A rose
I know Gertrude
Needed it
Said four times but
Nonetheless this deep
Is a rose
Red one by it-
Self in
A wide-mouthed shining sky-
Blue vase on my desk plainly
Is a rose
Doesn’t need her repeating
Herself one bit.
-----------
Fine poem and tribute to Stein and the rose. I pause at the final "one bit," wonder if the poem should end with "Herself," then see how the final word "bit" connects up to the poem's title. The poem is elegant. I like how it can be read at least two ways, depending on how the reader decides to experience it: each "column" read as a poem (first Stein's, then Zambaras') or a sort of duet. And it has a freshness, as if the poet sees the rose and begins talking to himself, to us, to Stein, and -- in the third person rather than the second -- to the rose.
ReplyDeleteThis is just to say I have read your very enlightening exegesis--thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you--Gertrude would've been quite proud of you.
ReplyDeleteEveryone, living and dead, involved in this conversation makes me smile. Wryly in the case of Aunt Gertrude, who occasionally stumbled into seriousness, but not this time.
ReplyDeleteYour comment also makes me smile, old friend, because I see you still have that engaging poetic sense of humor--thanks for dropping by and reminding me of it.
ReplyDelete