A Day in the Life

Where we once again find the indefatigable poet toiling at his thankless trade.

Metamorphosis, as in Cicada

Sί, still

Only a shell

Of it

Self, nada.

Huuklyeand Cinquor on Writer's Block

Though you think

It makes no difference

When not writing, do not

I repeat do not

Take no for an answer.

Moderator’s comments: One more illustrative affirmation of Cinquor’s masterly command of Negative Capability or just another example of a jejune tendency to overstate the obvious?

Early Morning Birdbath

this inviting shallow

bottom of an up-

side down galvanized

bucket in which

last night’s shower’s left

a shining silver lake.

Jumping to Conclusions

No ideas but in things?

Clearly something suspect

Going on

In circles round

The left rim

Of my horn-rimmed

Glasses, Doc.

.

You say nothing

But two winged red bugs

Copulating, making a spectacle

Of themselves?

What a relief.

For a moment I thought

I was seeing things.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Recently received: My contributor’s copy of Visiting Dr. Williams: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of William Carlos Williams, edited by Sheila Coghill & Thom Tammaro, with a foreward by Paul Mariani, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, 228 pages, $24.95.

Trivia time: Out of the one hundred and two poems by the one hundred and two poets included in the anthology, Cid Corman and I share the distinction of having the shortest poem—7 lines each—though if one were to count words, yours truly would come in first with an impressive 27 as opposed to Cid’s 31.

For those of you who may have missed it on account of its diminutiveness, a slightly different version of the poem first appeared on this blog here.

And here's the poem as it appears in the anthology:

"Bookmark, Selected Poems, William Carlos Williams"

From dry fragile still

fragrant yellow-

green stalks & leaves placed

between the descent

of winter & the locust tree

in flower stems

the scent of spring.


My thanks to the editors for including my little poem in such a large gathering of poets honoring the good doctor's life and work. 

UPDATE (May 21): This series of books paying homage to American poets also includes volumes on Whitman, Dickenson, Frost and Stevens, the latter co-edited by the new Poet Laureate of West Hartford, Connecticut, James Finnegan aka  J for James.