Various Praises
another for the embers of headlines and kindling,
for the sun-spitted carcass of the locust,
and never forget the roundabout loves
of the honey bees, to and fro,
all for what we mean by a home—combed
and sticky. and one for the dirigible
and one for the resistable urges
over and above the other kind.
another for the lantern snuffed by a gust
on the way to check the chicken coop for coyotes.
for the must of old books,
of olden days,
of the meaningful ways we word.
one each for candied ginger and equilibrium.
gee whiz. I love the first three stanzas, especially. your lines are awesome---breaks, length, telling, not telling, etc.
ReplyDelete*****
Thanks Hannah. 3 out of 5 ain't bad.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the fifth line/ second stanza as well as the rest of it, but especially the line "all for what we mean by a home."
ReplyDeleteThe ending is funny. It left me feeling a little weird, but I liked it mostly.
Rachel, might you say the weirdness was an equilibrium issue? Because that would be cool.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, thanks for the compliment and thanks double just for reading.
Yes, I do believe the weird is from the "equilibrium." Although in rereading it, despite whatever awkwardness, ending with the word "equilibrium" brought me sharply back into focus with the idea of balance. I found the cadence of the poem matches this polarity as well; although not strictly so, your words move back and forth, "of the honey bees, to and fro," and moving from present details of life like the ritual of checking on the chickens and then back to "for the must of old books,/of olden days." It is balanced in a way but there is also this undercurrent of something, like 'equilibrium.'
ReplyDeleteRachel, that's a pretty cool read of this poem. I honestly wasn't quite sure why "equilibrium"--it just felt right, organic, I suppose; but looking at it your way makes an awful lot of sense to me.
ReplyDelete