The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Sun 6/11/06)

[RetroLounge]

Where You Go When She Sleeps

What is it when a woman sleeps, her head bright
In your lap, in your hands, her breath easy now as though it had never been
Anything else, and you know she is dreaming, her eyelids
Jerk, but she is not troubled, it is a dream
That does not include you, but you are not troubled either,
It is too good to hold her while she sleeps, her hair falling
Richly on your hands, shining like metal, a color
That when you think of it you cannot name, as though it has just
Come into existence, dragging you into the world in the wake
Of its creation, out of whatever vacuum you were in before,
And you are like the boy you heard of once who fell
Into a silo full of oats, the silo emptying from below, oats
At the top swirling in a gold whirlpool, a bright eddy of grain, the boy
You imagine, leaning over the edge to see it, the noon sun breaking
Into the center of the circle he watches, hot on his back, burning
And he forgets his father's warning, stands on the edge, looks down,
The grain spinning, dizzy, and when he falls his arms go out, too thin
For wings, and he hears his father's cry somewhere, but is gone
Already, down in a gold sea, spun deep in the heart of the silo,
And when they find him, he lies still, not seeing the world
Through his body but through the deep rush of grain
Where he has gone and can never come back, though they drag him
Out, his father's tears bright on both their faces, the farmhands
Standing by blank and amazed - you touch that unnamable
Color in her hair and you are gone into what is not fear or joy
But a whirling of sunlight and water and air full of shining dust
That takes you, a dream that is not of you but will let you
Into itself if you love enough, and will not, will never let you go.

T R Hummer

********************



T. R. Hummer is the author of eight books of poetry, including Useless Virtues, a finalist for the Phi Beta Kappa Poetry Award, and Walt Whitman in Hell. A native of Mississippi and a longtime devotee and practitioner of jazz, he lives in Athens, Georgia, where he is the editor of the Georgia Review and a professor of creative writing at the University of Georgia.


********************

RL

If you have a request for a certain Poet, post their name in the thread and I will find a poem by them and post it...

if you want to see some of my poetry, see the blog at:
http://www.myspace.com/retropaul

[miss_american_pie]

1. I just read that

just the other and now I can't remember where. :hi:

[RetroLounge]

2. The Poet's Companion, page 86.

I bought it yesterday. :D

:hi:

RL

[miss_american_pie]

3. Aha

Thanks! I'm heading out to the bookstore again soon. Any suggestions?

[RetroLounge]

4. Get a new journal and write poetry

I bought a $4 blank journal yesterday and already began writing in it.

Otherwise, I bought Denise Duhamel's book Kinky. Pretty good stuff...

RL

[miss_american_pie]

5. Haven't filled up the old journal yet.

Thanks.

[RetroLounge]

8. Okay. Maybe a new pen?

oh, I know, I found a new book called poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge.

It's really good. Sort of like Bird by Bird and Poet's Companion, and Writing Down The Bones.

You'll like it...

RL

[miss_american_pie]

13. They didn't have it

so I bought Sharon Olds' "The Dead and The Living" instead.

[RetroLounge]

14. Very cool

let me know how it is...

RL

[miss_american_pie]

15. Earthy and visceral

and very dark.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear RetroLounge!

These are the most incredible series of images.....

But the ending is wonderful.......

"Standing by blank and amazed - you touch that unnamable
Color in her hair and you are gone into what is not fear or joy
But a whirling of sunlight and water and air full of shining dust
That takes you, a dream that is not of you but will let you
Into itself if you love enough, and will not, will never let you go. "

How this touches me......

Every day, you touch me with these poems......

Thank you



:hug:

[RetroLounge]

7. You are welcome

Some days I want to say enough already, but then I find a new poem, get a response like yours, or discover a new poet, and I have no choice but to continue.

Thanks for being here on these threads...

:hug:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. My dear Retro.......

As long as you are here.......

I will be here as well......

:hug:

[RetroLounge]

10. ...

:hug:

:hi:

:loveya:

RL

[Callalily]

11. RL, this just makes

my head spin. Please don't stop posting poems. I may not always get a chance to respond, but I do read them. And to tell you the truth, I never really was too keen on poetry, but you seem to post wonderful, wonderful poetry. Thanks so much!

[RetroLounge]

12. Glad you are here...

:hi:

RL