The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Poem Thread, 9/12/07

[BlueIris]

"American Rhapsody"

First you bite your fingernails. And then you comb your hair
again. And then you wait. And wait.
(They say, you know, that first you lie. And then you steal, they
say. And then, they say, you kill.)

Then the doorbell rings. Then Peg drops in. And Bill. And Jane.
And Doe.
At first you talk, and smoke, and hear the news and have a
drink. Then you walk down the stairs.
And you dine, then, and go to a show after that, perhaps, and
after that a night spot, and after that come home again, and
climb the stairs again, and again go to bed.

But first Peg argues, and Doc replies. First you dance the same
dance and you drink the same drink you always drank
before.
And the piano builds a roof of notes over the world.

And the trumpet weaves a dome of music through space. And the
drum makes a ceiling over space and time and night.
And then the table-wit. And then the check. Then home again to
bed.
But first the stairs.

And do you now, baby, as you climb the stairs, do you still feel
as you felt back there?
Do you feel again as you felt this morning? And the night
before? And the night before that?
(They say, you know, that first you hear voices. And then you
have visions, they say. Then, they say, you kick and scream
and rave.)

Or do you feel: What is one more night in a lifetime of nights?
What is one more death, or friendship, or divorce out of two, or
three? Or four? Or five?
One more face among so many, many faces, or one more life
among so many million lives?
But first, baby, as you climb and count the stairs (and they total
the same) did you, sometime or somewhere, have a different
idea?
Is this, baby, what you were born to feel, and do, and be?

—Kenneth Fearing

[CTyankee]

1. Thank you, Blue Iris. Can we post any poem or is there a theme?

If the former, here is mine, by Louise Gluck:

When Hades decided he loved this girl
he built for her a duplicate of earth,
everything the same, down to the meadow,
but with a bed added.

Everything the same, including sunlight,
because it would be hard on a young girl
to go so quickly from bright light to utter darkness

Gradually, he thought, he'd introduce the night,
first as the shadows of fluttering leaves.
Then moon, then stars. Then no moon, no stars.
Let Persephone get used to it slowly.
In the end, he thought, she'd find it comforting.

A replica of earth
except there was love here.
Doesn't everyone want love?

He waited many years,
building a world, watching
Persephone in the meadow.
Persephone, a smeller, a taster.
If you have one appetite, he thought,
you have them all.

Doesn't everyone want to feel in the night
the beloved body, compass, polestar,
to hear the quiet breathing that says
I am alive, that means also
you are alive, because you hear me,
you are here with me. And when one turns,
the other turns—

That's what he felt, the lord of darkness,
looking at the world he had
constructed for Persephone. It never crossed his mind
that there'd be no more smelling here,
certainly no more eating.

Guilt? Terror? The fear of love?
These things he couldn't imagine;
no lover ever imagines them.

He dreams, he wonders what to call this place.
First he thinks: The New Hell. Then: The Garden.
In the end, he decides to name it
Persephone's Girlhood.

A soft light rising above the level meadow,
behind the bed. He takes her in his arms.
He wants to say I love you, nothing can hurt you

but he thinks
this is a lie, so he says in the end
you're dead, nothing can hurt you
which seems to him
a more promising beginning, more true.

[BlueIris]

2. Kick.

[I Have A Dream]

3. OK, this poem had the same effect on me that your BONUS...

poem did. It also makes me want to cry. It makes me even more aware of the monotony that is life. :(

[BlueIris]

4. Eek. I've never found this to be a depressing poem.

It always struck me as a poem encouraging people to reject monotony in favor of intrigue and real intimacy...

[I Have A Dream]

5. Maybe I'm just in a melancholy mood.

:(

[BlueIris]

6. Or I am. So much so that these poems looked "optimistic" to me.

I don't know.

Well, I am feeling emotional, but not necessarily melancholy.

[I Have A Dream]

7. I just feel as though both poems point out how banal...

ordinary life can be. I think that this is why I'm so drawn to spirituality. :)

I hope that you're feeling better. :hug:

[BlueIris]

8. Kick.

[SeattleGirl]

9. I like it.

And sometimes, I find myself asking that very question: Is this, baby what you were born to feel, and do, and be?

Thanks.

[wildhorses]

10. sorta jack kerouac feel

got a beat to it. i like it.

[Heidi]

11. Beautiful.

Thank you for these threads. :thumbsup: