Aarrgghh!!

[new leaf]

Howard, your snippets of nature and life soothe me no end. It's been a delight to read them this month. I especially appreciated the enterprising cranesbill making the best of its opportunity.

[HowardM2]

Thanks, new leaf; I appreciate your reading and commenting.

I am horribly behind fluffing; I will try to make up for that over the next week or so.

[HowardM2]

"Small Song: Vestiges"

Light shimmers through swirls of water
flowing over stone; shattered,
it dances in shreds under leaves
of birch and willow, remnants
of the promise of morning.

[Emilio]

Hi, Howard, I finally got to relax and enjoy all of these sipping a nice espresso. Some of the first words that coming to mind thinking back on these are romance, imagery, nature, and creative. I enjoyed Bouquet, the idea of flowers affecting what’s above and atmosphere as opposed to the opposite. In Transmutation, the fish scale/pear blossom metaphor is on point, and the sonics here are wonderful. I loved the imagery in Nightlight, it had Bantu energy. Pond is a wonderful compliment to Nightlight. Flotation is a standout to me, the imagery is fricken amazing, amazing. Finding nature’s jewelry, in Endowment, is enviable. Thank you for the wonderful poetry, Howard, I enjoyed seeing the world through your eyes,

Cheers!

[prokopton]

"Small Song: Braille"

River cooters trundle up half-sunk logs,
clamber atop each other to read by touch
the hieroglyphs emblazoned there, just as
at dawn, I read your breasts
with fingertips and lips.

Eastern River Cooters

Clearer image

Howard,
that is a hint of the special way of seeing I have been seeking, inspired by your sig -line.
I enjoyed the way you juxtaposed the visual with the tactile, and include the suggestion of mystery.
It is a wonderful piece.
I have read and enjoyed several others,
Purpose - noticed the B sounds which invited an unwritten word 'birth' - suggested also by the theme.
Flotation - Venus burns - gave me pause, interesting, caught the F sounds freed-fingers-fresh, now I'm looking for them.
Contrapuntal - without the pic I have a vision of blossoms buoyed by a current descending rocks in a stream, then comes the synaesthesia of scent - taste - visual all in one word 'sweetness' which transcends all three modes
Coda - a few simple measures to bring the piece to an end. Your small song is the very definition of the title.
Endowment - You embed layers of meaning in a few lines so easily it invites one to wonder what might have been missed in earlier songs. Nice. I am puzzling over fronds - enttangles
Neighborhood - this is a snapshot, but it's not; I want the participle, but maybe that's just me. The brevity of each piece makes me want to deconstruct it and maybe I lose the enjoyment that comes from being in the moment.

I begin to maunder, but I want to say you have created much beauty here.

congratulations, Howard,
G.

[Dunc]

Howard

Tally ─ the feel, the look of the scene after the storm, conveyed with fine sonics, the fit of sound with sense.

Vestiges ─ after the stom, again, I take it, and the broken look not only of the trees but the flowing water.


A great NaPo, many beautiful notes struck truly, and a fine thread.

Regards / Dunc

[GreaterMandalaofUselessness]

Hi Howard,

I've really enjoyed catching up with your thread. Some wonderful imagery and concision as always. Some favourites along the way:

Bouquet I liked this for the idea of carrying irises inside oneself, what they might be preparing me for; given the ice and chill I suspect, death: one's own or another's.

Glimpse is definitely one of favourites, both for the hint of absurdity and melancholy to the image of the single abandoned boot, and the reflection that links this to the next image, of someone walking home with single boot and muddied foot.

Transmutation: love the unexpected image of the petals as fish scales.

Plop! There's madness here and I like it, and humour too (with a possible hint of desperation?). And I'm left wondering what prompted this ...

Sundered: the constellations orphaned in a night sky broken up by clouds is a wonderful image

Endurance has me feeling for the herbs battered down by the rain.

Coda conjures the sound of water dripping from trees after the rain has stopped; I'm very taken with "remnants or rain" the suggest of agency in the notion of them "detaching" themselves.

Neighbourhood great images of the still pond and water-strider; it's the unexpected intrusion of the man-made into this scene that makes this for me.

Endowment the moon's reflection as broach is a lovely and romantic conceit, what a gift to be given.

A great thread, much enjoyed.

- Matt

[BrianIsSmilingAtYou]

Howard,

"Small Song: Vestiges" - seems to encapsulate the experience of your thread. It also brings to mind another concept, the Japanese word komorebi or "light seen through the leaves of trees" (possibly my favorite word/idea from Japanese) which this seems to present under the water.

I'll be revisiting to study your exercises in linguistic compression.

BrianIs AtYou