DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Lullaby with Bourbon" by George David Clark Originally read: November 10, 2013 More information about the Poet: George David Clark The language shows a differentiation between what is real and what is made to be fantastical.  This divide is further compounded with the adjusted lines, and the fact that each stanza is ten lines long to contain the divide. The first stanza has a sense of motion because the poem opens up in the present, and also with a prepositional phrase, "Behind you lie a hundred yards of satin / paid out in a thin line" which should locate us, but rather dislocates.  There's just hundreds of yards of satin behind that, "trailed around the house in slinky corkscrews, / tangled in the ficus / like a kite."  This image dominates the setting, but note that this image is still behind, we don't know what is forward.   Yet, when trying to get forward the poem goes for reasons expanding on the now, &

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Tabula Rasa" by Matthew Wimberley Originally read: November 8, 2013 More information about the Poet: Matthew Wimberley Tabula Rasa -- Blank Slate Once understanding the title, then the whole poem unfolds.  The only thing I don't know is why the use of Latin?  Or maybe if the title was "Blank Slate" then there would be too much emotional weight which would overly foreshadow the poem. In any case, the title plays into the first part of the poem, an exposition:      He still remembers how to move      sandpaper with the wood grain,      push back years of weariness      and start again. This is the introduction of the other and note that the first line has to deal with "remembering"; also note that since the beginning is a blank slate, the exposition focuses on what the other remembers, which then leads to what the other forgets which is:      [...]I watch      him strip away lacquer, deep maple      colored jelly p

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Ace" by Cally Conan-Davis Originally read: November 7, 2013 More information about the Poet: Cally Conan-Davis So the poem starts with an expletive, "Bloody hell, the worlds turned / upside down".  The poem plays with the idea of hell, but also what it means to be "upside down." For example, "The flame tree has become / geranium"  This is not the literal upside down, but the switch of power and expectation.  The flame tree, for me, referenced the burning bush, but looking it up now, the flaming tree is an actual tree. So there's a play with scope and size, but also of allusions as well.  Or I might be looking at the poem too intently.  In any case the couplets here continue to play with "upside down." "my coral bed has grown / into a tree"  from sea to land, "the humming bird you hammered / to the wall"  from the freedom of flight to being tied down in which "through t

Original poem reprinted online here:   "To Be Elsewhere" by Hsia Yü Originally read: November 6, 2013 More information about the Poet: Hsia Yü Translations.  A part of me wants to read the original text, but then again, I don't know "The Chinese" (as Poetry Foundation states this translation is from).  The poem itself deals with something missing, but I, as a reader, feel like I'm missing something in here as well. The first few lines detail out a tryst, "We met in a coastal village / spent a lovely night without leaving an address / going separate ways"  I think the key with the opening line is the idea of a "coastal" village in a more thematic sense -- this sort of bridge between sea and the land which parallels both the speaker's and the other's ebb away from each other. Then the flow, "Three years later / we meet again by coincidence."  This language is straight to the point -- there's not emotional tie in here,

Original poem reprinted online here:  "Three Things to Remember" by William Blake Originally read: November 5, 2013 More information about the Poet: William Blake  The conceit with this poem is in the title, "Three Things to Remember."  So there's already a didactic effect going on here.  However, each couplet goes with a similar formula -- bird / effect. "A Robin Redbreasted in a cage / Puts all Heaven in a rage."  Here the speaker automatically takes a prophetic stance and can tell the reaction of the divine.  Keeping a Robin Redbreasted in a cage, puts Heaven in a rage -- yet it's sort of an impotent Heaven.  Yes, there's rage, but what is the action from the divine. Furthermore, the Robin Redbreasted could be an allusion to the nursery rhyme "Little Robin Redbreast"   which adds a sense of metapoetics to the poem -- don't try to cage a poem like a bird. "A skylark wounded on the wing / Doth make a cherub cease to sing&quo

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Incident" by Countee Cullen Originally read: November 5, 2013 More information about the Poet: Countee Cullen So this is a narrative poem with a xbxb rhyme scheme.  Something is lost along the way, and something is gained.  The three quatrains are formed as a beginning - middle - end. Beginning:      Once riding in old Baltimore,      Heart-filled, head-filled with glee.      I saw a Baltimorean      Keep looking straight at me With this stanza there's a clear distinction of the "visitor" and that's the speaker.  Note the emphasis on "glee" as though to pronounce a sense of innocence.  Then the introduction of the "Baltimorean"  as a "native" that stares at the speaker.  Note how the "Baltimorean" acts while the speaker thinks. Middle:      Now I was eight and very small,      And he was no whit bigger,      And so I smiled, but he poked out      His tongue, and called me, 'N

