Tara hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at A Teaching Life.
I've been working on some poetry this week and wrestling with my tendency to get hung up on the facts and miss the wonder behind some of the adventure stories I am drawing from. I love the way Luci Shaw's poem explores the ideas that poets convey.
And it's very cold here again, so this one fits the forecast for the day.
Enjoy!
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| Freezing Rain by Laslovarga |
Freezing Rain
by Luci Shaw
Most of the things a poet has to say
are tentative, lists of foggy clues
and suppositions-an unattested version
of the way the wind breathes at night,
an essay at atmosphere, predictions
as unreliable as weather forecasts. I stab
at the truth with a pencil, sometimes,
moved too suddenly to words by the shadings
on a cloud, or its shape, shivering
at a hint of thunder (sure that it
means something) .
But in the lines set down on paper
all suggestions become categories-
intuition or illusion edited to sound
like logic. Naked ideas turn assertive
in print, sharp, as intricate
as the edges of a woods in winter seen
against a blank sky.
Read the rest here.
Most of the things a poet has to say
are tentative, lists of foggy clues
and suppositions-an unattested version
of the way the wind breathes at night,
an essay at atmosphere, predictions
as unreliable as weather forecasts. I stab
at the truth with a pencil, sometimes,
moved too suddenly to words by the shadings
on a cloud, or its shape, shivering
at a hint of thunder (sure that it
means something) .
But in the lines set down on paper
all suggestions become categories-
intuition or illusion edited to sound
like logic. Naked ideas turn assertive
in print, sharp, as intricate
as the edges of a woods in winter seen
against a blank sky.
Read the rest here.
Posts
Oh, isn't this the struggle? I read my past days in that poem. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYep. That's it. I'm glad you like it.
ReplyDeleteI am overwhelmed with the wealth of beautiful words this Poetry Friday. This, too, is gorgeous, and intriguing to me, especially this Line: Naked ideas turn assertive/in print. I see that you & Jeannine connect through with your writing, but I read the poem, & wonder if it isn't also about writing an e-mail & wondering what the interpretation will be? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat's so true, Linda!
DeleteThis is a powerful little piece and so true. I love the lines that end the poem (read via the link):
ReplyDelete"The most fluid
of impressions hardens like frozen
rain. A cold front is passing over.
I hazard a guess; you take it
for reality."
Oh dear... and therefore "Freezing Rain" is the perfect title.
Also, thanks for the Sunshine Award nomination, Dori. I put up a sunshine post and had a lot of fun with it!
Violet N.
I love the ending, too. I'm going to hop over and read your sunshine!
DeleteI love this "I stab
ReplyDeleteat the truth with a pencil"
and
"intuition or illusion edited to sound
like logic"
Yes, so many wonderful images in these few lines.
Delete