I'm a huge lover of the short poem, and have really been enjoying this thread. Is twelve lines (in IP, no less) really considered short ? I write almost exclusively short poems then. "Fire and Ice", "The Eagle" (annoying ??!!) and the Coulettecat are three of my favorites, already mentioned above. Some other really good ones in this thread. Love the Hodgson and the Graves. Thanks for starting this one, Carl, I hope more shorties will be posted here. Here are a few more I love:
The Question Answered
What is it men in women do require ?
The lineaments of gratified desire.
What is it women do in men require ?
The lineaments of gratified desire.
-Blake
```````
A Short History
Corn planted us; tamed cattle made us tame,
Thence hut and citadel and kingdom came.
-R Wilbur
``````````
yes is a pleasant country,
if's wintry
(my lovely)
let's open the year
both is the very weather
(not either)
my treasure,
when violets appear
love is a deeper season
than reason;
my sweet one
(and april's where we're)
- cummings
``````````
Theology
There is a heaven, for ever, day by day,
The upward longing of my soul doth tell me so,
There is a hell, I'm quite as sure; for pray,
If there were not, where would my neighbors go ?
-Paul Dunbar
````````````
The Wanderer
There is no end
to a wanderer’s sorrow.
The wisdom of Erda
queried by Wotan,
the counsel of Ragna
sung in a saga
I’ll follow tomorrow—
tomorrow if ever—
for I am no friend
of Volsung or Vala.
-Tim Murphy
```````
After Long Silence
Speech after long silence; it is right,
All other lovers being estranged or dead,
Unfriendly lamplight hid under its shade,
The curtains drawwn upon unfriendly night,
That we descant and yet again descant
Upon the supreme theme of Art and Song:
Bodily decrepitude is wisdom; young
We loved each other and were ignorant.
-Yeats
``````````
Watermelons
Green Buddhas
On the fruit stand.
We eat the smile
And spit out the teeth.
-Charles Simic
```````
Going to Extremes
Shake and shake
the catsup bottle,
None'll come --
and then a lot'll.
-Richard Armour
|