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Universe in the Key of Matryoshka" by Ronnie K. Stephens Originally read: November 1, 2013 More information about the Poet: Ronnie K. Stephens This is a cumulative poem in which the anaphora of "I opened" acts like a Matryoshka doll as seen above.  However, does the first topic discussed encompass everything inside the poem, or does the speaker play mostly with the idea of "opening" up something similar but different. I'm not sure after reading the poem a couple of times.  I'm more likely to say neither.  Here's the list: "Letter" to "bachelor's degree" "bachelor's degree" to "one hundred thirty thousand unpaid minutes" "one hundred thirty thousand unpaid minutes" to "a house I will never own" "a house I will never own" to "two years in rural Japan" "two years in rural Japan" to "better credit better int

Original poem reprinted online here:   "The Fable" by Yvor Winters Originally read: November 1, 2013 More information about the Poet: Yvor Winters The use of adjectives in this poem stands out for me, even from the first line, "Beyond the steady rock the steady sea" the adjectives don't add much to the image, but a lot to the line -- a forced alliteration, the redundancy of "steady" affirming the scene, but this is supported  by the next line of "In movement more immovable than station."  The juxtaposition and play of language with "move" and "immovable" brings a push and pull with the poem.  Affirmation of both same and different language. "Gathers and washes and is gone.  It comes / A slow obscure metonymy of motion"  What does it mean in this poem?  Note how there are two descriptors of it -- the physical (steady, movable/immovable, gather and washes) and the language (metonymy).  So metonymy is a key word in

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Memorial" by Sebastian Agudelo Originally read: November 1, 2013 More information about the Poet: Sebastian Agudelo This poem is kind of like a sound wave.  And motion expands, and then the silence brings it back down.  The question here is what expands and how far. The poem is mostly stream of consciousness with the opening part being "A damp season,"  Which seems big, but becomes bigger with the idea of "they'll seem like fungal spread on posts."  And what is they? " less posting, yard sale, lost cat, runaway"  it's the idea that expands off the single post.  Yes, the post has "cover the thick / of staples left"  But remember that the first image is of the season, then condensed down to the staples of the post, and then to the flyers.  All this is illusion since "they" hasn't been realized yet. "Lately, mind you, / a bit more desperate, more out of work, less / high te

Original poem reprinted online here:   "October nor'easter" by Marge Piercy Originally read: October 31, 2013 More information about the Poet: Marge Piercy After rereading this poem, I'm not too sure why I picked it.  There's techniques in here which make this poem a little too over the top for me, but maybe that's why I picked this poem.  I want to explore why this poem didn't work out for me. The first stanza has hard language like "rip" and "scimitars" and "flung."  The beginning describes nature as something hardened, "Leaves rip from the trees / still green as rain scuds"  which then centers back tot he speaker, "as granite pebbles flung / in my face." The immediate follow-up has to deal with the speaker, "Sometimes my days are torn / from the calendar."  So at this point, I'm thinking, is this comparison worthwhile -- the violent nature as time passes by.  These aspect seems so polar to

Original poem reprinted online here:   "A Conceit" by Rae Armantrout Originally read: October 30, 2013 More information about the Poet: Rae Armantrout I looked up all the definitions of conceit before reading this poem.  I've read and analyzed quite a few Rae Armantrout poems over the past year, and I always noticed in her work the way she uses multiple definitions of the word, but in a simple backdrop situation so, theoretically, the scene  defines the word in an interesting way. Note that this poem is separated in three parts in which each section uses a different technique: narrative, lyric, definition. Narrative: This portion flows between a conversation between two anchors about how "viewers might enjoy tomorrow."  This is the conceit, fanciful notion device that opens up the idea for the anchor, but . "One says, 'Get some great....', but / that seems a stretch."  Who is judging this aspect? It seems to be the other who "snickers, mea

Original poem reprinted online here:   "A Long Dress" By Gertrude Stein Originally read: October 30, 2013 More information about the Poet: Gertrude Stein Cinquains.  The first stanza of the poem feels more of discussion on process, and the second stanza discusses more of the output of the process. In the first stanza, the word, "current" is punned upon many times in order to show the flow and question it:      There is the current that makes machinery,      that makes it crackle      what is the current that presents a long line and a necessary waist      What is this current      What is the wind, what is it. Note the use of current that creates objects (machinery) and sound (crackle).  And from this the production is a "long line" (which the line itself is a pun) and a "necessary waist."  I think the key here is how the rhetorical questions work in this stanza. The lines question what current is then proceeds to question what wind is.  Note, th

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Elegy" by Vijay Seshadri Originally read: October 29, 2013 More information about the Poet: Vijay Seshadri Outside in, inside out.  The poem plays with perspective while maintaining the first person.  The first person is important here because this is someone noticing something rather than the scene being described in general. "I've been asked to instruct you about the town you've gone to, / where I've never been."  With these lines, the speaker sets up the premise.  Already the introduced dimensions in which the speaker is the "instructor" but hasn't experienced the same thing the other has.  It all seems like study and then saying what has been studied to the other.      The cathedral is worth looking at      but the streets are narrow, uneven, and a little grim.      The river is sluggish in the summer and muddy in the spring.      The cottage industries are obsolete.      The population numbers on

