Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Senseless Beauty

So, I can't stay away. I find writing therapeutic, regardless of what I said yesterday. Dealing with all of this sudden drama has made me appreciate the good things in my life: a husband with a terrific sense of humor and a heart bigger than anyone else's I know, a wonderfully understanding mother, and a perpetually cheerful little boy. I think I would have gone crazy already if not for those three. 

However, I can't quite bring myself to undertake a complicated poetry challenge. Therefore I will unleash my favorite form of poetry, one that requires very little explication: free verse. I am also encouraging you all to share your favorite examples of free verse with me. Please feel free to post these examples along with any attempts you choose to make in free verse. Really, the only rule in free verse is that there are no rules. Write what you feel. I'll count my work in progress from yesterday as my example, and I'll share a few of my favorites with you over the next week. For now, here is a great poem by Octavio Paz.

Water night


Night with the eyes of a horse that trembles in the night,

night with eyes of water in the field asleep

is in your eyes, a horse that trembles,

is in your eyes of secret water.


Eyes of shadow-water,

eyes of well-water,

eyes of dream-water


Silence and solitude,

two little animals moon-led,

drink in your eyes,

drink in those waters.


If you open your eyes,

night opens, doors of musk,

the secret kingdom of the water opens

flowing from the center of the night.


And if you close your eyes,

a river fills you from within,

flows forward, darkens you:

night brings its wetness to beaches in your soul.


It has also been adapted by Eric Whitacre into a spectacular song, which you can hear here.



Please, humor me and share some senseless beauty, won't you?

Haiku News

Holy freaking crap,
don't mess with Hopkins students
with samurai swords!

Yale girl's body found
in a wall off campus; no
answers yet in death.

Speaking of students,
fight broke out in Florida
high school; one guy died.

8 comments:

Alicia said...

I'm really excited about this challenge. My juices are really flowing.

Summer Evenings

You probably don't remember
But I cherish just the though
Of that late summer evening,
A tender kiss in passing
That was never mentioned again.

Minerva said...

Alicia--lovely. Thanks for sharing this gem of a poem. 1,000 points to you! Feel free to keep em coming if you have them!

Alicia said...

I wish I could edit my post. The second line should say 'But I cherish just the thought'

Alicia said...

This one is really dark and weird, but I figured I'd share anyway.

When nightime falls,
They come to feast
Upon anyone
Carrying an inner beast.
When will they leave?
How long will it last?
Someone please rescue me
From the ghosts of my past.

Alicia said...

Ok, I won't steal the comments section anymore after this...

Lost in you
Over many days gone by
Victoriously spinning in
Everything I feel for you

Larks sing thier sweet songs
Objecting to the silence of our feelings
Varying slightly in thier melody
electing a unique sound in their togetherness

Lost in you
Oh, what you feel for me, like
Venom consuming my veins
Eliminates the need to hear you say it.

Minerva said...

Alicia--steal away. That was my hope, that people would come and pour out the contents of their imaginations. What a beautiful mess that would be! As for your "dark" poem, the first few lines gave me the impression of zombies or vampires but the end surprised me. I love that! I also love the last stanza of your third poem. Twisty endings are the best. 2,000 more points for you :)

Anonymous said...

Okay, here's my quicky offering:


It's always strange,
When a loved-one dies.
It feels as if they should still be there,
Just around the corner.
You hear their footsteps in the hall.
It seems impossible that they could really be gone.

And they aren't.
Not while you remember.
____
cicely

Minerva said...

Cicely--This poem echoes my thoughts exactly. For years after my father passed away, I had daydreams that one day the doorbell would ring and he'd be on the porch with a crazy story. 1,000 points for summing up a very difficult and complex emotion.