A Spot of Poetry on a Saturday Morning

Last night, I cracked open my copy of 20th-Century Poetry & Poetics (Fourth Edition) to take in a bit of the golden verse for a change. I've been rather neglectful when it comes to my own creative endeavours and I'm thinking it's about time I re-focused my efforts. 

I've had this indescribable silence building in me over the past number of years when it comes to writing. Granted, my blogging has never suffered and my paper journals are always there for me during the tougher times. But my actual creative efforts have faltered. Maybe it was an undergrad burn out -- while writing essays, I used to get so anxious and irritable when I sat down at my keyboard (this experience would then affect my ACTUAL writing as well).

In addition, I've generally forsaken reading over the past year. I've heard the expression "great writers are avid readers" and I can understand the truth to that statement. If you are constantly discovering new ways to tell stories, then your stories will most likely be richer as a result. You need to immerse yourself in what you're drawn to and all those other inspirational sentiments.

I have been neglectful, indeed.

Anyhow, I'm getting all ramble-y. The three conclusions after turning to my poetry collection were:

1. I need to just write, write, write.... even if it turns out to be pure drivel.
2. I wanted to share a gorgeous piece of verse by one of my favorite poets.
3. .... I wanted to share a little bit about a poetry class I took during my second year... and yes, there's a gorgeous girl involved....

I'll save the pretty poetess for either later tonight or tomorrow. For now, I give you "Recuerdo" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Recuerdo

We were very tired, we were very merry -

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.

It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable -

But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,

We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;

And the whistles kept blowing, and dawn came soon.

We were very tired, we were very merry -

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;

And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,

From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;

And the sky when wan, and the wind came cold,

And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.

We were very tired, we were very merry,

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.

We hailed, "Good-morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,

And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;

And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and pears,

And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.