leonardcohenforum.com

What kind of a poem
Do you
Really need to read
Right now?

And
If you
Were to write it
What would it say?

And if it were said
And read?

And if it were
Left unsaid and unread?

Copyright 2007, by me, the author. All rights reserved.

P.S. This may or may not be poetry.

Be glad that you indicated your poem is protected by copyright, Steven, because otherwise I'd have heisted it to claim as my own . Guess I jusr oughta consider what mine might be.

An alternate title, if you're open to suggestion, might be "The Big Poem Question" ~ I especially like the dual role of "Big."


~ Lizzy

Who really Fecking cares

I don't think so, Jimbo. Steven is just teasing and so am I . Hyperbole, reductio ad absurdum.

It's good to see that this section has inspired you to write .


~ Lizzy

Hi Jimbo,

Actually, I wasn't kidding about the copyright notice. It's not that I think this poem is
"big" (thanks Lizzy) or anything, but I've put the notice there out of habit. I do write
a bit from time to time, elsewhere, and I routinely ask to retain the rights to avoid
the hassle of having to get them for reprinting. And I'll second Lizzy's, "good to see
that this section has inspired you to write."

Ohhhh... I didn't realize, actually had no idea, that could even be an issue, Steven. Amazing.

Well, there you have it, Jimbo .


~ Lizzy

Hi Lizzy,

Is there, perhaps, an "amazing" poem lurking inside you? I'd not be surprised if
there were and honored and delighted to read it or any other poems by you.

Hi Steven ~

Thanks for your encouragement and confidence.

Just as some don't do windows ,
I don't do poems .

I find the medium [correct word?] phenomenally intimidating. Not sure why. If it's there lurking, it's sure doing a heckuva good job of it .

Haiku-like forms of words and phrasings keep passing through my mind regarding the fires in Greece. Not for anything amazing, but rather a way to process all I've been seeing and hearing. I may share some of the arrangements, but with nothing approaching amazing in mind. Just getting it out of me and onto paper. Therapeutic.

Having been somewhere and interacted with the people and made humble attempts to speak their language, I recognize some of the words spoken in the footage; feeling a bond creates a different kind of receptor system for receiving information on what is happening there. I have notes written from the center of my steering wheel; with 3/4 eyes on the straight portions of the road and 1/4 eyes on my paper and pen.

I would really appreciate someone's writing an actual poem on this horror, as they did with September 11th. A domestic terrorism apparently based on politics, government regulations, or both. A different kind of tragedy that continues with more fires.


~ Lizzy

Nothing amazing here, except the horrific scale of the tragedy. With respect for the victims:

August fires rage
trapped mothers and children burn
"culture of arson" *

* Dimitris Karavellas, the Greek World Wildlife Fund's director

© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.

or a minor change

summer fires rage
trapped mothers and children burn
"culture of arson" *

© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.

~ Lizzy

I originally wrote... climate of arson... which may actually be more appropriate within the context.
I guess this is the kind of poem I need to read right now, Steven.

Lizzy,

You might want to refrain from poetry writing while driving. Seems that you've got the
making of a poem in the very reasons you say that this matters to you. I'm not
certain if they've conclusively said to what extent arson is the cause of the infernos.
But, you've got a poem in the one you presented and you may want to develop it or
one based on why this matters to you. If you do, only share if you are comfortable
to do so.

Nice poem. Short, sweet and says it all.


About the copyright...once you write something it is copyrighted. But it never hurts to say it, as the OP has done here.

You can always use the symbol below. Either copy/paste it, or I believe on most computers you can get it by holding down the ALT key while typing 0169 on the number pad? It doesn't work on my laptop, which I am using right now, so I can't test it out...

©


Again, I really enjoyed this poem. I almost left it unread, but I was too tempted to read to the end! (-;

Hi Steven ~

I agree about two-hands driving. I'm just trying to get snapshots of visions/feelings/quotes.

Here's another... this came to me, conjunct other thoughts already written, after I got home. Just trying to get it down in some supposed-to-be format.

Summer fire winds
villages burned to silence
"assymetric threat" *

* Vyron Polydoras, the Greek public order minister

© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.


"fires on the road" *
burn out people's broken hearts
"elections of rage" **


* Leonard Cohen
** Athens daily To Vima

© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.

~ or maybe ~

"fires on the road" *
burn in people's broken hearts
"elections of rage" *

© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.


What I'm seeing and hearing is human tragedy with untold ramifications.


~ Lizzy

monster flames devour
mother holds children last time
charred remains the proof

[this part feels superfluous and silly, but okay... ]
© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.


~ Lizzy

[Guess I'll go back and do the others... though it feels a bit 'heady' ~ it also gets very cumbersome. No idea where it really ought to go, either ~ after each draft? I also thought copyrights had to be applied for... and that until the process... whatever it is... is complete, it should be "Copyright pending."]

Thank you, Sebby. I'm glad you were able to make it all three lines... twice ... and that you think it has merit. I appreciate your saying so. Thank you, too, for providing the symbol for copying-and-pasting, which I had forgotten was an option... and for the instructions to do it on my own.


~ Lizzy

Old man summer morn
Memories seered now alone
"I can't find my wife"

© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Embrace cry goodbye

© Copyright 2007, by Elizabeth Bacon-Smith, the author. All rights reserved.

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Embrace cries goodbye

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Embrace screams goodbye

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Screams embrace goodbye

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Screams goodbye embrace

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Scream final embrace

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Screams final embrace

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Final embrace screams

OR

French couple hiking
Greek mountains reek deadly flames
Final screams embrace