Friday, November 04, 2005

Nother Reverse Poem

From one of Strand's. Might be... "The mountain"? I can't remember... I'm too busy to keep track of these things! shut up!

The Valley

You have backed into this with your own arms,
finding the airplane, finding the stubborn mule,
descending always, one hand behind the other,
that is the way to unbraid it.

It does not please you, the way the valley stops,
paper in the air, a bike sighing its silver spokes.
Look here, the longer you stand still, the closer
you are to nothing.

One hand behind the other. The years stop.
One hand behind the other. The seconds stop.
The smells of departure appear.
That is the way to unbraid it.

2 comments:

Ivy said...

This is pretty cool and looks like fun. How did you find the process, Christine?

Christine E. Hamm, Poet Professor Painter said...

I found out about it from Amanda, here:
http://alauchter.blogspot.com/2005/10/housewifery-writer-inside_16.html

It's fun and a good excercise. It tends to make the writing a bit stranger, which I think I need.