Among my summer scraps. Made a few adjustments, perhaps enough to salvage it.
Equal Before the Sun
Drought outside, one hundred two
A run of these since early June
The crops in gnarls, relentless heat,
The rows of stunted lush ongoing
The searing straight-jacket leaf
To stalk–this I commune
And worse—
A land, a youth
More wizened than I.
Slight adjustment: “sere” or “sear,” not “searing”
Equal Before the Sun
Drought outside, one hundred two
A run of these since early June
The crops in gnarls, relentless heat,
The rows of stunted lush ongoing
The sear straight-jacket leaf
To stalk–this I commune
And worse—
A land, a youth
More wizened than I.
Why so gnomic? Ammons? I would be honored. But he is completely apolitical and I leave room for socio-political interpretation here—on tuition debt, generational cost shifting, the next war in the Middle East and who bears the brunt of it, etc. So maybe Pound is more like it:
There died a myriad,
And of the best, among them,
For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
For a botched civilization,
Charm, smiling at the good mouth,
Quick eyes gone under earth’s lid.
For two gross of broken statues,
For a few thousand battered books.
But unlike Pound I’m less pushy about it, and my poem also leaves you free to enjoy it as mere small talk about the weather.
Among my summer scraps. Made a few adjustments, perhaps enough to salvage it.
Equal Before the Sun
Drought outside, one hundred two
A run of these since early June
The crops in gnarls, relentless heat,
The rows of stunted lush ongoing
The searing straight-jacket leaf
To stalk–this I commune
And worse—
A land, a youth
More wizened than I.
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Why so gnomic? Like you’re channeling AR Ammons.
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Thanks.
Slight adjustment: “sere” or “sear,” not “searing”
Equal Before the Sun
Drought outside, one hundred two
A run of these since early June
The crops in gnarls, relentless heat,
The rows of stunted lush ongoing
The sear straight-jacket leaf
To stalk–this I commune
And worse—
A land, a youth
More wizened than I.
Why so gnomic? Ammons? I would be honored. But he is completely apolitical and I leave room for socio-political interpretation here—on tuition debt, generational cost shifting, the next war in the Middle East and who bears the brunt of it, etc. So maybe Pound is more like it:
There died a myriad,
And of the best, among them,
For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
For a botched civilization,
Charm, smiling at the good mouth,
Quick eyes gone under earth’s lid.
For two gross of broken statues,
For a few thousand battered books.
But unlike Pound I’m less pushy about it, and my poem also leaves you free to enjoy it as mere small talk about the weather.
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Question:
Which is grammatically correct:
More wizened than I (am wizened)
or
More wizened than me
Thanks.
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I’ve questioned that too. Here’s your answer:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/than-what-follows-it-and-why
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