Enga mellom fjella

Do your poems wear a girdle? "Runaways"

Do your poems wear a girdle? Do you prefer form poems or stream of consciousness? I write both, although forms tend to restrict my midriff. (Getting older by the day, y'know! ) For instance, today's poem flows in a way that made me choose to do without capitalization and most punctuation (for now, I may edit differently).

In truth, form gives structure, forces a poet to rethink. If done right, it is both memorable, and easily memorized. Done wrong it is convoluted, forced or insipid ... and evokes the almighty cringe.

Stream-of-conscience however is like a river that flows outside its banks. It nourishes the surrounding flood-plain when it isn't creating chaos. Usually easy to recite, it is rarely memorized. A good one isn't forced like many mediocre form poems, but it can get lost and is prone to being wordy. Some poets even try to discard all poetic devices and still call it a poem instead of what it is: prose.

Which do I prefer to read? When I read a poem I judge it by it's ability to connect with me and move me. Form or no form is fine as long as it is true to what it is.

Runaways

his words ran off the page
now they wander
lost between the geese and ducks
the warbling cranes
among the cornrows wheat and sage
soft wool entraps them
while sheepishly they gather
herded by the plane-crash earthquake gas-explosion
it's been a bad week west of bozeman
in butte
the cemetery burns
in missoula they complain of sex
too much
or not enough
the old folk of montana know
it doesn't matter
how words flow
how pages turn
how black ink splatters

© 2009 Kåre Enga [166.3] 2009-03-22

Weaving current events, issues, images of the place where I live.

blah-blah-BLAH-blah-blah:

Sunday: Three Forks by way of Whitehall. Hobie took the back roads. We tarried awhile at the Madison Buffalo Jump, where bison were run off the cliffs before the local people had horses. Saw a golden eagle, heard the warbling of the sandhill cranes in the fields.

We returned by way of Anaconda and Philipsburg, the canyon between them and snow covered Georgetown Lake. P-burg would be a nice place to live for a very small place. (Monday they got 5-9 inches of snow.)

Hobie had me smiling (and scribbling notes) about folks with "flat-lander license plates" while we were going over the pass. And then there was the conversation about Nate Bucked (as in butt naked). I'll never be at a loss for words as long as I am amused by people and the little things that cross my path.

The trip from Zootown (Missoula) to Bozo (Bozeman) in 5 minutes to the tune "Wagon Wheel":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFQ3TEssro4

Later that night Myrt mentioned Billy Collins and how writers (especially young'uns) can allow their aspirations for "grand writing" get in the way of writing a good poem. Thankfully, my writing is more mundane. Myrt sent me home with left over fried chicken.

Monday: Ha! Stayed inside till after 5. Ha! Ha! Ate some mattar paneer after darylm responded to my note about samosa. Ha! Ha! Ha!

BLOGVILLE

lindamv started chemo yesterday. Her blog: http://www.wangigirl.com

"Invalid Entry"  We need an emoticon for writing! Auntynae
"Invalid Entry"  Adventure in Bruxelles Kim Ashby
"Invalid Entry"  and "Invalid Entry"  Double loss. zwisis

Montana: 32º at noon

daffodil and crocus

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