At one time some people believed
that the elephants
had sex but once:
No wonder such a memory!
Once, I thought love was measured
in some mean distance of imaginary numbers
from whole digits to infinity squared.
One perfect combination. (The tumblers
turn
and twist.) My sandpapered fingers
bared to the wrist. But secrets hide
in the
between.
Once, love was obvious as the ebb and
flow of ocean is to charts and sailors.
(But sea, O sea – you scene of unseen
sights – you graveyard of mariners –
a gale, a new leak, or a sleeping watch,
and your white wave just swallowed me like bread
unleavened.)
Does a lemming really embrace the sea
with a lover’s greed?
To know the sea, roughly
one taste’s enough.
But
what about love?
-- Duane Vorhees
I knew this wa a Duane Vorhees poem within the first three lines. Wonderful voice! This is one of my favorites
ReplyDeleteThanks, SeoulDave. I appreciate the thought. I hope interested readers can spot the varied rhyming patterns I employed to try to give the piece some poetic unity without resounding in their heads like the Anvil Chorus!
ReplyDelete(I'm sure other contributors would enjoy some evidence of readers' appreciation, or other comments or queries about their work as well. But I guess I'm editorializing here, and the remark certainly does not apply to you, Dave, who have always been generous with your responses,)
Enjoyed thoroughly your poem Duane. Read it a few times and each time got better
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amitabh. Whether we are speaking specifically of my work or not, I think it is always the case that good poems and good music and good paintings etc get better with repeated doses. They seem to grow as they settle inside the skin. That's what separates good ones from okay ones.
ReplyDelete