From Tad:
Write an answer poem. It could be an answer to another poem, the way "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is an answer to "The Wild Side of Life" ("I didn't know God made honky tonk angels") -- it could even be an answer to a song. Or it could be an answer to a letter. Or it could be that retort to something someone said to you, that you didn't think of at the time. I'll start off with something I've already written, try to also come up with something new.
This is an answer poem to Robert Lowell, on a couple of different levels. The title is an answer to "For the Union Dead," one of Lowell's best-known poems, and it was, itself, an answer poem, to "Ode to the Confederate Dead," by Lowell's teacher and mentor Allen Tate. "Confessional" refers to the school of poetry made most famous by Lowell, Ann Sexton, and Sylvia Plath, described as follows in Wiki: "It has been described as poetry of the personal or "I", focusing on extreme moments of individual experience, the psyche, and personal trauma, including previously and occasionally still taboo matters such as mental illness, sexuality, and suicide, often set in relation to broader social themes."
ReplyDeleteMy poem is really an answer to another Lowell poem, "Skunk Hour," in which Lowell, afraid he's falling victim to mental illness, watches a mother skunk and her brood walk down the main street of a small Massachusetts town.
Other details -- L. L. Bean, coupling lovers, a bleeding coastline -- all refer to "Skunk Hour."
The form, the ABC Villanelle, is my own invention.
FOR THE CONFESSIONAL DEAD: AN ABC VILLANELLE
Skunks in the evening.
A message to Lowell:
Fault line in the brain.
Lovers are coupling,
Fancies are evil:
Skunks in the evening.
No more L. L. Bean.
Sparks from an anvil.
Fault line in the brain.
The coastline is bleeding,
No hope of retrieval,
Just skunks in the evening.
Nothing to gain.
Each thought a betrayal.
Fault line in the brain.
Lowell is gone.
So Plath, and so Sexton.
It's poetry’s peril:
Skunks in the evening,
Fault lines in the brain.
I already commented on this once. I don't know where it went. I love the way this poem sounds, and the imagery. Especially "Skunks in the evening" although it actually brings smell memory to me. LOL. But I don't get the meaning very well. Guess I should find the poems you're replying to and see if that helps.
DeleteSkunk Hour is the main poem referenced.
DeleteYou are a very clever writer and very skilled.An interesting poem indeed.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to respond to Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress". LOL.
ReplyDeleteGET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, YOU PERVERT
I am not coy,
nor am I your mistress,
although your velvet
words attempt
to convince me.
My vegetable love rots
in your meager garden,
so don't think
I will swallow
your tiny cucumber.
Even given time
and the world,
I would still find
your eyes upon my breasts
to be disgusting.
I deserve
this state, as you
so elegantly say,
to choose for myself.
It's not you.
My long-preserved
virginity will stay
that way until love
finds its way
into my heart.
You are so clever! And so funny! You've a wicked sense of humor in this one. Love the tiny cucumber!
DeleteDon’t hold back — tell us how you really feel. :)
Deletetell me the answer
ReplyDeletetell me true
what is the meaning of life
...it’s 42...
yes, it’s 42 can’t you see
it’s not 63 or 54 because
42 is the answer to all
it’s fitting and proper
if you know
all about 42...
I just posted mine and then read yours! Funny how we sort of hit on the same theme. I like yours a lot. It's really cute.
DeleteFor a baseball fan, 42 has just one meaning - Jackie Robinson’s Number. I like the poem.
DeleteFor fans of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, 42 IS the answer to life, the universe and everything.
DeletePlease Answer
ReplyDeleteI have read
someone said
that love
is the answer
to every question,
But…supposing
I want directions
to get where I
want to go and you say
"Love."
"Thanks," I'll say,
but what road do I take
to get to Boston?
Literally made me LOL. Cute poem.
DeleteGood stuff. Doesn’t waste any words, uses line breaks nicely.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words, I appreciate your comment and you.
Delete