I was out and driving home last night when this hellatious storm just pounced on us like a cat. It has beet overcast with some bits of sun rays parting the clouds in places. An occasional rain drop here and there. You know the kind of situation where you see sunshine to you left and oh may was that a raindrop on your right?
My daughter was with me and as we pulled away from her karate class, the sky just filled with vengeance all at once.
Winds, rain and lightening like you would not believe. On the interstate a car hydroplaned and spun out ahead of us. There was just so much going on all around us. In hindsight, I am thinking today how I'd like to have captured some of the images on paper. I'm sure however, my daughter appreciates my attention to the road without writing while driving.
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So I was thinking the other day about subjects that should never be written into poems. Then, I remember the advise from someone much wiser than I, who said that the best subject matter for poems is that which you least think is poetic material. Hence, in place of suggestions for subjects that would make bad poems, I give you the following....
Five words of advice if you are writing a love poem....
If you are writing a love poem, I'd stay away from whale blubber as a metaphor.
If you are writing a love poem for your spouse, I'd forget about mentioning in-laws.
If you are writing a love poem, take it easy with words that rhyme with runt and bunt.
If you are writing a love poem, try not to make yourself the subject of worship.
If you are writing a love poem, remember fantasy is a whole other genre.
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So tonight at the KC METRO VERSE MEETING:
Our topic of discussion is the poetry that is in the April issue of Poetry Magazine. This issue is entirely translations of poems. Which begs me to wonder the following for example.
On page 6, the poem titled The Fog - originally by the Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli is translated to English by Geoffrey Brock. So, here we have what appears to be an eight stanza terza rima with a single one line floater at the end. This of course means the first and last lines of each stanza rhyme and the middle line will rhyme with the first and third in the following stanza. Or so this is what Brock has given us in translation. In my trivial mindset, I am wondering, is the original Italian likewise in a tera rima as well? If so, it would seem the task of translating could become a little more diecy. The word translations are not going to all have the same letter or sound endings making it difficult to follow the rhyme pattern over into a new language with another word meaning approximately the same as the first. Further complicating, is that very often Latin derived languages have noun and verb placements different in sentences from that of our own. Such changes in the syntax would seem to give one a headache much less actually trying to translate, keeping a specific rhyme form.
Perhaps one of you have had some personal experience in translations. I find this process interesting. My daughter is very fluent in French and I have often thought of having her translate some of my work to French. Of course I largely write in free verse, and this would be far less demanding.
Tags: Writing and poetry Poetry Giovanni Pascoli Geffory Brock love poems
KC METRO VERSE
