The past few weeks I’ve returned to a few poems that capture my imagination and thoughts. I tend to read poems the way some people view great film dramas — something like Big Night— enjoying all the subtle nuances, characters and texture. One such poem is from Vera Pavlova, titled “If There Is Something to Desire, 9, 17, 18”. Here’s a few lines:
Why is the word yes so brief?
It should be
the longest,
the hardest,
so that you could not decide in an instant to say it…
(Link: If There Is Something to Desire, 9, 17, 18)
Khaled Mattawa poem “Ecclesiastes” needs to be read a couple times to enjoy it. I particularly enjoy this stanza:
The rule is everyone is a gypsy now.
Everyone is searching for his tribe.
(Link: Ecclesiastes)
And final, from an English Romantic poet John Keats, a few lines from “On the Grasshopper and the Cricket”:
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees…
Coffeehouse Junkie 