I have problems following rules.
So, of course, I am writing a poem a day.
Earlier in the week I decided to tackle an erasure poem. It is a pretty simple concept; pick a page or entry from something already written and work through it, erasing all the extraneous stuff until you have formed a poem. While it is quite a bit of fun, it is also harder than it sounds, but the results are often surprising and rather delightful.
I collect old text books. Well, at least I did collect them. I haven't picked up a new one in years. I am drawn to their colorful covers and quirky, almost always antiquated, verbage. I have one with the title The Care and Feeding of Children. It is hysterical, although it is certainly not meant to be.
I chose one of these old texts as the basis of my erasure poem. I chose the page by letting the book fall open to whatever page it would naturally go to. The title of the text, which was part of The International Scientific Series, and my poem is The Forms of Water.
The Forms of Water
You have not forgotten
the notion of polar force,
with this fresh in your memory
you understand expansion,
the act of crystallization.
I place before you
—matter—
affected by gravity
Not only matter,
but magnetic
matter.
They act upon each other
by the force of gravity,
the polar force of magnetism.
Imagine them
—perfectly
free—
Gravity felt draws them together.
The force is insensible;
but when certain nearness
comes into play, the points close up,
retreat, require more room.
Suppose them surrounded;
it is easy to press, to burst
if the forces be sufficiently strong.
Here then, a conception of water,
like magnets; two distinct forces
approach each other
—attractive, repulsive—
emanating from special
points.
The attracted close up, retreat,
turn and rearrange themselves,
demanding more space—
Overcoming all
Jeanice Eagan Davis © 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment