[Brian Watson]

For myself, I'd pick M.Moore's The Steeple Jack, a poem from which you could, if necessary, re-constitute the universe, just add water. It is perfect in the sense that it says what needs to be said, with nothing extra.

If I maybe candid, I don't especially like the Merwin. The first few lines sound a bit sententious to me -- something to do with the alliteration and the anapestic rhythm. And there's something odd about the phrasing "and turn over slightly". But I like the part where he compares looking upward through the water to leaning back on a tree-swing. Sorry, I feel quite disgusted with how very little poetry I honestly like. I don't get most of it.

[Petra Norr]

Heck, I think I'll just post one of my all-time favorites:

American Primitive
by William Jay Smith


Look at him there in his stovepipe hat,
His high-top shoes, and his handsome collar;
Only my Daddy could look like that,
And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.

The screen door bangs, and it sounds so funny -
There he is in a shower of gold;
His pockets are stuffed with folding money,
His lips are blue, and his hands feel cold.

He hangs in the hall by his black cravat,
The ladies faint, and the children holler:
Only my Daddy could look like that,
And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.
.

[Philip Quinlan]

Originally Posted by Brian Watson

...there's something odd about the phrasing "and turn over slightly"... Sorry, I feel quite disgusted with how very little poetry I honestly like. I don't get most of it.

Brian

I think the phrase you quote goes exactly to my liking of the poem for its understatement, but chacun à son goût.

Your second statement I totally agree with, personally. That's some of the point of this thread. So much poetry that is out there I find disappointing too.

But I'm eternally in love with the idea of poetry and its possibilities, which in themselves seem endless.

Best

Philip

[Brian Watson]

Philip,
I find poetry harder to enjoy than music or painting. It's impossible to quantify breadth, but I wonder if most people's tastes are wider in the other arts than in poetry.

Petra,
that's cool, I was just reading a review of William Jay Smith the other day, by Merrill. It flashed such tantalizing excerpts as:

Waking below the level of the sea,
You wake in peace; the gardens look
Like roofs of palaces beneath the water,
And into the sea the land hooks...

rgrds,
B.