Windsor
From Corson’s Inlet A. R. Ammons
“ like an inlet’s cutting edge:
there are dunes of motion,
organizations of grass, white sandy paths of remembrance
in the overall wandering of the mirroring mind: “
Days hot as a train burnished penny,
small footprints traced in asphalt.
Stop and go, hide and seek
childish shrieking until the streetlights come on.
Sitting on the porch while the day recedes
cats drowsing in the heat of a window ledge
nighthawks rising to the currents of dark
each dawn seems life foretelling death.
Day no more than a featheredge
like the inlet’s cutting edge
rolling to night’s sleepless sea.
Sparkles, fireflies, fireworks
and a fat moon face in the window.
Great search lights ever scanning
giant footsteps ever stamping
foghorns on the river, dream of the ocean.
The man at the top of the stairs; no light can dispel
rain sounds, headlights, great snakes of shadow.
Sliding slithering englobed by a nightmare sea’s devotion
there are dunes of motion,
sky great clouds and swirling curtains.
Remember a park big as the world
with all the world’s knowledge at its heart,
piled with leaves, flowers gone to seed
swarming bees, red birds, bugs in jars.
A fathers time, a childlike allegiance
evening, walking past the baseball diamond
sucking on a straw full of candied sugar.
No relentless waves of truth can unbalance
organizations of grass, white shady paths of remembrance
of tales told in a graveyard night
cobblestones eroding under waves of cars.
Home from church in the dark
the moon now no more than a rind.
Freighted so with emotion in today’s dawn,
thoughts of return sadly declined
as every wave propels the swimmer forward,
no tide can carry back the past’s lost child
to a nonexistent city now confined
in the overall wandering of mirroring mind:
Guy
Form Glosa
4 comments:
Guy, I am curious about this poem. Did you write it? I think that you did. the first part is a quote from another poem I gather? Why the title "Windsor" and what is form glossa?
I love some of the imagery in this poem. I really like the lines about the "nighthawks rising on the currents of dark" and the "moon's fat face."
Hi Kathie
I am glad you liked it I did write everything except the four lines from Corsons Inlet by A R Ammons one of my favorite poems. As for the glosa
"Canadian poet P. K. Page defines it as consisting of an opening quatrain written by another poet, four ten-line stanzas, each with concluding lines taken consecutively from the quatrain, and the sixth and ninth lines rhyming with the borrowed tenth line"
This definition comes from
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_G.html
P. K. Page wrote several lovely examples and actually published a book Hologram: A Book of Glosas
which inspired me to try writing one.
The title Windsor is because I lived in Windsor Ontario until I was 16 and the images all relect actual events or places that I remember from my childhood. I choose the form because I see poetry as having two purposes for the poet one can be for catharsis
but the other for me is a kind of play. That is a reason I see for using forms. It is a game with rules, Robert Frost supposedly said writing free verse is like playing tennis without
a net. I see the merit of both forms and free verse but it is really enjoyable for me when a form I choose turns out to be a perfect framework for what I want to say. Sorry If I went on a bit but as you already know poetry is important to me.
Thanks for reading and commenting on my poems. I enjoy your questions as well, it always makes me think a bit more about my work.
Guy
Guy, thank YOU for this explanation! I had not heard of it before. In anatomy, glossa refers to the tongue. You got me interested so I googled it and found this Web Definition: tongue: a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity.
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn. I have to say it makes me chuckle!
I love the imagery and exuberance in this poem. I love the memories and the word play. It is quite good and I agree with you that poetry is both a release and an attempt to capture a moment. I find that I bounce around from free form and free verse to rhyme and form. I have not played with a form in a long time though. Rhyme just comes to mind and flows out easily for me most of the time. Since some people do not take rhyme as serious poetry I sometimes shy away from it, but to me poetry is all about the play of words on the page so I guess I should not hold myself back. I get in certain moods and then I run with it.
Thank you for answering my question fully. I am glad that I checked back. You used to be able to subscribe to a certain post but it seems google has eliminated this feature. Too bad. Now I have to remeber whose posts I commented on and try to go back and read the responses. I did not subscribe to many posts but yours are one of the exceptions I make because you give such thoughtful responses. So many people just visit my blog and leave a quick comment just so I will visit their's. I can often tell when someone has not read my posts as they will ask questions in the comment box that have already been answered in the text above!
Once again, thank you!
Hi Kathie
I just wanted to thank you for your kind comments. I enjoyed hearing about your approach to poetry because I do not know a lot of people who write it and it is great to find out what sparks other people. I am also glad to hear your comments about blogging I do like to leave and receive longer comments which is one of the reasons I do not have a ton of blogs on my favorites list. I find it does take time to really think about a response.
All the best.
Guy
Post a Comment