I learned yesterday that my poem, “Punting“, was chosen as the poem of the week on the website of Third Wednesday Journal. It gave me such a lift, and reminded me, too, of how grateful I feel for all this journal does to support readers, writers, and artists.
You can sign up, if you wish, for a free email that will deliver a fresh catch-of-the-week poem to your inbox each Wednesday.
Hoping you receive welcome news today! Leslie
The Summer 2019 issue of Third Wednesday is out now, and it is again full of the depth and variety for which it is known.
I was delighted by the elegantly icy concrete (or shaped) poem by Northfield’s own Rob Hardy titled “Icicles,” and I was intrigued by a four-sonnet sequence by Jennifer A. McGowan, the feature poet for this issue who is based in the U.K.
And–because I had submitted to their third “One-Sentence Poetry Contest”–I was especially interested to read the winning entries. My submission did not win, but I would not have written it without the impetus of the contest. It sprang from a childhood memory, discussing Shakespeare, very briefly, with my computer-scientist father. I was honored that Third Wednesday included it in their group of “considerable merit.”
As I have come to expect, this issue has me thinking outside my usual boxes about poetry, prose, and images. Just to share a bit of that, here are some of my favorite classic poems–quite different poets, subjects, moods, and diction–that I am now viewing through the lens of one-sentence construction–why didn’t I notice this aspect before?
“The Snow Man” by Wallace Stevens
“The New Dog” by Linda Pastan
“The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams (shorter than some modern tweets)
“Bright star, would I were steadfast…” by John Keats (a bravura one-sentence performance arcing out over the fourteen lines of a Shakespearean sonnet!)
Now, I suspect, I will look for that single full-stop–in terms of sense and punctuation–as I read the work of others. I know that I shall be consciously considering the limits of the sentence as I construct new poems.
Do you have a favorite one-sentence poem? If so, please let me know! If not, do consider trying your hand at one this summer!
Happy summer reading!
Happy Summer writing!
The newest issue of Third Wednesday is out. Once again, I am dazzled by so many poems in its pages and proud to have one of my own included. In this issue, too, I have been especially impressed with the photography.
In the Spring 2019 (Vol. XII, No. 2) issue, I find it harder than ever to cite favorites — but I will anyway. Take a look at Steven Deutsch’s poem “Sam and Saul” about twin musical prodigies; or the frozen lake shore landscape of Scott Lowery’s meditative “Vacancy;” or Jeanie Mortensen’s look at the discrepancies between literature and life in “Dick and Jane;” or Ted Kooser’s consideration of time in “Red Stilts;”or Kathryn Jacobs’s startling perspective in “Calling All Lemmings.”
Like the poetry, the photography in this issue kept surprising and delighting me. My favorites range from the lyrical juxtaposition of a flower and an open book called “Birth” (by Fabrice Poussin) and a study of dunes and sky called “California Dreaming (also by Fabrice Poussin) to the subtle view of exhortatory texts plastered on a gated driveway and house called “Signs” (by Gary Wadley), to — maybe my favorite of all — a head and shoulders portrait called simply “Robert” (by David Jibson.) This one is arresting because it is at once utterly contemporary and positively classical, as though a Roman philosopher visits and observes contemporary complications with earned detachment.
My own poem, titled “Poem in Which I Try, Very Hard, to Do My Own Bidding,” was inspired by a poem by William Butler Yeats called “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” Perhaps, like me, you have memorized this gem? My own poem doesn’t echo so much the form of the poem as the way in which the heart can be split in its desire to live in two different places or modes at the same time, while recognizing the need to somehow integrate both rather than to choose.
Thank you for allowing me to share these thoughts with you! Leslie
This quarterly journal never fails to surprise. It always offers a mix of new work by renown poets and the lesser known, as well as visual art. In this issue, the celebrated Ted Kooser has a poem called “Ohio Blue Tip,” which couldn’t help but remind me of my favorite movie, Paterson, which features a different poem about the same kind of match; and Marge Piercy has two poems, “I Observe the Climate Change and Complain” and “An Argument of Crows.”) Also, in this issue, I was so excited to see two poems by a poet friend from Winona, Minnesota, Scott Lowery. I was especially taken with his “Going Smaller.” Scott tells me that he will have a poem in the next issue as well. I don’t know the poet Laszlo Slomovits before, but I was moved to tears by the beauty of his “My 97 Year Old Aunt Ami.” I will look out for his work from now on. This issue contains dozens and dozens of other fine and surprising poems, and also features the winners of Third Wednesday’s recent One Sentence Poetry Contest. Now that I have seen what is possible, I might hazard a poem the next time it is announced.!
If you would like to see within the journal for yourself, here is a link to the Third Wednesday site where you can order a digital or paper subscription, and take a look at their blog.
As for my own poems, “In the Produce Aisle” had its first public reading at last winter’s Writer’s Night. Last April, I recorded “In the Produce Aisle” as part of a National Poetry Month podcast for my former employer, Just Food Coop. (Regular readers might recall the post about that event. If you would like another listen, there is a link in this short post from last April.)
Here is a photograph of the very produce aisle that inspired the poem:
(Note Tim in the back row of this shot–far right–of the new Co-op Board of Directors!)
As for “Cezanne: ‘House of the Hanged Man,'” this poem was inspired by a painting I saw some years ago when Julia and I traveled with a friend to Paris and visited the Musée d’Orsay. I bought a postcard of it then, and kept thinking about it.
Here is another digital rendering of the painting from www. paulcezanne. If you visit this site, you’ll find some interesting facts about the colors in this work of art.
Colors–paint or produce–how we need them on these grey days of winter! Leslie
The vibrant magazine, Third Wednesday, has published its most recent issue, and I am so pleased that it includes two poems of my own. This issue has my favorite cover to date, reminding me not only of the street murals of San Jose but of my yoga practice.
Third Wednesday is available in both print and digital format, and includes both poetry (in many forms) and beautiful graphic images (drawings and photographs) from dozens of artists.
Such a stimulating way to launch the new year! Hope your year is off to an equally stimulating start!
