A List of Not-To-Be-Forgotten Things

As black socks turned inside out

wear just fine, so too a poem is a list of  

not-to-be-forgotten things we almost

left behind.

butter

beer

string and

plums

coffee

candy

cacao

string and

chewing gum

FG July 15, 2013

While I have the tiniest of tin ears, the poem Andi Card posted about Goffstown got me thinking about rhyme.  Rhyme use to be used to remember the next line when poems were over 1,000 lines long and before, of course, they were written down. But poetry is always evolving and while rhyme can add something – a feeling such as realizing the window your looking through has no glass – it’s no longer the necessity it once was.  In fact, rhyme seems to be one of those not to be forgotten things we almost left behind.  When rhyme is done well, you don’t notice but feel it.  When rhyme is done poorly, it’s like putting a little smiley face at the end of every line.

This poem is another example of my Duck Soup daze.  The poet knows that a sock turned inside out is still a sock – this may be the only thing a poet knows.  Poetry has always seemed to me as juggling dark objects, so let’s make it a black sock.

The list is just like Apple, peaches, pumpkin pie (Jay and the Techniques song – Rita O’Meara or Kathy Gray may get you the link) and fun.  I list plums for Dr. Williams although I am not partial to plums and yes I list string twice – you’ve done this, right?

Poems are small things, too.  Writing a poem about Goffstown, well, it’s just too big.