Poems That You Love

How many poets does it take to change a light bulb?
Leaf

Wed Jul 24, 2019 6:33 pm

Yes, this site is good for making new discoveries :)

I agree that 'The Unknown Bird' rambles a bit. I like that; it reminds me of the time I encountered a proper birder in the park and he told me about the night heron for a very long time. But he too was pleasant and thoughtful, so I didn't mind. It was better than the time a chap told me all about his bunions :lol:

Yes, the ambivalence in 'The Cat' is very well expressed. I'll take a look 'up thread' now...
Macavity
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Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:05 am

Enjoyed 'The Cat' Perry. I find there are so many enjoyable poems in an edition of his collected work, especially when there is more than one poem on a page, that some of the pleasure of an individual poem is diluted.
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CalebPerry
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Sat Dec 21, 2019 10:42 pm

Invitation To Ground Zero

Into the smouldering ruin now go down,
and walk where once she walked, and breathe the air
she breathed that final day on the burning stair,
and follow her beyond the fleeing crowds,
into the fire and through the climbing clouds.

Into the smouldering ruin now go down,
and find, in ashes bright as hammered tin,
a buried bone-white naked mannikin
that, flung from some shop window, serves to bind
her body and its beauty to your mind.

William Jay Smith


This is one of the most haunting and moving poems that I've ever read, obviously written about 9/11. Curiously, the word "smouldering" is the British spelling, although you would expect the American spelling. A "mannikin" is a kind of bird, although it can also be a variant spelling of "manikin" or "mannequin". (According to the dictionary, a "maniken" is an anatomical dummy for medical research, and a "mannequin" is a store dummy.) One wonders what the author was up to with these spellings.

The original poem was punctuated very strangely, and I changed that.
Last edited by CalebPerry on Thu Feb 06, 2020 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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If you don't like the black theme, it is easy to switch to a lighter color. Just ask me how.
If I don't critique your poem, it is probably because I don't understand it.
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CalebPerry
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:29 am

The Problem with Love Poetry

The problem with love poetry
is, should your efforts amuse me,
you’d be inspired to write more
and that’s not what husbands are for.

I want a man to work a trade
so I can have goods ready-made;
a poet never has a dime
and that’s a drag for a lifetime.

I need a man who wants children
and makes a home to raise them in;
a poet’s always off somewhere
obsessed with publishers unfair.

I’d like a man to pleasure me
and help with chores occasion’ly;
a poet’s up late scribbling
and worse, come day, he’s sleeping in.

The problem with a love sonnet
is, should I say that I like it,
you’d write enough to fill a shelf
and that’s making love to yourself.

Craig Kurtz
Signature info:
If you don't like the black theme, it is easy to switch to a lighter color. Just ask me how.
If I don't critique your poem, it is probably because I don't understand it.
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