Saturday 3 March 2012

Verbal diarrhoea

Friends are coming round in a few minutes - lovely to have friends who are coming on the spur of the moment on a Saturday evening. White wine is chilling and a batch of scones has been made (and smell good), so just a few minutes to put on a blog.

I was sorting through poetry earlier today and came across this one I had completely forgotten. I do have a tendency to go on a bit as I am sure you know if you visit my site regularly. If I can use six words where one will do, then I will go for the six anyday. So I think this poem says something about my thoughts on the subject.

I write.
My pen
scratches on the surface;
words - meaningless,
mellifluous,
tumble from my brain,
where they have raged
and rattled through the night.
Faster, sharper, more urgent
than my hand to write,
they scramble on the page.

Soft, seductive phrases;
barbed brittle words;
questions;
pedantic and persuasive prose;
I give them all life.
Black spider trails
on the page
they tumble on
until my brain has emptied
countless crannies
stuffed to bursting
with what I want to say =
to give the light of day
to words.

And all the while
the poet
is considering - a word.
He sees
its shape;
he hears
its resonance.
But most of alll he studies
its inherent multiplicity of meaning.

Have a good weekend.

12 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Well, I think it's par for the course for poets and writers --so isn't Blogland the ideal spot. An uncoerced (spelling)audience, an instant audience.
And a jolly good poem too.
Hope you have a super evening.

Heather said...

I think that's a marvellous poem Pat. It describes so cleverly the jumbled thoughts and words spilling out to express them.
Have a lovely evening.

H said...

What a fantastic poem! I love the images of the pen scratching on the surface (it puts me in mind of the old ink pens we used to use in secondary school) and of the words tumbling and scrambling to escape from the crannies of the brain and make spider trails on the page. So visual!!

H said...

Incidentally, I notice that you haven't credited it. Is it one of yours? If it is, I'm incredibly impressed!

ArtPropelled said...

I thoroughly enjoyed the poem!
What would we do without blogs where we share the creations we often squirrel away.

Bovey Belle said...

Great poem! It explains the difference between my occasional poetical witterings and the work of, say, Edward Thomas.

Dave King said...

I do not agree at all that you "go on a bit". This poem is a case in point. It says what it has to say and then gets out. I always try not to miss your posts, which I would not do if you had "verbal diarrhoea". Fine poem. Enjoy your day despite the weather.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Excellent!

And if you worry about having too many words, it is much easier to edit down than to edit up!

MorningAJ said...

Great poem!

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Love your poetry!
Always.

Gwil W said...

White wine and home made scones . . . what lucky friends

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you for the comments.