For me, this feels like a snow globe of a poem. But gigantic. And melting! And I like how "The" keeps us Here & Now looking closely and paying attention to The specific winter moment. Until the sound of sleighbells lets us drift off into the lovely indefinite "reined hands and rained / icicles dropping". Beautiful.
OK--fun! I will go out on a limb and say: I think the ending is a "sound-puzzle." At least this is how my brain enjoys many of your poems. The words and lines have multiple meanings depending on their placement/shape/spelling but also their sounds. This is something I notice and really enjoy about your work, Thomas.
In my ears, it's a hallmark of yours that belies your enjoyment of writing the poetry. I think it's a very cool signature style that no AI can pull off to this degree.
But, we all see and hear what we want to--don't we? That's the fun way that poetry speaks to each person differently. So, "The sky" could also be "This guy". And as you are a family-oriented husband and father, so I want to think that you require articles of faith when you look at the winter/iced sky. Maybe you see the One who made it . . ."We believe in *one* God, The Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen."
Thanks for indulging my interpretation. That's a generous thing for a poet to do :-)
Well, if I was indulging your interpretation, I have certainly been richly rewarded here. 🙂. Some of the interpretations you offer I have thought of, some I have half-thought of and some seem to me wholly fresh - and all the more interesting for that. So your response is rewarding to me on a variety of fronts - and gives me much to think about, which I’m always grateful for. Thank you, Ann. If I don’t speak to you beforehand, have a very happy new year.
So often unnoticed, but not in this poem. Nicely done.
In my erasure work, I almost always elide the definite article. In the draft I wrote yesterday, out of 133 words of source material, I "kept" 8 out of 14. I didn't count the "the" buried in "then" or "them" or "they", but I'm now thinking about that. Thank you.
Thank you, Janie. As a rule I usually elide definite articles too. But it got me thinking and in this one I decided to reverse the process.
Forgive me if I’m misremembering - I have lost track of things - but was it you who a while back asked to do an erasure of one of my poems? (Again, apologies if I’m misremembering here.)
Thanks for letting me know, Janie. About a month ago, after a long, super-busy period at work, I remembered the request to do an erasure, but for the life of me I couldn’t track down the original request. Anyway, if you’re still interested in doing an erasure of one of my poems, perhaps not one of the very most recent ones, then you’re welcome to do so - please just acknowledge the original and give the link. But no pressure at all, I’ll certainly understand if your interest has moved on - to say the least, I have not been prompt!
Thank you. I would love to erase one of your poems. I'll look back, see if I remember which one it was.
I always acknowledge the source material and, when possible, link to the original. I would also link directly to your substack and, if you have a website, there as well.
the nice poem
The kind comment. 🙂. And thank you too for the very kind restack. It’s greatly appreciated, thank you.
This has such lovely music to it!
Thank you, Lisa. If it sings to you, I’m very glad.
Happy new year to you!
Beautiful!
Thank you, Carolyn. 🙂
Wow.
Thank you, Margaret. 🙂. And a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Happy New Year back, Thomas! 😊
For me, this feels like a snow globe of a poem. But gigantic. And melting! And I like how "The" keeps us Here & Now looking closely and paying attention to The specific winter moment. Until the sound of sleighbells lets us drift off into the lovely indefinite "reined hands and rained / icicles dropping". Beautiful.
Thank you, Ann. If I may say so, you have a lovely sensitivity to poetry. I’m grateful for your comment. I wonder what you make of the ending?
OK--fun! I will go out on a limb and say: I think the ending is a "sound-puzzle." At least this is how my brain enjoys many of your poems. The words and lines have multiple meanings depending on their placement/shape/spelling but also their sounds. This is something I notice and really enjoy about your work, Thomas.
In my ears, it's a hallmark of yours that belies your enjoyment of writing the poetry. I think it's a very cool signature style that no AI can pull off to this degree.
But, we all see and hear what we want to--don't we? That's the fun way that poetry speaks to each person differently. So, "The sky" could also be "This guy". And as you are a family-oriented husband and father, so I want to think that you require articles of faith when you look at the winter/iced sky. Maybe you see the One who made it . . ."We believe in *one* God, The Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen."
Thanks for indulging my interpretation. That's a generous thing for a poet to do :-)
Well, if I was indulging your interpretation, I have certainly been richly rewarded here. 🙂. Some of the interpretations you offer I have thought of, some I have half-thought of and some seem to me wholly fresh - and all the more interesting for that. So your response is rewarding to me on a variety of fronts - and gives me much to think about, which I’m always grateful for. Thank you, Ann. If I don’t speak to you beforehand, have a very happy new year.
Happy New Year to you & your family Thomas!
So often unnoticed, but not in this poem. Nicely done.
In my erasure work, I almost always elide the definite article. In the draft I wrote yesterday, out of 133 words of source material, I "kept" 8 out of 14. I didn't count the "the" buried in "then" or "them" or "they", but I'm now thinking about that. Thank you.
Thank you, Janie. As a rule I usually elide definite articles too. But it got me thinking and in this one I decided to reverse the process.
Forgive me if I’m misremembering - I have lost track of things - but was it you who a while back asked to do an erasure of one of my poems? (Again, apologies if I’m misremembering here.)
That was me - although it's been long enough I don't remember when or which poem.
Thanks for letting me know, Janie. About a month ago, after a long, super-busy period at work, I remembered the request to do an erasure, but for the life of me I couldn’t track down the original request. Anyway, if you’re still interested in doing an erasure of one of my poems, perhaps not one of the very most recent ones, then you’re welcome to do so - please just acknowledge the original and give the link. But no pressure at all, I’ll certainly understand if your interest has moved on - to say the least, I have not been prompt!
Thank you. I would love to erase one of your poems. I'll look back, see if I remember which one it was.
I always acknowledge the source material and, when possible, link to the original. I would also link directly to your substack and, if you have a website, there as well.
That sounds great, Janie. I’ll look forward to seeing your creation. In the meantime, Happy New Year!