EPIGRAM. Engraved on the Collar of a Dog
Which I Gave to His Royal Highness
I am his Highness’ dog at Kew:
Pray tell me sir, whose dog are you?
--Alexander Pope (1737)
(Kew= one of the royal palaces)
IN A STATION OF THE METRO
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
--Ezra Pound (1916)
YOU FIT INTO ME
you fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye
--Margaret Atwood (1971)
CONQUEROR
Huge leaps. Epic soarings of the head.
He glowed within, without. Born to conquer.
“You look fragile,” she said.
--Brendan Kenneally (1999)
THIS LIVING HAND
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calmed. See here it is—
I hold it towards you.
--John Keats (1820)
MARKS
My husband give me an A
for last night’s supper,
an incomplete for my ironing,
a B plus in bed.
My son says that I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass. Wait ‘til they learn
I’m dropping out.
--Linda Pastan (1978)
I'm also considering getting into how poetry works by using and abusing some pieces from various rock & roll songs:
Love is a rose, but you better not pick it;
It only grows when it’s on the vine.
A handful of thorns and you’ll know you've missed it:
Lose your love when you say the word “mine.”
--Neil Young
She calls me baby
She calls everybody baby
It’s a lonely old night
Ain’t they all?
--John Mellencamp
When I said that I was lying I might have been lying.
--Elvis Costello
“What is your destiny?” the policewoman said.
--Elvis Costello
And finally . . .
I light your cigarettes
I bring you apples from the vine
How quickly you forget
I run the bath and pour the wine
I bring you everything that floats into your mind
But you don’t’ bring me anything but down . . . .
--Sheryl Crow
P.S. I'll probably only have 30 minutes to spare for this "introduction," so I'm just going to do what I can with what feels best in the moment. I may start from the last of these pieces and work upwards, emphasizing voice, characters, and the dramatic situations that are unfolding. (And, actually, I have another two or three pages of handouts, just in case I need them. Frankly, I'm hoping to start some conversations that will continue beyond the official meetings . . . . Oh, and do apples even grow on vines? Sheryl Crow, c'mon. A favorite mistake? I enjoy your music, but how can I believe the speaker of "Anything But Down"?)
