94º ~ three more trip-digit days in the forecast and then a ‘cool down’ to the upper 90s, some small breezes in the upper branches, closer to the ground all is listless
Today’s draft was much a repeat of yesterday’s process, and a writer loathes nothing more than ineffective repetition. I’ll just nod my head in thanks once more to Lucie Brock-Broido. Again, I used a line from one of her poems for the title of the draft. “Seized with a Small Fever” comes from “To a Strange Fashion of Forsaking.” Again, I used some of her words, but today more of my own. I even had some inspiration cards splashed around for image jolting.
Yes, both yesterday and today, the lines I chose for titles contain the word ‘fever.’ No, I’m not sick, but perhaps this unrelenting heat influences me more than I notice. Also, I like the fact that fevers can bring an altered state of mind, which lets me find more magic in my speakers.
Today’s poem begins:
The linen here is burgundy, well-laundered.
This vessel rests beneath a gold-leafed
chandelier dimmed to sweetness.
The poem alternates between single-line stanzas and couplets. Also, I use the word ‘antipyretics.’ Not one of the words I found in Brock-Broido’s poems, although she reminds me that I can use Latinate words if they fit the tone of the rest of the poem. As a composition instructor, I’m constantly warning my students against using the “ten dollar words” to try and sound “smart.” We are working in those classes for logical communication, straight-forward arguments. A poem is something all together different, and while I love a poem grounded in everyday speech, it’s also fun to stretch my wings and see what I can do with a more academic diction. Brock-Broido certainly brings it out in her poems, and it doesn’t hurt her ‘accessibility,’ at least not for me.
And here is Lou-Lou (gaining health every day), adoring The Master Letters as I try to work.
One more day of my mini-poem-a-day self challenge. I can’t believe I have six possible poems waiting in my ‘In Progress’ folder. Tomorrow, that could be seven! Can’t wait to dive in and revise.
