Kay Ryan is an erstwhile America Poet Laureate and a Pulitzer Prize winner. But what is so delicious about her poem are the mordent inner-springs that seem to unfold in the course of reading. Little 'recombinant' rhymes within lines. Like all good poems, the second and third readings seem to unlock lots of lovelinesses. This is one of my favourites:
We're Building the Ship as We Sail It
The first fear
being drowning, the
ship's first shape
was a raft, which
was hard to unflatten
after that didn't
happen. It's awkward
to have to do one's
planning in extremis
in the early years-
so hard to hide later:
sleekening the hull,
making things
more gracious.
WOW, just wow, as they say. What this poem says about life...Amazing,,,
Alistair, I think you should introduce a ' poetry corner' . It would be lovely to share and learn more about this lovely writing skill.... ( I ,certainly, would like to learn more, if that's not too selfish !!) 😍❤️📝🙏
Poetry to me is like a piece of art hung in a gallery and the viewer tries to see the hidden meaning.