Poetry is a private affair
born from the dark
in the embrace of silence;
no one around to watch,
just me and a few words
waiting in the shadows,
loitering in the dark
like hungry lovers.

 

 

14 Responses

  1. You’ve nailed it so beautifully, Don……..and I love it when they come out of the shadows and onto the light of the page…..and sometimes, like some lovers, they like to remain in the dark…….

  2. from Louis MacKenzie, university professor, musician, poet and friend:

    What a finely polished jewel (onyx, I warrant)! One of your very best. Deeply felt thanks for it. Guess what? The final essay in my seminar on interpretation is going to be one of your poems, most likely “To Love What is Close.” I will, if you like, send you copies of the best essays. Thanks again for the jewel. We finish our work on Baudelaire next Tues then on to Paul Valery and Don Hynes. You keep excellent company, my friend. Hopefully that company will also include us back in the Bend.

  3. Lovely, Don. I am reminded of a poignant line in G.B.Shaw’s “The Doctors’ Dilemma” — “A poet speaks to himself, and the world overhears.”

  4. Don, your words are gifts of gold for those who understand the currents that move in the deep waters of the souls heart.

  5. Don, Thank you for sharing the recognition Louis MacKenzie is offering you. Your words, “waiting in the shadows, loitering in the dark like hungry lovers” have been honed through your heart and given new life to our souls for many years. I cherish the honor of receiving each gem you offer!

  6. Thank you, Don. Poetry is a strong leg bone with just enough sinew and flesh to be a long distance runner…It has a counterpart, the other leg bone –the reader who swoons over the beauty and richness of “just enough.”

  7. This a powerful and accurate metaphor, I can just feel the creative process moving from womb to birth….thank you!

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