Sunday, February 16, 2025

In just a few lines

 Brevity is one of the recurring topics in this online collection of notes. Seeing Michael Longley’s obituary reminded me of his experiments with short poems.

I like short poems that capture a strong image. William Carlos Williams, Charles Reznikoff and Lorine Niedecker were masters. How does Longley fit in with this gang? Trying to explain a two- or four-line poem is hopeless, so here’s an example, the whole of “Old Poets”:

 

Old poets regurgitate
Pellets of chewed-up paper
Packed with shrew tails, frog bones,
Beetle wings, wisdom.

 

A suitable epitaph, I think.

• Source: “Old Poets” is on the website Brief Poems, which has a fine collection of Longley’s work

https://briefpoems.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/snowfall-brief-poems-by-michael-longley/

No comments:

Post a Comment

Arabia Mountain, October

 The leaves are turning and falling. I can’t imagine how you’d give an account that was measurable. Are a-third of the leaves gone? A-quarte...