The Metier of Blossoming by Denise Levertov; Summer’s Elegy by Howard Nemerov; Morning Song by Sylvia Plath 1932 –1963; My Daughter Explains the New World by Abby Murray; Love: a human condition by Nikki Giovanni; The Table Remains Jason Gabari; Poem Without a Title by Charles Simic
Nutshell:
The title using The Métier as opposed to the English, "Professional Trade", gives a certain distinction and personification of "Blossoming" as part of the definition of being human. We noted gravid buds, an unusual adjective for buds which lends a sense of gravity to the fullness. If you have ever watched the slow rise of an Amaryllis stem and development of its large blooms, the first stanza indeed captures an accurate description! The comparison of the flower's growth to marks on a barn door labeling the progress of a child's height adds a human touch of pride. There's a certain cleverness of line breaks which lends a playful tone. The second stanza plunges the reader into a present moment. The lines are breathless with expectancy. We puzzled at her choice of Juno, Roman goddess of marriage, families and childbirth. It seems contradictory to call her a "maiden" giantess. Her enumeration of the ideals of blossoming (whole, undistracted, unhurried) falls on three lines. The line break after sheer /unswerving captures the odd choice of "swift" with a sheer "drop" that swerves to "unswerving". We cannot be perfect -- but what an inspiring wish to "blossom out of ourselves", withholding nothing in such a way!
It reminded Jonathan of Roethke's poem, Root Cellar. https://allpoetry.com/Root-Cellar
Summer Elegy: We marveled at the subtlety of the rhyme scheme, the pleasure of the sounds of internal rhyme and aliterations. The form sustains the meaning and vivid descriptions of nature in Autumn. I loved that one person commented how the poem provided reassurance about the inevitable end we all face, and made it seem "OK". Another remarked there seemed to be a turn on the 14th line. Although not a double sonnet, one could think of the next 10 lines providing echo, where the reader is invited in to consider his/her own "unripe" place, joining in the final "cut", the terminal sound /of apples dropping on dry ground. Judith mentioned the poem has a distinct flavor of Keats, and how in a different Nemerov poem, it was not apples dropping, but acorns.
Morning Song: We agreed that this was a different aspect of Plath's poetry which points to her talent. More than a poem about a mother attending and observing her baby, one senses an edgy foreboding. "Your nakedness/shadows our safety"... "I am no more your mother/than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow/effacement at the wind's hand." We noted the shift of metaphors in the last two stanzas. The lightness of the daughter's rising voice, wins out over the cow-heavy mother as final line.
My Daughter Explains: Abby Murray blends the idealistic young 11 year old with overtones of the adult responding, so we feel privy to a overhearing an exchange we would not be aware of. Why not imagine a new world. Sure, feminist, but translation available as a gift for men. And those lions, not as symbols of empires, strength of kings, but the actual New York Public Library Lions now the librarians, and in charge. We discussed the final stanza, how we say "rest in peace" as a final word. It takes an 11 year old to put a spin on peace as metaphor for death.
Love: a human condition: Quirky, profound. We all were glad for the inventive slant on a subject that seems like nothing more could add to the copious works about love through the centuries! Do we love, because that's the only true adventure? Perhaps the only way get "out of ourselves"? The final two lines leave the reader to wonder about narcissism and its perpetration
The Table Remains: Do look at the artwork, as this is an ekphrastic poem. From the personification of a table to the stage it provides for objects as actors. Why do people go to fortune tellers? As a still life, the frozen objects provide more layers to the pun of "remains" in the title. Judith provided a re-enactment of the ballet, "The Green Table" by by Kurt Jooss. This link gives you a commentary about the choreography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4U2UecJ9oE This link shows you Part 1 (17 min.) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un5kYC8jpUk This link gives you a 7 min. "extract" https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=401828120270738
[1] The poem was written for Rattle's Ekphrastic Challenge, June 2025, using this image: “The Cartomancer’s Table” by Gerald Traicoff. “ https://rattle.com/the-table-remains-by-jason-gabari/ Selected as the Editor’s Choice.
