Saturday’s poem: Thomas Lux, “Debate Regarding the Permissibility of Eating Mermaids” from The Cradle Place (p. 7). (Not a fan of the formatting here, but at least you can read the poem). Curiously, a search for this poem also came up with some articles about a fatwah against eating mermaids. Satirical, I assume, but I didn’t have the time to investigate. Anyhow, as regards the poem itself: I wonder whether there’s more to it than meets the eye, but for the time being, I just enjoyed it for what met my eye.
Sunday’s poem: Nancy Pagh, “Titles of Twenty-Nine Poems I Did Not Write” from No Sweeter Fat (p. 44). This poem moves quickly from whimsical to sobering. I can’t find it online for you, but here is “Blackberries”, my favorite poem by Pagh, a Pacific Northwest poet. Note that the formatting is atrocious — the gaps between stanzas have been erased — but maybe you’ll be inspired to seek out No Sweeter Fat, where you can read it properly.
Today’s poem: Tony Curtis (the Irish poet; not the American actor), “When Sometimes all I Can Imagine are Hands” from The Well in the Rain: New and Selected Poems (p. 53). Tony Curtis is a lovely man. I saw him read a few weeks ago and two years ago (Nancy Pagh, too, for that matter) at the Skagit River Poetry Festival. When I read this poem I had to look up Akhmatova. She’s a poet, natch. I still have so much to learn. Anyhow, I enjoyed the quiet, interior contemplation of this poem.
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