DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "The Philosopher Savant Again Dreams of War" by Rustin Larson Originally read: February 20, 2013 More information about the Poet: Rustin Larson I can't believe I didn't catch it on my first read.  This poem is an Elizabethan Sonnet.  Does this change anything from the first read?  Well, not really.  I struggled with how this poem operates, and I wrote things like, "misconception when further inspected," but I didn't address what is further inspected or what the misconception is. Does knowing that this is a sonnet help me out as a reader.  Not entirely.  Yes, I know that there's going to be a volta somewhere, and there's going to be sections to think of; however, the style of this poem (white space, not entirely iambic, consistent rhyme scheme though) isn't the "typical" sonnet.  So, all I can take from the form, well is the form -- an expectation of a volta. The first four lines of the poem work ...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "No Return" by William Matthews Originally read: February 10, 2013 More information about the Poet:  William Matthews Three stanzas sestets.  When I think of sestets, I think of Freytag's theory of Narrative -- exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement.  Even though there's five parts to the theory, my mind thinks this way probably because of all the sestets I've read (including Italian sonnet form).  Now what does this mean to the poem that isn't narrative (the last half of the poem is narrative in a sense). Exposition -- "I like divorce"  In the first stanza the speaker drops a pretty loaded word, "divorce" into the poem; however, the speaker redefines the term rather quickly by not dwelling on the definition of the word rather focus on the tone.  "I like divorce," the full first sentence reads a bit sarcastically for me.  I think it's the brevity that punctuates the...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "Two Bourbons Past the Funeral" by Andrew Hudgins Originally read: January 24, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Andrew Hudgins In the beginning of the poem, I noted the "we."  The speaker and another person are "enjoying" a bourbon after a funeral.  I didn't note this from the first read -- the word "old" is repeated and mentioned four times in the poem, "old books of the old poet, past old now, and another old poet fumbled / to his favorite poem." Now, whatever the case, past me found the first line funny, "I find this funny in a relatable [six] way -- the focus is not on who died, but what to do after -- drink perhaps."  The humor is further compounded with the repetition of old and the speaker and the old man fumbling to find the right poem. The turn in the poem happens in the first simile, "his voice reverent / and sure, until he caught on a word / like a coat on a barb...

Original poem reprinted online here: "No-Motion Replay" by Dobby Gibson Originally read: January 19, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Dobby Gibson Past me wrote this at the first stanza, "seems like a better end stanza."  However, the poem is cyclical in it's imagery.  And I think that I knew why I wrote that about the first stanza.  I felt this line, "it's no accident if it has a cause" is such a great strong line.  However, the line is for the first stanza is to critique or amend the thoughts and connotations of the last stanza. But then in the second stanza shifts dramatically.  The speaker addresses a "you" the images changes from something nature like to a more religious imagery intertwined with stacking metaphors of prison and money. and the last three lines pose a rhetorical question:      Between never and soon      you found a place you can trust,      sacrificing something, but what...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "Off Lows, Weakness Remains: Meditation #3" by Susan Briante Originally read: January 16, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Susan Briante DIY means do it yourself .  Knowing this now (rather than before when I only had a dictionary) turns the poem a bit more for me in a certain direction.  However, I want to quote what I wrote earlier about this poem: "Reassurance of self in a parking lot - or rather 'everyone else' there is no talk of the speaker or you -- in this way -- the ambiguous advice serves as prophetic.  I wonder in a different form, maybe avant or traditional, does  (can) the same message get across ... and how or if one side dilutes more than the other an in what way?" Well that's more deep than I though.  When I reread the poem I noted that the "you" is definitely referring to the speaker, and there's a sense of madness the more and more the speaker tries to "calm" him/hersel...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Myth Dispelled" by Adam Possner Originally read: January 8, 2013 More information about the Poet: Adam Possner I think the poem depends on the "him/you" on being a patient...or maybe not.  For funsies, the poem could be referring to the speaker himself debating his/her scientific/spiritual self with the speaker being more cynical about the cynical at the end.  Also for funsies the speaker could use "you" as referring to the audience, but then that places the audience in the weird position: feeling superior for knowing better, feeling inferior for not knowing exactly how vaccines work and the speaker having to explain them.  However, for my reading, I'm going to be reading the poem as the speaker being personal with a patient. The tone shifts in the poem, I feel here, are more personal quality.  In " feeder " there's a sense of extremism with the shifts (through surreal images and direct rhetoric).  He...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "To The New Year" by W.S. Merwin Originally read: January 1, 2013 More information about the Poet: W.S. Merwin So here's what I wrote on my notes: "'that do not stir' is important here because the simile is not on the leaves but the ambiguous 'you' that is the representation of sunlight."  So old me, I agree that 3/4 of the first stanza describes the "you" but I'm not so sure that the "you" is the representation of sunlight. "You" gives off "the first sunlight,"  what else gives off sunlight?  The sun (well it's in the wording sun-light)?  What am I trying to get to?  Okay.  So I think previously I wrote that "you" in a story refers to the speaker, or an audience.    There's more possible ways (I think I concluded), and here's one.  The "you" in the poem is a construct of the speaker.  The speaker first states the you then starts to d...

Original poem reprinted online here:  "Everything that Acts is Actual" Originally read: November 30, 2012 More information about the Poet: Denise Levertov "The ending -- the idea of only seeing 'grasp alone; not the actual poem, idea, concept -- only the reader, the observers own need to understand is really strong because the end works well if a reading  [sic should be reader] wants to read the poem as a Nature poem or a Prophetic poem, or a 'personal poem,' or a combination of different ideas.  The writer/speaker let go of this poem.  The reader/interpreter/scholar/searcher has not" I don't know what I'm talking about here. I've reread the poem and my notes several times this morning, and I don't see how I got to that conclusion.  The introduction of the ambiguous "you" (a much favored technique by many) in stanza one is well done. Although the "you" used in stanza one borders on being a command or a simple addressin...