H Gould pome

"If You Could See That Porch"

If there is something blue
between acloud and a painting
the full sense of a silent moment
appears suddenly like rain.
It goes over the land
it sings a tune you learned too
standing on the wet porch.
Little clowns in yellow raincoats
the laugh of a hidden yard
a girl in blue goes by
the big world raining
in those yellow raincoats,
the thing you always forget
because morning is full of birds.

--from Stone, by Henry Gould

I like this for the Proustian memory. the poem is succinct without slight and is tuned directly. personally I miss the few commas that could've been supplied. I generally feel use all appropriate punctuation or don't use any. (once, on the strength of Apollinaire's example ("Zone" specifically), I rewrote a poem without punctuation, as proper punctuation seemed to be confusing things). the poem works natheless. the deal is, got some books from Henry, and he got mine. I hadn't read him really, as I don't read off computer well. sometimes the academy gets in the way, and what I mean is, there's always a list of right answers, yeah, you've got to read them. but we've all got our tastes as well as our scholarship. and some writers are off the path. aren't there enough writers who sound like NY school or LANGUAge or what the heck. it's okay to enjoy what you enjoy. which is one of the simplest things that I learned last. I'm thinking of the stern Silliman visage that Jim Behrle has coupled with the word OBEY. I have no doubt that Ron Silliman loves poetry, and in fact a wide range of styles, but gosh he souns like a rules-committee-of-one has just met.