Ok, so you probably already know Heather McHugh. If you don't, though, don't feel bad. Neither did I until a few years ago. Ok, so I knew nothing about poetry until a few years ago. But that is neither here nor there.
Last week, I wrote about Elise Paschen and shared some of her amazing work. I came across a poem by Heather McHugh that I really liked, and I thought, "I should do the same thing for her." So now, I bring you "Glass House:"
Glass House | ||
| by Heather McHugh | ||
Everything obeyed our laws and we just went on self-improving till a window gave us pause and there the outside world was, moving. Five apartment blocks swept by, the trees and ironwork and headstones of the next town's cemetery. Auto lots. Golf courses. Rest homes. Blue-green fields and perishable vistas wars had underscored in red were sweeping past | ||
Read the rest of the poem here. Gosh, how I love a poem with a good ending. Make sure you click through, it's totally worth it. And I just love the word "nonplussed." I think I will start using it more.
If you thought that was good, wait until you read "Ghazal of the Better-Unbegun:"
Ghazal of the Better-Unbegun | ||
| by Heather McHugh | ||
A book is a suicide postponed. --Cioran Too volatile, am I? too voluble? too much a word-person? I blame the soup: I'm a primordially stirred person. Two pronouns and a vehicle was Icarus with wings. The apparatus of his selves made an ab- surd person. The sound I make is sympathy's: sad dogs are tied afar. But howling I become an ever more un- heard person. I need a hundred more of you to make a likelihood. The mirror's not convincing-- that at-best in- ferred person. | ||
Check out the rest of this poem here. If you're not familiar with the ghazal poetic form (I wasn't until...well, you know), click here. And that one's ending might have been better than "Glass House's," don't you think? "McHugh, you'll be the death of me." The poet talking to herself (or her offspring???). Nice move, McHugh. Halfway to the third person" (a.k.a. the second person) is really, really smart (for lack of a better word), too. Wow! Love those poems.
Here are 2 more you'll like:
Heck, she's so good, just go to the Poetry Foundation and read all that she has there!
This week's Poetry Friday is hosted by Violet Nesdody HERE. Be sure to check it out.
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25228175@N08/4803700847/
Sure enjoyed that "Ghazal of the Better-Unbegun." Enjoy your enthusiasm too. I love it, like you seem to, when I find a new poet to explore. Reminds me of a poem by Linda Pastan called (what else)
ReplyDeleteA New Poet
Finding a new poet
is like finding a new wildflower
out in the woods. You don't see
its name in the flower books, and
nobody you tell believes
in its odd color or the way
its leaves grow in splayed rows
down the whole length of the page. In fact
the very page smells of spilled
red wine and the mustiness of the sea ..."
and here's the rest.