Sometimes we don't realize life while we live it. But it's a poet's job to "pay attention."
Today’s mentor poem is Nazim Hikmet’s “Things I Didn’t Know I Loved,” which can be found in its entirety here: https://poets.org/poem/things-i-didnt-know-i-loved
Here are the opening lines:
it's 1962 March 28th
I'm sitting by the window on the Prague-Berlin train
night is falling
I never knew I liked
night descending like a tired bird on a smoky wet plain
I don't like
comparing nightfall to a tired bird
I didn't know I loved the earth
can someone who hasn't worked the earth love it
I've never worked the earth
it must be my only Platonic love
........
Here is the poem I wrote using Hikmet as a model. Because he began with a date, I did too.
Here is the poem I wrote using Hikmet as a model. Because he began with a date, I did too.
Things I Didn’t know I Loved
by Allison Berryhill
it’s 2021 April 8th
I’m legs-up in my life’s favorite chair
the only sound is my click on the keys
on this rainy night.
I never knew I loved
this time alone.
oh that’s such a lie!
what I never knew
was how much I could revel in time alone.
oh that’s such a lie!
I’ve always reveled in
journal writing
long drives without passengers
the company of my own thoughts.
What I never knew
was that I could love so much
and so many
contradictions:
the rubbery bathbubbly arms and legs
and also the glorious school bus that
whisked them away each morning
the full to bursting
busyness that soldered fragmented days
and saved me from raw terror;
the blessed
empty house that now hums
a silent welcome.
can I live both lives?
can I love two lives?
is this betrayal?
..........
..........
Your turn! Use any aspect of the model poems to jump-start your own poem today!
Happy Writing!
Things I didn't know I loved
ReplyDeleteIt's the year 2021
I'm sitting on my porch at home
Relaxed in my comfy chair sitting in the sunlight
Enjoying the warm weather and reading an enlightning book
I never knew I loved
Spending my day this way
It's warm out, the sun is shining, and I'm immersed in my book this way
I just sit back and read
While enjoying the nice outdoors
What I never knew was
That I could do something this enjoyable
Sitting on my porch reading in the sun is one of my favorite sensations. Thank you for capturing it here.
DeleteTo Love Naught yet to Love Hard
ReplyDeleteThe time is of no meaning nor can it be recalled,
But I do remember Trust's golden maul.
The fragility of words,
Causing shudders in the Earth.
The way they glided around,
Filling up silence with sound.
Praise granted rarely yet so easily
Provided by others in a way that's freely.
I never knew the taste of sweet words,
Which could be as beautiful as freed birds.
I never knew they could be so soft rather than brash,
Comforting and loving rather than harsh and crass.
I fell in love immediately and I fell hard,
As if I were a barrel of lard.
For the comfort of another's reassurance is so true,
It takes away all of Misfortune's blues.
So yes, I never knew what I now love,
For it had never existed once.
I loved these lines especially:
Delete"The fragility of words,
Causing shudders in the Earth."
and
"The way they glided around,
Filling up silence with sound."
Sometime last summer
ReplyDeleteI was sitting outside reading,
A book that was gifted to me.
It was a very hot sunny day,
so the bugs were everywhere.
And a single dragonfly landed beside me.
I never knew I loved dragonflies.
Their holographic bodies,
and stain glass like wings.
I was very frightened it would hurt me.
But it never did.
I sat beside me for hours,
until I left to go inside.
Beautiful! "Their holographic bodies and stain glass like wings" is perfect! Wonderful use of words.
DeleteOne summer evening
ReplyDeleteI was out on the porch
No one was home
It was just me, myself, and I
I had a brand new book
Purchased directly from Amazon
It just got here yesterday night
And I was ready to dive in
Opening the pages,
The smell of paper brought me into a new world
The wind picked up, swirling my hair
Like it actually was taking me there
The sun continued to set
As I became one with the book
Playing the role of the protagonist
In a crazy fight for peace
I never knew I loved the wind in my hair,
The setting sun on my face,
The silence, the new book smell,
Filling my head with pacing thoughts
I never knew that such a magical experience
Was right outside the noise
And all I had to do to access it
Was look for it
Addie, you've done it again. This is lovely. The "swirling my hair" line startled me with its specificity...then you brought it back in the "I never knew I loved..." stanza. I'm in the moment with you. Bravo!
ReplyDelete