Saturday, November 13, 2010

Poem


Like that ruby-throated humming
Bird that moves by

Making us stand still.

3 comments:

  1. Hmmm... if you add a comma after the word "by", it becomes two different poems (one highlighting Poem as a force; the second illustrating a noted consequence.)

    (1) without comma: the emphasis is on CAUSE (poem "moves by making us" stop, commanding our attention, forcing us to look/hear. (Archilochus speaks; you can’t not listen.)

    (2) with comma: the emphasis is on EFFECT, i.e., the resulting Stillness (poem "moves by, making us" awestruck.)

    Your choice of this particular hummingbird for a metaphor for Poem is brilliant. A true gem ("ruby"), its redness the color of fire, passion, joy, and danger, all aspects of the writing of poetry.

    This poem not only describes what a poem can sometimes do to a reader, it actually becomes, as Erin (above) confirms, its own best example. An image suddenly comes to mind, of Poet, as "word warbler", and the thought "still/ moving us".

    Erin said it better though (and with far, far, FAR less words)! :)

    Thanks, Vassilis!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Two North American ladybirds making this Southern European "louse" feel better--thanks for picking on me!

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