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| by Heather Christle |
"Read beyond that which
immediately pleases you,
please." ---Heather Christie
I resist this advice. I want to follow my nose in choosing what to read, and in poetry, especially. But I notice that the poet simply said read BEYOND. She didn't recommend replacing pleasure. Only swimming out a few yards more.
Here's one that I had to swim for.
A Bird in Hand
by Amber Flora Thomas
I’ve memorized its heart pounding into my thumb.
Breath buoys out. My fingers know how to kill,
closing on the bird’s slippery head.
I don’t remember. Was it that beak bit my chin?
Was it a claw cut my wrist? I blow feathers
away from its chest, smelling pennies and rain.
the rest is here.
Poetry Friday is hosted today by Diane at Random Noodling.
Oh, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI resist that advice, too, and yet - beyond doesn't mean to never come back.
So true, Tanita. There's always a returning, a circling back and then beyond again. Like that Rilke poem about circling---remember that one?
Delete"I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it."
I don't know what to say about "A Bird in Hand," so I guess that means it has taken me a bit "beyond."
ReplyDeleteI admit, I chose this one for the title: A Bird in Hand. It seemed to go so well with the theme of staying with what you know vs. reading beyond. When I began reading it, I thought I knew where the poem was going, but then the twisting happened. And I felt disconcerted and a little lost. But the images are solidly in my head, and I'm thinking about it, even now. I'll take any thoughts you throw out!
DeleteI think of something like Prufrock, which I would probably have never enjoyed if I hadn't been forced to study it in a class. Now it's a poem I love. But I'm afraid I'm with Diane about "A Bird in Hand." Not really sure what to say about it.
ReplyDeletePrufrock is definitely a pleasurable puzzle. "A Bird in Hand" is uncomfortable, but I think, purposely so. What do we hold onto so tightly that we risk killing it?
DeleteBeyond. A fine word and a fine attitude.
ReplyDelete