July 21, 2014~

I've missed O Pen -- and so grateful that the group wanted to carry on and self-propel over the summer. Next week, David and Judith will carry on, and then I resume August 4 as moderator. What an honor.

There is something sacred about reading words of poems aloud -- like prayers.
Today, we shared "humorous" poems each reading aloud individual picks. In no particular order:

David: "In a Poetry Workshop" by Richard Wakefield
Joyce: "The Cure" by Ginger Andrews
me: "Immigrant Picnic" by Gregory Djanikian
Kathy: "A Downward Look" and "The Candid Decorator" by James Merrill
Elaine R: "last poem in the world" (2-liner by Hayden Carruth; "Local 328" by Michal Donaghy; and "Denial" by David Lehman.
Judith: How the Helpmate of Blue-Beard Made Free with a Door -- Guy Wetmore Carryl
Susan and Don both picked William Carlos Williams, "This is just to say"
Don added fresh plums and "Variations on a Theme by WCW" by Kenneth Koch.
Bernie brought in examples from "Haiku Humor" by Stephen Addiss w/ Fumiko and Akira Yamamoto as well as Sharon Olds, "Self-Portrait, Rear View".
Cindy: "No Place to Go" by Edgar Guest
Carmen: "Gold Rush" by Jan Boyley Taupe (another 2 liner) and Japanese microsoft error messages as haiku expressing a universal, timeless message, powerful insight through extreme brevity.
Elaine O. "The Lived In Look" by Marge Piercy
Martin: I met my grandmother in Italy

**
Can you guess which line came from which poem?

"I find her where I least expect her"

"This is the sweet imprint of your life/and loves upon the rumpled sheets/of your days."

"First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
so beautifully."

"... the joy of having/no place to go."

"-- even the word saddlebags has a/smooth calfskin feel to it."

"Taking a nap / looks more refined / when holding a book."

"Forgive me, I simply do not know what I am doing."

"so sweet / and so cold"

"But here's the truth unqualified, / her husband wasn't mollified / her head is in the bloody/ little study/ with the rest."

"An Irish doorman foresees his death,/waves ad runs to help it with its packages."

"... On high, the love
... still radiates new projects as old as day."

"you could grow nuts listening to us,"

"she's been suffering/from a bad case of the mulleygrubs."

**
We spoke at the end of Why is something funny? Why does linking familiar with unfamiliar make us laugh?
Is it only incongruity? infractions? predictable form with unpredictable message.

Regardless, it was great sharing and a wonderful time.