DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "When the Grandmother Dies" by Fady Joudah Originally read: March 7, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Fady Joudah The title is the first line of the poem.  However, this is not apparent until the poem is read and then backtracked.  The speaker sets up three different poems with a similar thread through the use of anaphora.  For the first section, the focus is on distance.  First, the distance between what is actual and how information is spread, "It'll be kept a secret / from her four daughters".  The separation then turns to a physical one, "who'll be flying in / from three different countries."  Then this section ends with the reinforcement of distant "after years of absence / reunion ends."  Here the line "reunion ends," juxtaposes the distance -- that the idea of the sisters/daughters being united through the routine and understanding of distance, now they are forced to deal with ea...

Original poem reprinted online here: "The Wise" by Countee Cullen Originally read: March 2, 2013 More information about the Poet: Countee Cullen Personification of the dead as feeling emoting being from another plane of existence.  Well, perhaps.  The form here interests me.  Tercets with a rhyme scheme of (a-a-a, b-b-b, c-c-c, d-d-d).  Also each stanza is an end-stopped line.  I think the poem forces the reader to begin and stop making the didactic nature of the poem amplified. "You will learn from the wise (who happen to be dead) -- and this is what the living should do"  Also the trinity symbolism is quite -- heavy (also including anaphora of "Dead Men" which repeats three times).  So there are "some" spiritual undertones with this poem. Note though the progression the poem goes on explaining why the dead are wise: 1)  "How far the roots of flowers go, / How long a seed must rot to grow"  The theme juxtaposition in the the third line...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Promenade" by Lorraine Doran Originally read: February 21, 2013 More information about the Poet: Lorraine Doran When I was reading this poem, I thought the definition of "Promenade" for this poem was "a ball."  Today, I went to check the definitions of promenade just to be sure.  The first definition, I feel also applies to this poem, "A leisurely walk, especially one taken in a public place as a social activity."  And so if this poem is the speaker walking through somewhere, that'd make sense. Because the people met on a walk don't make sense.  On the page, I tried to decipher every image and metaphor as they are connected to one another.  At least the tercets led me to believe that there's a consistent pattern going on.  What is consistent (if this is indeed a leisurely walk) is that the speaker is going in one direction describing scenes or superficially judging scenes -- there's no going b...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Syzygy" by Martin Ott Originally read: February 1, 2013 More information about the Poet: Martin Ott I didn't look up "Syzygy" when I read this the first time.   I thought the poet coined a word that is a riff on synergy which fits with the energy of the poem.  However, as I was searching for this link to this poem today, I decided why not check it out. Syzygy --  Literature / Poetry) (in classical prosody) a metrical unit of two feet.  So wouldn't be the basis of measurement in Poetry (how to measure spondees, dactyl, iambs, etc.) Here's a yahoo answer about how Syzygy is used in a poem (Phonetic and  Metrical) .  I still don't get it after reading this.  The poem itself doesn't scan conventionally.  However, when I look at the poem through this definition of Syzygy: Syzygy   -- (Astronomy) either of the two positions (conjunction or opposition) of a celestial body when sun, earth, and the body lie in a...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Secret of Life" by Diana Der-Hovanessian Originally read: January 9, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Diana Der-Hovanessian I write, "The anaphora in this poem brings a mysterious enlightening quality to the poem because 'the secret of life' comes from a navy yard worker -- a forced perspective."  So I disagree with my past self on one really big point -- past me forgetting the really big importance of the first line, "Once during the war" So, there's a context to this poem -- yes, there's a forced perspective filtered through the speakers (advice from the re-imaginings of a navy yard worker); however, add on top of this context a time frame -- a time of war, which means there's a sense of urgency for the advice versus "peace time" advice, or rather, in a time of war there should be a sense of urgency. However, the advice has a sense of the surreal along with humor.  "The secre...