Thanks, Henry.
I haven't seen any of the other authors post to their own threads yet, so I hope I am not breaking etiquette.
First I wanted to say what a thrill it is in the first place to have a poem chosen for this honor, with so many fine poems being posted on TDE every week.
And then the biggest thrill was to hear that Richard Wilbur (yes, THE Richard Wilbur) had not only read my poem, but thought well of it. To hear that "In the first eight lines ... this poet handles the meter beautifully", meant something extra-special for me, since those first eight lines were the first words I had ever strung together in this measure. This poem was only intended as a metrical exercise. And I remember on the night I started it, halfway through the first line came a knock on my door. I broke into a cold sweat. Luckily, I remembered Coleridge's "visitor from Porlock", so I told them I was temporarily indisposed and to take a seat in the garden - it was a warm night. Anyway, I managed to finish the first eight lines (about 20 mins) before I went out to greet them. So I blame them for the flaws in the remaining lines, composed later that evening after they left.
Anyway, I am so pleased to have a poem here, accorded this high honor.
And thanks for the link, Henry. I am reading every hex I can find at present.
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Mark Allinson
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