Devil Ears https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/t2019 Runboard| Devil Ears en-us Thu, 28 Mar 2024 14:56:35 +0000 Thu, 28 Mar 2024 14:56:35 +0000 https://www.runboard.com/ rssfeeds_managingeditor@runboard.com (Runboard.com RSS feeds managing editor) rssfeeds_webmaster@runboard.com (Runboard.com RSS feeds webmaster) akBBS 60 Re: Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14215,from=rss#post14215https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14215,from=rss#post14215Hi Zak, Excellent title. Good first stanza. My initial reaction to S2 was a bit like Bernie's and vkp's: wondered if humanizing the dog in this way wasn't too much, too sentimental? Then I read Tere's comment, which gave me pause. Today I read an essay that talked about a poem in which the N tries to “inhabit with sympathy the solitude of another being.” Which gave me some more pause. Tonight I have come back to your poem, reread it, and have one thought: read right S2 could be either the N or the dog thinking, or it could be both. And the reader too. I admit I came to this realization when I tried dropping the "I" and roughing up the syntax: "Why what is this place all these barking dogs concrete walls no place to walk no grass no earth what is this place?” The last stanza works, I think, to the extent the reader buys/accepts/identifies with the second one. If you are interested in reading about the poem I mentioned, scroll down to the paragraph on Heighton’s “Collision,” which is a poem about a deer he has struck with his car and whose internal voice he tries to capture." Not exactly material for a poem one would expect to find in this year's The Best of American Poetry. Hell, some people are still trashing Stafford for his dead deer poem from years ago: http://poems.com/special_features/prose/essay_rosenwald_bap.php nondisclosed_email@example.com (Katlin)Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:59:01 +0000 Re: Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14189,from=rss#post14189https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14189,from=rss#post14189Bernie -- Glad the first stanza worked. I’ll look at the second one. Queenfisher -- You got it. Grass giving way to concrete. Also, how most people turn away from the problem. But that was only implied. Vkp -- Interesting you want more of the dog’s presence, but Terreson indicates the poem cannot speak to anything but the moment. I’m going to scratch my head over the difference if indeed there is a difference there. Terreson -- I read the panther poem and liked it. He really seemed to get into the animal’s predicament, but I didn’t pick up on his willingness to get involved in any way. Do you know if he did, other than to write the poem, of course. nondisclosed_email@example.com (Zakzzz5)Sun, 09 Dec 2012 17:15:16 +0000 Re: Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14175,from=rss#post14175https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14175,from=rss#post14175Terreson, I'll respond to the others soon. Just to let you know that magnificent animal was put down a week ago. I came in and asked about him. The new guy who does the euthanizations said, "Ah, we had kept him a long time, and he started getting sick." I had seen him the a week earlier and he seemed perfectly healthy. I recognize what you mean by faux sentimentality. But they say these animals sense it when they are taken into the room where they are euthanized. I think many seem to sense it earlier. Or maybe it's just the nature of the concrete cages, the odor, the lack of exercise. It's especially hard on the Huskies and Malamutes, who are used to doing heavy work. quote:Terreson wrote: I come to the poem actively prepared to dislike it, as I actively dislike most such addresses to abandoned and neglected domesticated animals. Too much faux sentimentality on the master sleeve. But the poem works for me, operates in the same range as one of Rilke's best known, most perfectly realized poems. His The Panther. A poem, by the way, written from the point of view of the animal in his zoo cage. Maybe what makes the poem work is that it accepts limitation, knows it cannot effectively speak to anything other than the moment in which the poem stands. I think that is it. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-panther/ Tere nondisclosed_email@example.com (Zakzzz5)Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:58:43 +0000 Re: Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14151,from=rss#post14151https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14151,from=rss#post14151I come to the poem actively prepared to dislike it, as I actively dislike most such addresses to abandoned and neglected domesticated animals. Too much faux sentimentality on the master sleeve. But the poem works for me, operates in the same range as one of Rilke's best known, most perfectly realized poems. His The Panther. A poem, by the way, written from the point of view of the animal in his zoo cage. Maybe what makes the poem work is that it accepts limitation, knows it cannot effectively speak to anything other than the moment in which the poem stands. I think that is it. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-panther/ Terenondisclosed_email@example.com (Terreson)Sat, 08 Dec 2012 12:58:18 +0000 Re: Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14120,from=rss#post14120https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14120,from=rss#post14120Zak, I agree with Bernie about the dog's pov lines not quite working. I, too, would like more of the dog's presence, but think you do a lovely job conveying his gentleness, his sweetness -- all the more poignant (heartbreaking, really) because he is imprisoned and unwanted, and has no grass to call his own. vkpnondisclosed_email@example.com (vkp)Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:06:28 +0000 Re: Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14111,from=rss#post14111https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14111,from=rss#post14111dear zak “Why am I here what is this place where all these dogs bark these concrete walls with no place to walk no grass no earth what is this place?” this place has to be Mumbai! the description fits so well! like the pit bull i ask - everyday! but you've put the malise in a very concise manner - in a few lines you've captured the universal problem - grass giving way to concrete. the opening has a startling quality & the end poignancy. a poem that does its job!nondisclosed_email@example.com (queenfisher)Tue, 04 Dec 2012 05:27:23 +0000 Re: Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14109,from=rss#post14109https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14109,from=rss#post14109Z--- the only poem more difficult than a political poem is a poem about animals. big congrats for tackling this almost impossible task. Black Beauty. Lassie. Old Yeller. Yeats and Dylan Thomas. A type of Pit Bull with large devil ears tentative gaze knowing you as a stranger i very much like this clear, opening especially with those unexpected devil ears. but the lines quoting the dog aren't working for me. and you? “Why am I here what is this place where all these dogs bark these concrete walls with no place to walk no grass no earth what is this place?” That gaze that gentleness to go with you after the walk back into the cage through the iron-grated gate to cold concrete after having tasted the sweet grass outside. i like the iron-grated gate, but less so the literal statement: that gentleness to go.... it's the word--- gentleness i felt the need for speed. i felt the need for a rough line describing this veteran, this unwitting champion. the long scar along his flank as though applied by a surgeon. his fur? i don't know, but something. a fierce holding back, eyes full of previous fights, the free scent of grass where he was last walked.... you see my take, but your poem captures his deep anxiety and loving nature barely conealed behind bars. glad you tried this. bernie nondisclosed_email@example.com (36064)Tue, 04 Dec 2012 05:07:59 +0000 Devil Earshttps://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14107,from=rss#post14107https://bdelectablemnts.runboard.com/p14107,from=rss#post14107  A type of Pit Bull with large devil ears tentative gaze knowing you as a stranger he is wondering whether you bring water. “Why am I here what is this place where all these dogs bark these concrete walls with no place to walk no grass no earth what is this place?” That gaze that gentleness to go with you after the walk back into the cage through the iron-grated gate to cold concrete after having tasted the sweet grass outside. nondisclosed_email@example.com (Zakzzz5)Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:00:33 +0000