{"id":722,"date":"2006-12-19T04:48:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-19T04:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janaremy.com\/?p=722"},"modified":"2006-12-19T04:48:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-19T04:48:00","slug":"poetry-schmoetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.janaremy.com\/pilgrimsteps\/2006\/12\/19\/poetry-schmoetry\/","title":{"rendered":"poetry schmoetry"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems that no one reads poetry much anymore. Poetry books don’t sell well, most contemporary poems seem trite or obtuse. But I often feel an overwhelming urge to write poems anyways–images just tumbling out of me and onto the page. I am rarely satisfied with my efforts, as these poems rarely say what I intend them to say. But I am determined to persist with poetry despite my challenges with it. So today I am posting a recent poem in celebration of Muriel Rukeyser’s birthday (ok, it was actually on Friday, but I think it still counts). As Muriel wrote in her book The Life of Poetry<\/span>, “I wish to say that we will not be saved by poetry. But poetry is the type of the creation in which we may live and which will save us,”<\/span> or to borrow an aphorism from Oprah, one thing I know for sure: poetry matters.<\/p>\n

So below is a poem that I recently wrote for my monthly reading\/writing group. It’s not necessarily profound, but I enjoyed writing it and I would like to share it with you. I would most like to know what your favorite lines\/images\/stanzas are. Thanks. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

For two of me<\/p>\n

I gave her my cold shoulder
which she took in her teeth
biting here and there, around the
tiny stitches of scar<\/p>\n

we were on a knee
in adoration of a
rough patch, the burn
that never washed away<\/p>\n

then the rounded weal,
with furrowed marks
of fruitful years
and a worthy song<\/p>\n

a thin star there on
her bone-still spine,
lying down to sleep,
holy oil still damp there
deep in my hair<\/p>\n

and her stepping strongly
along my way,
with mercy because
she will dream now.
~December 2006<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems that no one reads poetry much anymore. Poetry books don’t sell well, most contemporary poems seem trite or obtuse. But I often feel an overwhelming urge to write poems anyways–images just tumbling out of me and onto the page. 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