The Woman Speaks Poetry
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Posted by Linda Sue Grimes Jun 29, 2009 |
In 1976, I entered Ball State University graduate school to pursue a M.A. in English. I was primarily interested in poetry writing, so I enrolled in a poetry writing workshop. We would hand in our poetic efforts, and the prof would make mimeograph copies to hand out to the class. We would read and react to the anonymous works during the workshop meetings.
One of the works that I found most memorable is titled, "The Woman Speaks Poetry." I had a copy of the original mimeographed sheet for a number of years but somehow eventually lost it. I had read it so many times, however, that I memorized most of it. The following is my rendering from memory:
THE WOMAN SPEAKS POETRY
What you say turns with the back roads
Through cornfields that plant the horizon
And wonders along the Mississinawa
Crossing over through covered bridges
Beneath sycamores where the air is cool
And still as crawfish
In the slow, green water of the river
Each word a milkweed in October
The sentence branches into asters
And clings to the cuff of my ear like cockleburs
Beneath the skins of grapes
My tongue looks for you.
Because this is merely a rendering from memory, there are, no doubt, many inaccuracies. I have left off all punctuation, because I cannot remember how or even if it was used.
If the poet who wrote this piece would just happen to see this blog entry, I would be delighted to have a corrected copy of this delightful piece.
Thank you for visiting Poetry at Suite101.com.