Enga mellom fjella

Butte, 1908 - the poem

Butte, 1908

His hair curls,
thin wisps of gold and silver,
his mouth speaks copper.

As we listen to his smelter of noun and verb
he glistens with adverbs slowly, slowly,
spinning adjectival wires wound into spools.

He knows we weren't born fools,
only wayfarers in search of different treasures:
cold lakes, rushing streams,
the rainbow of mountain dreams and pleasures.

He believes the ore of the depths of earth
are his to melt and meld, to buy and barter
as our gold remains the ever-flowing waters.

© 2008 Kåre Enga [165.299] 2008-10-12

A speaker tonight used the phrase, "his hair is curls'. I thought ... not so strong as "his hair curls". The verb to be is just a copula; it indicates tense and not much else. An active verb is better ... anyhoo ... I used it as a prompt and the poem flowed from there like spun metal .

ME:

I found a power cord and an extension cord! Zowie ... maybe they will work?

I went to another Second Wind tonight and dragged Leland with me. He wasn't impressed; neither was I. It is very hard to do a public reading of a short story unless you engage the audience. Enunciation helps. Volume helps. Eye contact is good. Modulation of voice would be nice.

There is a skill in storytelling. The MFA program should have their students read to 5 year olds to practice.

I did get to talk to Beverly, one of the adjunct professors (here from Texas) and to Lisa an MFA student in painting who used to live in Rochester, NY. Her girlfriend hails from North Carolina. Does anyone here come from Montana?

Oh ... and it snowed this morning. I went out in the flakes. Always love the first snow.

Montana: 31º at 23:00. Almost a full moon.

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