Maximum Go in the Resulting Hogshead

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

New Poem

So, I don't know if anyone still reads my blog. I mean, there's been nothing to read for quite a while. Not that much has changed, I must admit. I still like Wizard People and I still like Kugel -- no surprises there.

But I did just write a new poem. That's news. I was beginning to get worried that I was out of practice.

Well... I am out of practice. I didn't really remember how to start a poem anymore. I've spent so much time writing academic papers and book reviews, lectures, etc. I just didn't remember how to get into that mode.

I'm back on track, though. It feels just like the end of any of the many stints of writer's block I've experienced. But I still need a little kick start to get going. I just need... the dreaded... assignment poem.

So that's what I did. Last night my friend Keith gave me the following assignment:

Assignment: 1 Poem.

Constraints:
-7 words per line (exactly).
-25 lines (exactly).
-12 references to 12 different plant species.

Title: (preposition) (adj) (famous body of water)

Deadline: 5pm Sunday, Sept. 9

I finished it early, as you can see. And here it is:

Under Heavy Caspian

There are something like 33 major cities
on this Sea, not counting 13 islands.
My favorite, if you made me choose,
would be Astrakhan -- not that I've been.

But talk about your sturgeon, talk about
exotic plants. We might see Russian olive
trees in their proper places -- daisies, peas,
and cabbages. Forget sweet-fern, my dear,

forget shining sumac. I'll gather Turkish tulips
from the Kopet-Dag range. I'll carve
your face into a big beautiful onion,
crown it with a star of Bethlehem.

Like this Sea, I once was cut
away from larger cloth. No, not cruelly.
When I've walked the bottom of it,
felt its muck against mine, I've known:

Here, where once the golden horde pitched
their tents, I too shall pitch mine.
When we come ashore the desert candle,
glabrous annual, will stand inflated, swollen stem.

A common maple will shower us with
leaves bright gold for autumn. The poplar
letting down in ours its long white
tufts. The pukka life in Astrakhan billows.

Take off that bonnet. Give it here.

I'm not entirely happy with that last line. Either that, or I completely love it. Truth is, before I changed it, it was another article of clothing being requested. That was... problematic. A bonnet seems better. A bonnet is always better.

The whole poem is subject to change once the rules of the assignment are lifted. And I may well go in and excise some of the more conversational parts while I try to make the most of the moments I like. Then again, I might just leave it for dead if I grow not to like it. It's served its purpose, and it may serve again -- I do approve of poetic cannibalism, so parts of it may live on.

3 Comments:

At 7:24 PM, Matthew said...: I'm already starting not to like it. Especially those stupid leaves of autumn.
At 9:07 PM, Sabrina Orah Mark said...: No, no. It's beautiful, Shindell. The bonnet is so glabrous. So entirely glabrous and weird.
At 9:12 PM, Danielle said...: "a common maple" is enough to carry the whole thing.

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: Name: Matthew Shindell; Location: San Diego, California, United States

Matthew Shindell used to live and write in Phoenix, Arizona. He now lives and writes in La Jolla, California.

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The Poetry Postcard Project:

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Go to the Poetry Postcard Project website to see the project and find out how to participate.

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Where are my poems?

Read a PDF of my chapbook, Were something to happen it would be both funny and interesting. Copies of this limited edition chapbook are no longer available.

American Letters and Commentary (Coming Soon) - "Hoo Ta Ta, Hoo Ta"

American Poetry Review July/August 2004 - "It sounds like a saxophone tugging across a field"

Black Warrior Review v30n2 - "Sidekick"

FENCE v6n2 - "Drinking with the Ventriloquist's Dummy" & "Parable of the Boy inside the Deer"

Hayden's Ferry Review #25 - "The Willow"

Hayden's Ferry Review #35 - "The Monkey's Skull: Where Do Good Newsmen Come From?" & "Made Easy"

Jubilat 7 - "But Emerson Says, 'The body is a metre. The eye appreciates finer differences than art can expose."

The Melic Review - "In Short, a Pleasant Day :: The Man Arrives, Hooray!" "The Same Words :: Order of Harpoons," & "A Birdâs Head Rolls Into Two Baskets :: Walkie-Talkie"

No Tell Motel - "Order of Harpoons :: Digitalia :: Dobre Vecher" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Read my discussion of the poem here.

Northwest Review - "Clink" & "Bear-Caught"

Octopus 4 - "About the Author," "Four Star General" &
"The Day :: Born :: The Red Door"

Pleiades 24:2 - "Speech of Artificio, a Character in My New Play" & "Inc."

Tarpaulin Sky v2n2&3 -
"Two Jokes About Bears"

Unpleasant Event Schedule - "He Called Her Forest (or was it Forest?)" & "The Brain Full of Bourbon (concerning the doctor and the simulation of Switzerland)"

Read my online poetic project, Jubilee's Daughters, the ongoing and evolving tale of Isabgol in Ronomok.

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Word For/ Word

New Poem

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