I've forgotten what poetry is like

[meitachi]

I have recently been turned onto Wendy Cope's poetry and she's now one of my favorites.

The Orange
At lunchtime I bought a huge orange —
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled and shared it with Robert and Dave —
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all the jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.


Two takes on love:

Two cures for love
1 Don’t see him. Don’t phone or write a letter.
2 The easy way: get to know him better.

Flowers
Some men never think of it.
You did. You’d come along
And say you’d nearly brought me flowers
But something had gone wrong.

The shop was closed. Or you had doubts —
The sort that minds like ours
Dream up incessantly. You thought
I might not want your flowers.

It made me smile and hug you then.
Now I can only smile.
But, look, the flowers you nearly brought
Have lasted all this while.

A poem that makes me laugh:

An Attempt At Unrhymed Verse
People tell you all the time,
Poems do not have to rhyme.
It's often better if they don't
And I'm determined this one won't.

Oh dear.

Never mind, I'll start again.
Busy, busy with my pen...cil.
I can do it if I try--
Easy, peasy, pudding and gherkins.

Writing verse is so much fun,
Cheering as the summer weather,
Makes you feel alert and bright,
'Specially when you get it more or
less the way you want it.

And one that makes me cry:

Names

She was Eliza for a few weeks
When she was a baby -
Eliza Lily. Soon it changed to Lil.

Later she was Miss Stewart in the baker's shop
And then 'my love', 'my darling', Mother.

Widowed at thirty, she went back to work
As Mrs Hand. Her daughter grew up,
Married and gave birth.

Now she was Nanna. 'Everybody
Calls me Nanna,' she would say to visitors.
And so they did - friends, tradesmen, the doctor.

In the geriatric ward
They used the patients' Christian names.
'Lil,' we said, 'or Nanna,'
But it wasn't in her file
And for those last bewildered weeks
She was Eliza once again.

A few more here (or you can check Tumblr, I suppose). I'm not a poetry girl usually. I mean that I love it but I rarely read it, and so unless someone points me at an author or a poem, I rarely go exploring on my own. Neruda is my love, but aside from him I've always been fondest of the Romantics, probably in part because they're the ones I've had most exposure to.

Comments

[acornmama.livejournal.com]

Not into poetry for the most part either,
I only pay attention to Neruda when someone else is kind enough to point out something particularly beautiful.
but if i had to pick my favorite has always been e.e.cummings.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Oh man I love E.E. Cummings' "i carry your heart with me". I should read more of his stuff, actually.

Neruda's poetry is rich with natural images, which is something that doesn't always work for me but does with his stuff. "Here I Love You" and "I Remember You As You Were" are two of my favorites of his (along with Sonnet 17, of course). ♥

[develei.livejournal.com]

I rarely read poems either but they make me feel so young because the rhyming makes it so sweet. And I love the ones you put up, the last one was haunting though because my name is Eliza and life and nostalgia and family has always been my weakness for tears. /sob

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I'm afraid poetry comes off as too overwrought or too high-brow or too dense for me to fully appreciate - which is why it's nice when poems like those by Wendy Cope remind me that poetry can be simple too, but weighty. That last poem, for example. Fairly straightforward without hidden literary meaning, but saying so much more than it does.

[suxing.livejournal.com]

Aww, these are cute, even the one the last one though it made me sad/wistful. I don't read much poetry... I'm probably best versed in Chinese (唐诗 and 宋词~~ ♥) and Spanish poetry, but that's because of classes I took. /o\

Ty for sharing these though~ I enjoyed them very much :'>

[meiface.livejournal.com]

haha oh god Chinese poetry, I know none. And Spanish poetry I only know Neruda - I like reading some of his stuff in the original Spanish too. I can't imagine the difficulty in translating poems, damn, not only meaning but tone, meter, feel, imagery, etc.

[catskilt.livejournal.com]

I love all of them! So simple and yet so affecting :)

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Another of my favorites:

On a Train

The book I've been reading
rests on my knee. You sleep.

It's beautiful out there -
fields, little lakes and winter trees
in February sunlight,
every car park a shining mosaic.

Long, radiant minutes,
your hand in my hand,
still warm, still warm.



Like a simple little moment of life and love.

[catskilt.livejournal.com]

That is very gorgeous and simple <3