Poems for November

No one can seem to access the blog. I don't know why the font changed and I don't like it. So I will not be posting any more-- any nutshell's are on my computer. For old times' sake, one last nutshell from last week Nov. 11+13: I removed Padraig O'Tuama -- too many poems about death. Added Meet-up (Ekphrastic) and Blackberries -- which Tony Leuzzi had posted. Who needs to know this? no one . iWonder by Michael Stalcup; Meetup by A.Z. Foreman; Blue by Jodie Hollander; Checkout by Caroline Bird; In a Motel Parking Lot, Thinking of Dr. Williams by Wendell Berry; Blackberries by Nancy K Pearson Nutshell of Nov. 4+6 The Three Towns: It took a few readings to find what the title might refer to: Adonai (the sayable name of God, the Master, the Lord Arranger); I Deny and I don't know. One idea is that we are given three relationships to belief: the one who embraces God through religion; the Agnostic; the Atheist. Perhaps Nemerov would agree with novelist Iris Murdoch: "God does not exist, but what led us to conceive of Him does exist and is constantly experienced and pictured." Using the Villanelle form and simple rhymes that chime, at first the poem seems entertaining, however the final stanza, where the form requires that the repeating 1st and 3rd line join together (with no intermediary of the second line end rhymes ) contains two subtle changes which lend a a certain depth. "I don't know", as a town, is transformed into a fragment and question. (The Road from Adonia?) The town of "I don't know" answers, as a statement of the poet. "I just don't know." These final two lines, are not satiric but rather, somewhat ominous in tone. Furthermore, in the final quatrain, in the first line, the capitalized "How" (echo from 1st line, 3rd tercet, which is an "eye-rhyme") is a "satanic eminence", The capitalized Why, on the second line, is a hermitage, not a town. What leads us? Whatever is repeated only in in the first and final stanza. Whoever is its substitute in the 3rd and 5th stanza. The discussion included the history of the Hebraic names of God, and the idea of God splitting into multiple shards found in all, a binding force so that many be part of one. Is there Free Will? What determines the choice of town? The David Brooks article in the Atlantic about whether human beings have "soul" came up. Is there such a thing as a soul? Let us go then, you and I... (T.S. Eliot, Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock) travel the road -- a popular theme in poetry. Nemerov's take on it is refreshingly original. The Future: Written in 2001 and published in his collection Nine Horses, Billy Collins captures an ominous tone of our 21st century. His choice of details (particular sky; woman in a white bathrobe) might seem arbitrary, but leave the reader room to embroider their exact nature. As for the famous naval battles on narrow straits, one could start with the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, where the Greek fleet defeated the larger Persian navy, but soon enough make a list from the English Channel and William the Conqueror to present day Strait of Hormuz referred to as a crucial maritime chokepoint through which 21% of global petroleum consumption passes daily. Collins provides us with inimitably humorous definitions of geography, commerce and history, and a recall of a passage from Tom Sawyer Goes Abroad where Jim and Tom squabble about whether they have arrived in Africa. "But it's not pink!" "Are you saying the map lies?" A fine example of how our human constructs shape our conceptions! The final stanza is challenging: does the future mean death? The "newcomers" are mild-eyed and silent. Usually when you throw a stone in the water, the ripples go outwards. The new- comers to the future are compared to reverse ripples gathering into a circle... Perhaps the point is that we cannot know if we destined to repeat the past, or break free from the loops of time-- but from the description in the poem of the "reminiscences" one certainly would hope we can escape the absurdities we have acted out in the past. Elegy for the Penny by Catherine Boman, from Indiana, born in 1956 equally delightful. Kathy mentioned this poem, Pears written by her, equally delightful. As for pennies, here , one link for those who want to know more about the "common cents act". The associations of experiences with pennies along with slant references to expressions such as "a penny for your thought", or "lucky penny" or the song Pennies from Heaven (or 1981 film) was delightful. The metaphorical impact of removing "Honest Abe" Lincoln from our culture, is offset by the thought of "roll after roll of pinched/bundled blessings... all those future Lincolns rolling up their sleeves. Pinched, meaning careful, perhaps, more in the sense of thoughtful frugality. The lines, kneeling down, hoping no one sees, to scoop the lost and forgotten perhaps has an overtone of criticism of the current anti-immigrant climate. We noted the self-interrogations, "what will I give you now... How will I learn... where will be... what could be prettier", not so much questions needing question marks, as the sorts of meditations we have facing a loss. Money: This poem is brilliant... correction/addendum: at the end, there was an error: there were indeed 4 overlooked circumstances, a) b) c) and d) was the letter b) was missing! It comes the 4th line after "Notice, in conclusion" which should read: Can never see each other; (b) they are looking Apparently all US coins must have 4 things as on the penny: the date, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; the inscription, E PLURIBUS UNUM, the value of the coin (in this case, FIVE CENTS). The motto "In God We Trust" is present on most coins, first used in 1864, but is not required, however all coins must also feature an emblematic representation of LIBERTY. Nemerov recognizes these obligations with the capital letters. His mindful observations in the conclusion allows him to paint American history and societal constructs that go beyond money and points out our hypocrisy using two symbols for the USA of what we have destroyed : both bison and Indian depended on allowing free range, and following the seasons, at odds with the idea of the colonizers about property. Although not entirely extinct,, the rare bison in a zoo or Indian relegated to a designated reservation are at odds with "Liberty". On the nickel, they are confined to the obverse and reverse of the coin. For a picture and more info about the dual God Jupiter Ammon. Understanding-- so crucial to the smooth running of society, broken down to an examination of the "circular nature of money". The symbolic value of "Liberty" as a word, is bent to conform with the curve of the rim. falling out of the sky Y first is a scathing indictment of how we symbolically "apply" it. Not known as an anti-establishment poet so much as a respected poet who examined duality and persective in his work. His biography is delightful. Listening: A tender tribute to his father, and his ability to "pull the listening out/into places the rest of us had never been." We could imagine his "face go keen", as he connected to the sounds in the "soft wild night". The repeat My Father where we imagine the living, younger man in the first stanza, and then again, memory of him in the final stanza has a parallel with the repeat of soft wild night which he could hear. Listening is the provider of the closest connections we can make with the world, the inverse of deafness which shuts us out. The poem encourages us to slow down, as does the next one. Nothing is too small not to be wondered about: The title says it all. The poem invites us to wonder, albeit with the opening line flatly dismissing the ability of the cricket to do so. The poem is set in Fall... and preparation for death of the cricket. We all loved the last stanza and the admission of not knowing. Do we need to know what something means to respect and honor it, to be glad, or sad about it? The tongue-in-cheek ending is like a serious joke. Someone brought up the example from Susan Sontag about wanting to experience a banana, but only eating the two ends. (This illustrate the limitations of human experience and understanding. This reflects her broader themes of desire, consumption, and the complexities of perception in her work.) I love the idea of a cricket achieving "excellence" as a cricket. Could we as humans ever achieve a similar status?