Spring Tide by Philip Conkling; Projection by Jonathan Everitt; Eid Mubarak[1] by Fady Joudah
Metonymy As An Approach To A Real World by William Bronk; Abandoned Bicycle by George Bilgere
Having a Coke with You by Frank O'Hara 1926 – 1966
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_Mubarak
Nutshell:
Spring Tide: Beautiful rhythm established by rolling anapests and eerie sounds of an abandoned wreck with a "slatting wind, she grinds up off her grave" and completed with "will-of-the-wisp: -- the fantom ghost lights that whisper of wishes and hopes.
The spring tide, highest, is also Easter tide and a time of ressurection. Wonderful pairing of photographs with poems.
Beautifully crafted, but not overdone.
Projection: There was a typo 2nd line -- Earl Grey tea. The "futility" of determinism, is a commentary on fortune telling. If the future can be foretold, then any choice is an illusion. We loved the description of a universe where "palms have mirrors instead of lines."... Clever and reminded some of Sci Fi Fantasy.
Eid Mubarak: Fady Joudah is a well-respected Palestinian poet and we admired the careful crafting and unusual expression such as the first enjambments, and especially the stanza break after "As though"... /only our present contains the things/that dilate into ordinary miracles". It was special to have Elaine, whose family is from Palestine, bring up the importance in that culture to be able to forgive and be grateful, with a strong belief in unity of being human and kindness to strangers.
The title means "Happy Feasting" a greeting said during Ramadan when the fasting is broken at night. Each stanza developed a different aspect of the Muslim faith and invited a careful examination of what each person thinks is important, how we are connected and whether we might be as willing to embrace strangers, to forgive. There is a sense of the past, and yet it is a contemporary poem and in the second stanza reference to "synaptic uptake, electronic pleats/between history and stars". A perfect metaphoric blend of modern with age-old universals, followed by a stunning stanza about the air: What else is inside/ the air we are inside/and pull inside us? The air that carries.
Often the sign of a good poem is a long discussion that does not want to end such as the one we had.
Metonymy: when one takes an attribute to signify something, as in calling people "suits" for business executives. A close sibling to synecdoche where a part signifies a whole. e.g. "wheels" meaning a car. This poem is a philosophic plunge which cleverly examines age-old questions. What is real? Curious that we make "concessions", as if to find common ground. I love the 3rd line before the end: I saw "the light lie"... as in the physical light spread in the chasm of a street, but also the noun, lie, an untruth, light as a feather, with the paradoxical "as though it had drifted in from... a purity of space." Packed lines that require careful attention which some do not care for.
Abandoned Bicycle: This poem was an immediate emotional hit with everyone. There is something universal about a bike, as well as an implication of a rite of passage. The sensitivity of the poet is clear, as is his meticulous noticing. A sense of personnification, especially in these lines: the bike is waiting. Its metals gleam urgently. Touches of humor, like pedals pilfered and "unable to live/without each other, will vanish/into a fresh new marriage. The seat disappears into a seat-shaped abyss. The adjective "abandoned" in the title reappears at the end, now a comparison to a person. After reading the note, many conjectures were made about the poet needing to leave his bike behind but for some it seemed at odds with the poem.
Having a coke with you: Everyone adored this poem~ the blizzard of exotic place names, the repetitions, the feel of being so smitten by love it explodes through out the poem. Breezy, intriguing, forthright, yet elusive. It is fun to look up the artists and Marino Marini whose Riders are definitely not in charge of the horse on which they're attached. The poem doesn't end with a period, but dissolves in air... or continues to waft in the air as if it will never end. The NYT link (see above) of "a date with a poem" makes it a very enjoyable experience. They not only fill in references, but also add Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 and Whitman for comparisons!
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