The poem below is the title poem of the fourth section of Geranium Lake. It was written for National Poetry Month in 2019. HERE is the post from way back then. The poems in this section are all, in one way or another, about the artistic priniciples and practice derived from the natural world, or, more accurately, the non-human natural world, since humans, too, are part of nature. (The amnesiac part, I often think–the tiny drop that thinks itself separate from the ocean.)
Ichthyography What would it be like, the writing of fish? Something shining, I think, a muscular, flowing calligraphy, a Piscean script— accents of whirlpool and fin flip. Shimmering, colorful circumlocutions used, like kennings, over and over, and with lots of sudden twists and turns in the plot, breaks long as winter, slower to resolve than river fog rising. What would it be like to write not with ink or light but with water? Describing each fresh syllable with my whole body, then erasing it all as I go, every gesture a metaphor? Leslie Schultz
May this be a day when every cloud shape and tree branch finds a way to speak to you! LESLIE
Stunning poem, Leslie. Raises some questions and ideas in MY mind. Hmmmm lots to think about!