Echo Poems #3 – The Chairman and Jack Pine Savage Present!
We’re baaak! You’ve seen us before: June 21 and May 3. It’s the Chairman and Jack Pine Savage, two of the illustrious six Wannaskan Almanac writers. As before, we are using the Echo Poem form to delight and surprise. That means each Echo – there are three pair – The Chairman writes the original poem; then sends it to JPSavage as a poetic call, listening for a response. JPSavage replies in Echo form.
Notice in the first pair of poems, S (Savage) takes one word from each line of C’s (Chairman’s) poem and uses it in her poem – a sort of call-and-response, if you will. The tone is personal, affirming.
The second pair, explores a darker place – actually more a twilight than dark – that’s where poetry goes when it explores emotion. Notice two things. First, every other line is in italics; those lines are JPSavage’s contributions. They may also appear in red if our blog format allows us to do that. The idea of this interspersing is to join the two poems in a creative way, and to give the poets the warmth of company when treading the halls of emotion.
The third couple’s focus is on life’s precariousness. Can’t you just imagine the poetry-hating village folks coming to capture the poets and do their worst. Still, there’s some whimsy in this set – something like whistling in the dark.
An Invitation: You, too, can join in the merriment or “seriousment” – see the invitation at the end of this post and check out the opportunity to become an Echo Poet yourself! We hope you’ll join us. You will probably get published. Note: no prizes.
THREE ECHOES
ECHO 1
C
Ah you get me.
That's why I bother.
And by your poems I see you get the verities of the U.
But this body drags me down.
In my next life or in purgatory, I'm going straight to the monastery.
How do I remember that resolution?
How many times have I broken it?
S
I do get you and that is why we bother
Is not the body chief among the verities?
If not for the corporeal, poems would lapse,
birds unsonged, the die of life uncast.
Remember that even in the monastery
the body is resolved to have its way
and will break our resolutions if we try to stay
anywhere but right here, right now
So exhale and make a reverential bow
to the skin, blood, bone, and sinew
for here is home of thieves, throne of queens
and every ensouled-body in between
ECHO 2
“Melancholy is the happiness of being sad.” Victor Hugo
Note: Black font – Chairman / Red font = Savage
I was poking fun at my tendency to keep feelings hidden.
Poking my nose into feelings like cat's whiskers
I wear mine like an ivy vine at a cave's mouth
It's good to get them wet.
dripping tears from a rock
Then the sun can come out.
Overcast today, but tomorrow . . .
Maybe too much sun today.
It got to 60 last night. Pleasant for walking this morning.
. . . or tonight, I will make a point of hash-i
Watered the pumpkins already.
At midnight I may trim the hemlock
ECHO 3
C
I live a life in tension
Twixt infancy and death
Where nothing’s ever finished
As long as I hold breath
Please hold then till the morrow
In the evening when I’m porched
Reports of death and mayhem
From the latest village torched
S
‘Morrow’s mayhem anticipated hails
from what’s held from today
“Better porched than porked.”
That’s what death will say
when shades of melancholy grey
and village folk advance
with sticks and spades and pointed things
Caught ‘tween first breath
and struggling for the last
all things left unfinished
now and when and past
Background
The Echo Poem exchanges started innocently enough. C and S correspond regularly even though they live less than ten miles apart. JPSavage is a long-time versifier, so basically “no problem.” I don’t know how long the Chairman has engaged the heavenly art – the language of angels – I suspect much longer than he has been publishing his work. The upshot is two poets found each other in the wasteland of prose. (Is that even okay to say?) Hopefully you readers are the beneficiaries of what we humbly offer.
Soon, JPSavage may send off original poetic “calls,” and the Chairman may answer. The two appearances of the word “may” in the preceding sentence has a pensive air. Will we continue? Who will make the first call? Will there be a response? Will we tire of the exchanges? Will our readers tire of us? Most importantly, will our readers, or others, accept our invitation? Stay tuned . . .
Exploration 1: Is it dangerous to write Echo Poems with another person?
Exploration 2: Is there a topic that would not be appropriate for an Echo Poem?
Exploration 3: What might happen to a relationship between Echo Poets?
An Invitation
Now that you’ve read our Echo Poem, we invite any person among our readers (or others who come across this invitation by word of mouth) to submit a poem with an invitation for anyone to echo/respond with a poem echoing the first “calling” poem.
With few exceptions, all submitted poems will be published in an upcoming Monday post, asap. If these instructions aren’t clear, please email or comment in this blog and ask away. Jack Pine Savage is the facilitator of this adventure.
Email: catherineastenzel@gmail.com. All of us look forward to seeing your poems and to having fun with this interactive feature from Wannaskan Almanac.
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