Sticking by and to
sticking Sticking by and to and through.
There’s a grape jelly taste to it.
there's Didn’t you come to me for just this and
didn’t
it disappoint you?
didn't
didn't
is Is you
is or
is you ain’t my _____?
Drowsing in my
sheets.
drowsing Rub right there.
Got it
- Got to.
rub Skimmed
over
skimmed off
skimmed your cream dream
.
got
skimmed
held You will be
held, Melted Malted
. Afford --
let fall.
melted,
let fall
break Break eggs -- rules -- off -- in -- over me.
We -- she -- he -- that once
was was
before, no more.
before
could tell No one - no one but you - every one - how you -
would if you could tell.
Was I was, not you. Take care-over-heart-me-it like a man-everything.
Take Spiders-freckles-leaf veins-slights-failures-moons-Mars magnified.
Magnified
appear Fears memories you and I intentions this
moment appear disappear
disappear Your slip my
age amerika’s x-rayed racism is showing.
showing For keeps the cat eye marbles. I wonder what keeps
you?
keeps
keeps
feel My father’s fierce embrace. Sway, Willow.
Bend and let the
sway torrent pass.
bend.
keep hearing Keep hearing rumbling silence.
coming in. Some thing is coming in a train, a disease, a
vision.
rumbling
have had Everything
we had we have had but have not.
Picking Saw bare
the world’s ankles singing a picking song.
am I
am come but not alone.
Desired Shall we
now surrender what hope most desired?
were None are what they were but that’s cold _______.
Touch Only
touch.
Cherish Learning to cherish takes _______.
lift Hopes memories friendships ______
beauty lift and let fall.
let fall
struck Well struck, expertly so the victims were not _______bruised.
bruised Fevers footballs heels _______ and heads spiked.
spiked
Went We went willingly. “See” is an invitation not a _______.
see Before the whole eco-system is ______.
is
gone
say Say
your piece; it’s your ____. How will you describe?
it's Night ____ coming. I pray you will sleep without ______.
describe
coming
sleep.
LFM 11/6/13
I hope you enjoyed interacting with me through this poem.
In
the above, I began with a poem I like by Robert Frost, "After Apple
Picking." I removed all the words except verbs. I used the verbs as a
kind of random acrostic for creating sentences. In a developing order I
wrote sentences and sentence fragments that I think encourage and
involve the reader more and more as the poem progresses. So, from the
early stanzas there are multiple associations spelled out. As the poem
progresses, the reader is encouraged to make more and more of his/her
own associations. In the end the reader is encouraged to add his or her
own words and play with possibilities that carry associations for that
reader.
There is a kind of general theme of relationships and communication for the whole similar to Silliman's "rock pile."
The
process was one of progressing experimentation for me as a poet as
well. I became more free with open spaces and left more room for the
reader to determine the content. I tried to shape the thought in
certain ways and to arrive at a positive but open conclusion, one that
left a question for the reader to answer in his/her own way. I gave my
self increasing permission to change the constraints I was working
with. So by the time the reader makes his or her way through to the
end, their brain has hopefully been through an exercise of dealing with
changing rules and increasing involvement.
I was as many people have said, "play." I thoroughly enjoyed it.
