A literary column

By Marcia Diane

Well, I have a confession to make…I missed National Poetry Month, it was the month of April. At first I thought; ‘some literary columnist you are’ and then I decided no, we have an honoring of poetry every month in our very own newspaper. Seems good enough to me.

So, I’m going out on a limb here, reaching as ever for the local talent. I’m going to call for submissions. Yup, I’d like to see what you all write. Send it in and be sure to include a brief bio and Sandy and the gang and I will go over it and let you know if you get picked. Kinda of our very own literary contest…how fun will that be.

So until that time (and remember we have to have submissions into RPT by the 10th of each month, so please send yours to me by the 1st so I have time to get with Sandy and gang)…here’s my pick for this month.

This whimsical little piece is by Francis Ponge, 1899-1988; a French poet. He wrote “objeu” poems which means ‘things’ providing him an opportunity for linguistic games. I rather think we may not ‘get’ this in translation as so much of that style had to do with the construction of the native language one writes in, but fun none the less. In his work, Le parti pris des choses often translated The Voice of Things he meticulously described common things such as oranges, potatoes and cigarettes in a poetic voice, but with a personal style and paragraph form; prose poem much like an essay.

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THE FROG

When little matchsticks of rain bounce off drenched fields, an amphibian dwarf, a maimed Ophelia, barely the size of a fist, sometimes hops under the poet’s feet and flings herself into the next pond.

Let the nervous little thing run away. She has lovely legs. Her whole body is sheathed in waterproof skin. Hardly meat, her long muscles have an elegance neither fish nor fowl. But to escape one’s fingers, the virtue of fluidity joins forces with her struggle for life. Goitrous, she starts panting…And that pounding heart, those wrinkled eyelids, that drooping mouth, move me to let her go.

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We’ll be waiting with baited breath for your submissions. And if that seems a stretch too far, well then join us on-line at m.diane.writeon@gmail.com for our monthly writers group…we’re a safe bet for sure.

Remember submissions for our very first writer’s contest go to: m.diane.writeon@gmail.com