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Empire of Dreams" by Charles Simic Originally read: October 29, 2013 More information about the Poet: Charles Simic Another dream sequence type of poem, but this one has different implications.  Yes, in a dream, everything is possible, but in an empire of dreams, what is the structure? The conceit is stated in the beginning, "On the first page of my dreambook" and so this isn't only about dreams, this is what the speaker experiences after the dream -- waking up and recording a dream.  The conceit is a dream empire looked back upon. "It's always evening / In an occupied country."  Heavy language here, but this is a dream landscape where the word "occupied" could mean various things.  Sure occupied could have that militaristic sense, but who is really there -- only the speaker.      Hour before the curfew.      A small provincial town.      The houses all dark.      The storefronts gutted. Note how e

Original poem reprinted online here:  " Djinn" by Rae Armantrout Originally read: October 28, 2013 More information about the Poet: Rae Armantrout I'm still not sure what Djinn means to this poem except being ethereal.  And a poem starting with the word "ethereal" or anything that has to do with transparency does show it's hand towards an unveiling.  Here, Djinn is so rooted as a character that I didn't think about the make-up of the character until the end...just how the character relates.       Haunted,  they say, believing      the soft, shifty      dunes are made up      of false promises. The set up is not the false promises -- but who "they" are.  From this point on there is something missing, but states a heavy impact. In this case the idea of 'Haunted" is tied with the descriptors of "soft, shifty dunes" and all together this is more or less a symbol of false promises, but from what perspective?  False promises only h

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Sonnet 18)" by William Shakespeare Originally read: October 27, 2013 More information about the Poet: William Shakespeare Probably one of the most famous (Elizabethan) sonnets of all time.  This poem in particular reminds me of that old English puzzle.  "Can I go to the bathroom?" "I don't know, can  you?"  Something facetious like that.  This poem isn't facetious though. The core of the poem is not only a love poem, but also a permission poem.  Where "My mistress eyes is nothing like the sun" plays with the idea of hyperbolic comparison, the play with this poem is the idea of "love."     Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?     Thou art more lovely and more temperate,     Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May     And summer's lease hath all too short a date. The first part is a rhetorical question based on asking the other if

Original poem reprinted online here:   "contemplation within the framework of the dream" by Renée Ashley Originally read: October 24, 2013 More information about the Poet: Renée Ashley What intrigued me the most about this poem is the use of the colon in the second line versus the lack of periods throughout the piece.  It wouldn't have bothered me so much, but there's capitalization that feign a new sentence within the text, therefore, creating the assumption of pause and cohesiveness. But this poem is within  "the framework of the dream" not "a," "the."  Very specific on talking about the general.  And what's being discussed, "Consider the custom of likeness or unlikeness fit as the / moon to a sky :"  equivocation of reality versus appearance -- note the colon is there as well to indicate that the following are either defining points of this concept, and/or a focusing device for the speaker to go forward. "let one poi

Original poem reprinted online here:   "A Drinking Song" by William Butler Yeats Originally read: October 2, 2013 More information about the Poet: William Butler Yeats So I don't know much about drinking songs.  I went here  to listen to some drinking songs.  Damn, depressing (or the ones I listened to: "O Danny Boy", "Seven Drunken Nights" "Molly Malone" -- it could've been my luck in selection).  If I was drinking, I wouldn't want to hear them. I think this poem, and some drinking songs, show why a person is drinking -- kind of like kicking themselves repeatedly for whatever reason: reliving the pain to dull it again, or to remember something good at least. "Wine comes in at the mouth / And love comes in at the eye."  So the rhyme scheme of this poem is an ababab rhyme scheme to accentuate the separation, but this starts out wistful enough, and then, "That's all we shall know for truth / Before we grow old and die

Original poem reprinted online here:   "Separation is the necessary condition for light." by Brian Teare Originally read: October 21, 2013 More information about the Poet: Brian Teare Written in tercets, the poem forces the separation through the adjusted stanzas.  I've been reading this poem for a while and I'm not too sure how to read this poem.  The simplest answer is to go top down, left right, but the poem can be read based on columns as well -- left column and right column.  You know what, why not?  I've read some criticism of this poem that goes the top down, left right, angle, but I'm going to try to do the left column and right column reading. So on the left column, there are five stanzas of tercets, and on the right there are four stanzas of tercets. The left column does more of the set-up while the right column does more of the introspection.  With the left column the poem starts with the speaker carrying an abandoned mattress to the attic, and then

Original poem reprinted online here:   "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop Originally read: October 21, 2013 More information about the Poet: Elizabeth Bishop I probably wrote 2-3 essay about this poem in my college career; furthermore, I read this poem out loud as one of my favorite poems.  This poem, no matter how many times I read it, still brings a big impact at the end.  Yes, there are tons of criticism out there already on this poem, but this poem came up, and, well, I'm not skipping my chances for this. The poem is a villanelle which has the refrain lines in the first and third lines of the first stanza, "The art of losing isn't hard to master; / so many things seem filled with the intent / to be lost that their loss is no disaster."  The poem starts out playful but the subject has so much gravitas. "Loss" isn't a big joking matter -- the subject is subjective though or rather how does someone feel when they lose something. "Lose somethin