12 Feb
Poetry I Love
I would like to start reading more poetry. We received a book of Polish poetry from one of That Husband’s closest friends as a wedding day gift, and I bought one of those “Favorite American Poems” collections at a used book store once. I went to a poetry reading by a Nobel Prize laureate at BYU once (of course I can’t remember who he was, if you were there and you remember please let me know, he spoke in the auditorium of the JSB in 2007 or so) and it was then that I realized my favorite kind of poetry is the kind that makes you look at the ordinary things in life in a different way.
I think it’s time to visit the used book store once again to see what I can find.
Ellie posted this poem once, and I will probably frame it and hang it in the baby’s nursery someday.
At Twenty-Three Weeks She Can No Longer See Anything South of Her Belly
I’m painting my wife’s toes
in Revlon Super Color Forty Nine.I’ve no idea what I’m doing.
She asked me to get the bottle,then crashed on our bed,
muscle-sore, pelvis-aching.Lifting the brush, I skim
the excess polish across the glass,daub a smidgen on her nail,
push it out in streaksover the perfect surface
to the cuticle’s edge.I’m painting my wife’s toes.
I’ve no idea what I’m doing.The smell of fresh enamel
intoxicates. Each nail I glazeis a tulip, a lobster,
a scarlet room where womensit and talk, their sleek,
tinctured fingers sparking the air.- Thom Ward
Are you a poetry lover?
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
While I’m quite unwilling to explore the idea further, I have the suspicion that I am not a huge fan of poetry simply because I can’t write it all that well. Also, my high school teachers did there bests to show me the basic “must-read” poets, and I never got into it. It probably speaks volumes about my personality that I love both the picture and the mental image
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1I love poetry.
But hey we’re both English majors. We’re supposed to love the written word… which I actually do.
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2Did I seriously just use the wrong “there”? Yes, I did. Dear lord- *their.
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3SIGH.
I love poetry. This one is one of my new favorites… my new father-in-law unexpectedly used it as a toast at our rehearsal dinner, and it brought on the first tears of many of our wedding weekend:
Prayer for a Marriage
By Steve Scafidi
When we are old one night and the moon
arcs over the house like an antique
China saucer and the teacup sun
follows somewhere far behind
I hope the stars deepen to a shine
so bright you could read by it
if you liked and the sadness
we will have known go away
for awhile – in this hour or two
before sleep – and that we kiss
standing in the kitchen not fighting
gravity so much as embodying
its sweet force, and I hope we kiss
like we do today knowing so much
good is said in this primitive tongue
from the wild first surprising ones
to the lower dizzy ten thousand
infinitely slower ones—and I hope
while we stand there in the kitchen
making tea and kissing, the whistle
of the teapot wakes the neighbors.
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Jenna Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
This is the kind of poetry I love. That last stanza is just wonderful.
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I am a poetry lover! I’m completing my honors thesis in poetry this semester. You should check out Billy Collins - his verse is quite similar to the poem you quoted in your post.
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Jenna Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
You just made me so happy, because Billy Collins is the guy who came to BYU and did the reading that I couldn’t think of. His work was so honest and real, and I’m really excited to buy one of his book and start working through them. Thanks so much Emily!
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I like poetry, it isn’t my favorite thing to read but I do like it. I really, really like the one you posted!! It may have something to do with the fact that I asked Mr. S the other day if he would do that in a couple of weeks when I can no longer bend that far!
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6Amazing!! So glad I could help! I own most of his books, but I think my favorite is “Sailing Alone Around the Room,” a compilation.
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7Oh my! I love this poem! I got it framed for my bro-in-law when my sister had her first!
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