.
WEEK 2: Jan, 11, 2012
We all wander about in life somewhat myopically, but some people’s short-sightedness is often at its worst in a relationship: squeezing out promises of freedom from the imprisonment of others. Ben Naga doesn’t hit us over the head with this message but captures it simply and effectively like a black and white photograph of two flies on opposite sides of a glass pane.
WEEK 3: Jan, 17, 2012
Jacaranda by Poetry & Icecream
Unlike a short story, a poem can exist quite nicely, thank-you, without conflict — relying on beauty alone — just like a flower in bloom — it’s great to see that flower all by itself, I don’t need to see a deer eating away the leaves for the scene to be of interest.
But beauty in poetry is not necessarily effortless. Often times there is very controlled use of components within a form.
In this case the meter and rhyme work perfectly together. The meter supports the meaning. The first two lines are iambs but the third breaks away with “bright” being strong and foreshadows the next deviation in the third line of the second stanza — “fantasies drifting away”. Yes, this would still be a nice poem if each line was iambic, but it becomes special as the meter is harnessed to highlight the highlights and emphasize the meaning. The last line is iambic and musical (“upon a sprinkled spread”) which puts the previous line in context against the prevailing iambic rhythm.
This craftsmanship is not haphazard. Even when a poet is so talented that they do this as second nature, just as a jazz musician improvises great melodic lines that align and contrast with the foundational harmonies, this ability and skill is based on reading lots of poetry and writing lots of poetry. There are no shortcuts to excellence!
The Sassoon Collection: viii. Middle Age
The Sassoon Collection
viii. Middle Age
I heard a creak, and a groan
And felt a twinge of wooden pain
A man running in a crowd
Deep in its shadow he moved.
‘Ugly work!’ thought I,
Gasping for breath.
‘Time must be cruel and proud,
‘Tearing down this body.’
With gutsy glimmering shone
my dignity as the wind grew colder.
This aging man jogs over the hill,
Bent to make the grade
‘There is no gain without further pain’…
Sluggishly passing the trees.
Aches in the joints were shrill,
As unmeasured steps sank into the hard asphalt.
— Zumwalt (2011)
Copyright © 2011
Message to Ida Straus
Message to Ida Straus
Don’t ask me where —
send her this message
and do more than that:
get a reply.
What happens after the wave takes you off the deck chair
and the water floods your senses
freezing your skin, bones
filling up your lungs
topping them off for the long journey?
Where do you go?
How do you go?
What unexpected toll roads demand offerings?
Must you give?
Do you give?
And if so, what?
Are you totally passive as
you are guided (or perhaps coerced, kidnapped?) and taken far away
Or is there
far,
close,
up,
down,
across
or even left and right spin?
Does space and time collapse, dissipate, solidify
or
are they a porthole,
barrier or,
maybe along with energy,
exposed outright as some new media hoax?
Tell me Ida.
Please.
Are you in heaven?
Are you suffering for your sins or another’s?
Have you seen an afterlife, a next life — maybe two or three?
If so, is it on Earth — or in a mildly warm pool under the frozen surface
of one of those strange moons of Saturn?
Do you have two legs, seven or sixty-four?
Do you live in our universe?
Or maybe another one?
One that expanded a trillionth of one percent faster
or a billionth of one percent slower
or that has rules so different that I must allow that
getting a message to you is harder than getting one to Garcia?
Take that immediately to her
and get a reply.
Don’t ask for overtime,
guidance
or extension of in-network physician coverage.
Anything you need —
just build, figure out, make happen —
but get results
and when you come back,
all that you have learned
is the property of your employer.
And in return
you will be in line for promotion
or, depending on the whim of others, mentoring someone else.
– – Zumwalt (2011)
Copyright © 2011
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