Poetry Friday: Seven Ways of Looking

September's challenge was to write a poem in the vein of Wallace Stevens' Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird---except we were only going to attempt SEVEN ways of looking at something.

It turns out the hard part was not the number of stanzas (looks?) but deciding on a thing worth looking at.  In theory, all things are worthy of poetry, but the brilliance of the original poem begins with the fact that Wallace Stevens chose to feature a blackbird-- something that is both ordinary and symbolic, and also dynamic--the bird can move, swoop, circle.  As a result, we get a gorgeous swirling, dipping in and out of reality feeling as we read his poem. 

Oddly enough, though, we learn little of the blackbird itself, for this is not fact-based poem, seeking to illuminate the bird's unique qualities. Instead, after we read the poem, we wind up thinking less about the blackbird and more about  how everything is connected. (Or at least I do---here's my extended dive into the poem, if you're interested.) 

How in the world to replicate that? 

I was at a loss during our ZOOM writing session, so I decided to hew closely to the original poem, seeking to imitate its rhythms.  I find that approach often works as a place to begin, and then I can manipulate the draft so it isn't a complete copy-cat.  However, I still had the problem of what to write about, so I took the object at hand---the poem itself.  Yup.  Maybe a dodge, but this poem has always called to me, and writing about how it made me feel was the best I could manage this month.  

Here it is: 

Seven Ways of Looking at a Poem

The poem is beating its wings.

My heart must be flying. 

I know free fall,

and updrafts. But 

I know, too— this poem

is dense as spun glass.

The poem circles

and circles and circles

the snowy mountain.

It was morning

all day. I eat

nothing. The poem

preens. 

 

I don’t know which

to prefer—reading the poem,

or the silence afterwards.

Later, when I 

walk between the hedges,

the poem shoots a bird

out of the sky,

lays it at my feet.

On the page,

the only thing breathing

is the poem.

                                                ---Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)

My Poetry Sisters "ways of looking" can be found here:

Liz

Tanita

Tricia

Kelly

Laura

Mary Lee

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Irene Latham.