{"id":124,"date":"2016-10-06T19:03:08","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T19:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nethergatewriters.org\/?p=124"},"modified":"2021-03-12T10:50:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T10:50:41","slug":"national-poetry-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/?p=124","title":{"rendered":"National Poetry Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s National Poetry Day, so here’s something from one of our members, CB Donald, to mark the occasion.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The Poetry Voice<\/p>\n

I never could perfect the poetry voice,
\nthat slow and stultifying trick of sound.
\nNot for me that inward-facing implement,
\ndesigned to dig a deceptively shallow
\nchasm between the listener and I.<\/p>\n

I never could perfect the poetry voice:
\nthat carefully painful intonation
\nspeaking of something on the edge
\nof understanding, but never coalescing
\ninto anything like a concrete meaning.<\/p>\n

I never could perfect the poetry voice,
\nso full of yearning significance.
\nThose
\nlong
\ndrawn-out
\nspaces
\njust seemed the very artifice I hated:
\na needless building of dividing walls.<\/p>\n

I never could perfect the poetry voice.
\nI always craved a point in every line;
\na narrative that I could follow
\nto a logical and \u2013 dare I say \u2013
\npredictable conclusion. A full stop.<\/p>\n

Should I try to perfect the poetry voice?
\nTo give in to the air-kissed literati
\nand finally agree to sacrifice my art
\non the reverential and unread altar
\nof an acceptable lack of accessibility?<\/p>\n

No. Not for me, the poetry voice.
\nI\u2019ll fade into the dark by being blunt,
\nby saying what I mean the way I want.
\nStill, better to pretend you had the choice
\nwhen you really can\u2019t perfect the poetry voice.<\/p>\n

CB Donald 2013<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s National Poetry Day, so here’s something from one of our members, CB Donald, to mark the occasion. The Poetry Voice I never could perfect the poetry voice, that slow and stultifying trick of sound. Not for me that inward-facing implement, designed to dig a deceptively shallow chasm between the listener and I. I never… Read More »National Poetry Day<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meeting-archive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t