old poem needs new tricks
so i had a very recent poem i was hoping to post on here soon... and then i stumbled upon this and i need help. i wrote it a few years ago, but workshopped it for the first time this week. after some minor revision, i thought i'd bring it to the table (or bar, as it may be more appropriate for this group). i'll let you all read it first, and list my specific questions at the end of the post. it's a very dear poem to me, and any feedback you all can give me would be so appreciated. i value each and every one of your opinions so much...
Love, Mom
June—you watch lavender gowns
sway down rose petal aisles,
dream of the five who will wear them
when someday you follow
wearing white, carrying my love
in diamond studs, his
love in rings.
That June, he will know every inch
of you, but never know me beyond
your diamond ears he kisses,
lace he unbuttons revealing
a garter strung to match
lavender dresses I chose
for your maids when
it was January. You were fifteen
in my hospital room,
bouquets of flowers, glass
vases on frosted windowsill, your hand
in mine, fingers traced cold
lavender veins up and down my
arms as I wrote out last words,
wedding plans, love,
breath.
questions: is the chronology confusing? i just like the poem so much as is, but it goes present, future, past. does that work? can i do something to make it work better? is the use of June, June, January effective? i just added January, does it help? hinder? is it doing anything? gosh, i don't know... where do i need clarity, to add, to subtract... i don't know where to go with it, help me...
Love, Mom
June—you watch lavender gowns
sway down rose petal aisles,
dream of the five who will wear them
when someday you follow
wearing white, carrying my love
in diamond studs, his
love in rings.
That June, he will know every inch
of you, but never know me beyond
your diamond ears he kisses,
lace he unbuttons revealing
a garter strung to match
lavender dresses I chose
for your maids when
it was January. You were fifteen
in my hospital room,
bouquets of flowers, glass
vases on frosted windowsill, your hand
in mine, fingers traced cold
lavender veins up and down my
arms as I wrote out last words,
wedding plans, love,
breath.
questions: is the chronology confusing? i just like the poem so much as is, but it goes present, future, past. does that work? can i do something to make it work better? is the use of June, June, January effective? i just added January, does it help? hinder? is it doing anything? gosh, i don't know... where do i need clarity, to add, to subtract... i don't know where to go with it, help me...
2 Comments:
god i love you guys. willie, save that hug for me. i miss ya kid.
and toddie... oh how i love you too. you've convinced me to keep the january. and you have seen it before, it's in my last chapbook (you know, the one i never made myself a copy of). i wrote it in vienna after the wedding in augustiner kirche. and my wonderful writing group (sid, phil, audrey) helped me add the 3rd stanza last year. but i changed some wording, some tense, added in january and some more cold imagery at the end there. i love and hate this poem all at the same time. love it for evoking all these encouraging and loving comments. hate it for never seeming quite right, never seeming to do the whole thing justice.
sorry for the little rant there. anyhow, thanks toddie. and p.s. i have a real cute picture of us from the brewery. perhaps after my midterms i'll get ambitious and scan it to ya. love you girl...
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