Wallace Stevens

"Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it's the sincerest 

form of learning."— George Bernard Shaw

Welcome to Day 19 of FEET IN THE CREEK.

Week 3 Poets:

April 15: Myra Cohn Livingston

April 16: Mary Ann Doberman

April 17: Christina Rosetti
April 18: Rebecca Kai Dotlich

For each day I have chosen a favorite poem, a favorite poet, or a favorite friend. I will look at the work, decide what draws me to it, what makes it resonate for me, and then write my own poem about the creek with those techniques in mind. These are first drafts, so nothing will be especially polished, but they will be starting points for revision after the month is done. Feel free to follow along or join in.

Today's poet is Wallace Stevens. Check out the Wallace Stevens Society here.

Listen to Bill Murray read two of Stevens' poems.

from  Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
by Wallace Stevens

I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.

II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.

III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.

IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.

My Intention: Write a series of stanzas looking at the creek in different ways. 


1.
A silver ribbon
winds through the moonlight.

2.
I watch wisteria petals
eddy in circles
in a backed up pool.

3.
A boy sits on a rock.
A solitary leaf turns slowly
on the current.

4.
Branches play
shadow games
on the water's surface.

5.
The creek hurries over rocks,
rushing to catch elephant ears
waving in the breeze.

6.
A frog peers into clear
water watching her babies
dart toward darkness.

7.
Water gurgles and plops
over rocks, creek singing its own song
to the birds overhead.

© Doraine Bennett, 2016. All rights reserved.

Week 1 poets:
April 1: Ralph Fletcher
April 2: Douglas Florian
April 3: Progressive poem. Catch up here.
April 4: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
April 5: Walt Whitman
April 6: Irene Latham
April 7: Carmen Bernos de Gasztold

Week 2 Poets:

April 8: Janet Wong

April 9: George Ella Lyon

April 10: Bobbi Katz
April 11: Nikki Giovanni
April 12: Margarita Engle
April 13: Mother Goose
April 14: William Carlos Williams