Open Link Night ~ Week #18

Hello, all, and welcome to Open Link Night  at dVerse Poets Pub. That means just what it says–we are here with an open platform for you to link your best poetry on any topic and read that of others, all night long, and all tomorrow, too.  And when we say it’s dVerse, we are totally for real.

My name is hedgewitch [Joy Ann Jones,] and I’ll be hosting another “If it’s Tuesday it must be poetry” session here behind the bar. So pull up a chair, place your order and know we are glad you all have made the time to be with us and share your own efforts here tonight, in one of the most active sites for poets available on the web.

When we write poetry, we often are struggling with an idea or an emotion we want to present to others, or clarify for ourselves. Sitting staring at the blank screen or paper and deciding which words and images to place there is what writing is all about. But beyond what we explicitly and directly state, there is a whole other world of the unexpressed, even the inexpressible, which functions as part of the poem. Some of it is an assumption of a shared background with the reader, some of it comes from our commonality as humans, and some is the space for ideas and thoughts to evolve other than those we consciously focus on expressing. I don’t know how many of you have had this experience, but I know I frequently find my  poems assuming their own shapes, like reflections in a wavering pool imperfectly seen, flickering in and out of what I seem able to control, declaring themselves by what they are not as much as by what they are.

I’ll leave you with a poem on this subject from American poet  William Stafford, whom the talented Lady Nyo [Jane Kohut-Bartels] brought to my attention, Notice What This Poem is Not Doing:

Notice What This Poem Is Not Doing

 The light along the hills in the morning
comes down slowly, naming the trees
white, then coasting the ground for stones to nominate.

Notice what this poem is not doing.

A house, a house, a barn, the old
quarry, where the river shrugs–
how much of this place is yours?

Notice what this poem is not doing.

Every person gone has taken a stone
to hold, and catch the sun. The carving
says, “Not here, but called away.”

Notice what this poem is not doing.

The sun, the earth, the sky, all wait.
The crowns and redbirds talk. The light
along the hills has come, has found you.

Notice what this poem has not done.

~William Stafford

If you’re new to the pub, welcome, and here’s the drill:

• Post a poem to your blog,
• Link in the poem you’d like to share (1 per blog, please) by clicking on the Mr.Linky button just below.
• This opens a new screen where you’ll enter your information, and where you also choose links to read. Once you have pasted your poem’s blog url and entered your name, simply click submit.
• Don’t forget to let your readers know where you’re linking up and encourage them to participate by including a link to dVerse in your blog post.
• Visit as many other poems as you like, commenting  as you see fit.
• Spread the word on the poems you enjoy if you’d like. Feel free to tweet and share on the social media of your choice.
• Finally, enjoy! Remember, we are here for each other. Engage your fellow poets, talk, chat, comment, let them know their work is being read, and enjoy the input you also will receive. This is all about community.