Poetry / Pause

Thanks. There are very few themes that should be, by their nature (pardon the pun), unappealing to a young poet. Bad poetry is always bad, no matter what the topic. Good poetry is always good. When I was studying writing in college, we were often assigned very specific, often incredibly “un-poetic” topics, specifically to get us to focus on the craft of writing, rather than simply writing about what appealed to us or was top of mind. For example, we were once assigned to write three poems about three different “grooming tasks,” eg, brushing teeth, shampooing, clipping nails, etc. Not something I would ever have done on my own, had I not been forced to for a grade. But very educational and strengthening.

I will tell you something, though, if you (or anyone else who reads this comment…) is interested: this poem is not about what it is about. Almost all my narrative poems -- poems with stories in them -- are about more than the actions described. There is usually a metaphor; sometimes fairly clear and transparent, sometimes quite burried and cryptic. Depending on how damned creepy I’m feeling when I write.

So… this is a poem that uses many natural images, yes. That is something that many poets to, because nature is a universal theme; regardless of culture or age or era, everyone understands the flow of a river or sunrise. I don’t need  you, the reader, to know what “Justin Timberlake” means in order to read this piece.

But there are often metaphoric loads, especially in Western poetry, for almost every natural image; and extra-especially for the “big nature” images of water, sun, moon, day, night, etc. So… if you have a moment, and feel like it, and read through this piece once or twice more…

What is it about? Besides being a nice picture of a pretty, natural, picnic scene? What is the under-poem? The metaphoric load?

Figure that out, and you may understand why you like it, despite it being a theme that normally you don’t find appealing. I suspect that the deeper message may be whispering to you.