triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY! hosts: Kala Ramesh and Vidya Shankar GUEST EDITOR: Shreya Narang & Samir Satam 23rd September 2023
red plaid shawl -
I become the sound
of autumn rain
Jenny Ward Angyal Presence 69
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Thank you for being our next guest editors Shreya and Samir We are waiting to see the month unfold. _()_
Re: "I become the sound / of autumn rain." This is telling, not showing, and it's not convincing. The moment I read it, the thought immediately occurred to me, "No, you don't." The sound of autumn rain is incapable of saying anything about itself. I am reminded of the title of a collection of Zen essays, "A Flower Does Not Talk."
Basho writes:
Gazing at the flowers
Of the morning glory,
I eat my breakfast. (Blyth, trans.)
The reader might well repond, "The poet is one with the morning glories." But would the reader agree if the poet said the same thing about himself?
Eating my breakfast
I am one with the flowers
Of the morning glory.
I cannot imagine…
Jenny is one of my favourite poets and this poem is so well handled. Congrats Shreya and Samir for selecting this ku. _()_
I love Billie's comment.
The synesthesia effect here is so calming. Thank you for sharing this ku, @shreyanarang1711 and @samir satam .
Learning a lot from such poems that instils a better understanding. Thank you!
A lovely, lovely poem. . . just what I'd expect of Jenny Angyal, whose work I deeply admire. The red plaid shawl is strikingly jux'd against the linear pattern of rain; the synesthesia really makes this piece memorable. Thanks for sharing this one, Shreya and Samir!
---Billie