Nov 7, 2009

20th Virtual Poetry Circle

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And now, for the twentieth edition of the Virtual Poetry Circle.  I can't believe we've made it this far.

OK, Here's a poem up for reactions, interaction, and--dare I say it--analysis:

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock's books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don't like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

We're returning to contemporary poetry this week, and today's poem if from Lynn Levin's poetry collection, Fair Creatures of an Hour (review forthcoming):

Helium (page 9)

I was happy as one
who offers her heart
and doesn't care
if it's accepted or not.
I was less, not more.
I skipped my stupid resentments
like stones across the river, 
forgave those who walked off
while I was speaking,
owed me money,
blamed me for things I didn't do.
If spirits could rise like helium,
then my spirits rose like helium.
I couldn't tell my breath
from the new-mown grass,
the scent of the white azalea.
You said that I thre myself away.
You said that resistance
would have been nobler
than resignation.  I began
to fear that you were right
for in the morning my heart was lighter
than air, but in the evening
I felt insolid and grew frantic.

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, feelings, impressions. Let's have a great discussion...pick a line, pick an image, pick a sentence.

I've you missed the other Virtual Poetry Circles, check them out here. It's never too late to join the discussion. 

7 comments:

gautami tripathy said...

"I skipped my stupid resentments
like stones across the river"

I have tried doing that with not much success. The ending seems as if written for me, about me.

Serena said...

Gautami: I really love the last lines of this poem and it speaks volumes about how hard it is to change because someone wishes you to, and you aren't necessarily ready to do so.

Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts. I'm enjoying this collection.

Jenners said...

I really enjoyed this poem! You have really picked some interesting ones. I like how this poem doesn't seem like a poem but like prose but is still so poetic. I'm probably not making sense with that comment. I think what I'm trying to say is that my definition of poem and what a poem can be is expanding! Thank you!

Serena said...

Jenners: I'm so glad that your definition of a poem has expanded. I think that was the point of these circles -- at least in part. There are so many ways to write poetry and they can do so much.

I just don't think people realize how diverse poetry is. I think like any other genre there is something for everyone's reading tastes.

Jeanne said...

This one is a bit prosy for my taste (the mostly repeated line). But I do like the skipping stones simile and the way the poet follows it with rising and falling images, almost as if to distract me from the image of the stone sinking after the last skip.

Anna said...

For a prosy poem, it sure has a lot of good imagery.

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric

Alessandra said...

"I was happy as one
who offers her heart
and doesn't care
if it's accepted or not."

I, too, tried this without much success :( Beautiful poem, I loved it.