Toe in the Water

Ah Poetry Indeed

Ah Poetry Indeed

As it happens, I did read Lilli’s Newsletter entitled Ah, Poetry (https://www.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/11924) and I also read the poem entitled Kindness (https://www.writing.com/main/redirect?htime=1682608845&hkey=f5e75d8043e654afb1a8...) that she directed the reader to.

Strangely, I had a similar experience to this lady, Naomi Shihab Nye, when she had the poem dictated to her by a voice in the air. Mine did not come to me from quite the same source, however, since it was not dictated but seemed to arrive in my brain in an instant, complete and requiring no effort from me apart from writing it down quickly before it was lost. Even that was entirely unnecessary since I have never forgotten it. At the time, the only way I could describe that moment of its transition to me was that the spirit of William Blake had passed it to me in a moment of madness (his, not mine). Blake has been dead since 1827 so the only excuse for this impression must be that it was the first, and destined to be the last for a long time, rhyming poem that I had written. It is totally unlike my style then or ever.

Here it is in its brevity and directness:

Plant

Oh, deep in thy vegetable heart of matter
What humus thoughts grow thou
Tomorrow you feed on their rotting flesh
Though they may pluck thee now

These days I would not have capitalised each line and nor would I have left it unpunctuated. But that is how it came to me so that is how I leave it.


Word count: 288