Bio-note
I am a poem
that’s read from center
from right to left
or end to start
I’m not overgrown
like the forsythia in my yard
and not clipped close
like a landscaper’s victim
I’m not an easy catch
but don’t play hard to get
I’m best read
with eyes squinted
with head tilted
and feet on the ground
I’m a poem that knows
what it doesn’t know
that doesn’t claim
to be your favorite
I’m the girl next door
who you know without talking to
with dog eared corners
and a streak of blue
I’m a scrap of paper
to be read later
to be unfolded and noted
before I change my mind
________Colleen Redman / dVerse Poets Pub/ Poets and Storytellers United
May 27th, 2021 3:09 pm
I love your poem, it feels like a close friend to have by your side…
May 27th, 2021 3:18 pm
You are the poem I always enjoy reading, CR.
May 27th, 2021 3:19 pm
Very interesting literary journey–you had me at “I am a poem”. When we write about our process and product, it’s a peek behind the curtain, and it’s always fascinating.
May 27th, 2021 3:21 pm
I love this personification of a poem, Colleen, especially the lines:
‘I’m the girl next door
who you know without talking to
with dog eared corners
and a streak of blue’
and
‘I’m a scrap of paper
to be read later
to be unfolded and noted
before I change my mind’.
It is nice to know who or what you’re dealing with. ?
May 27th, 2021 3:29 pm
This is engagingly magical and meaningful writing Colleen — well penned. Loved this.
“I’m a poem that knows
what it doesn’t know
that doesn’t claim
to be your favorite”
That would be a very wise poem.
May 27th, 2021 3:43 pm
My favorite stanzas:
“I’m a poem that knows
what it doesn’t know
that doesn’t claim
to be your favorite”
and
“I’m a scrap of paper
to be read later
to be unfolded and noted
before I change my mind”
May 27th, 2021 4:16 pm
It’s lovely to have a certainty of self that is ever changing. The images here of moderation but not restraint. I would love to get the folded not, and see the erasures and rewritten lines, wondering, what were they originally?
May 27th, 2021 4:56 pm
Oh, I have so many of those that fit that last stanza!
May 27th, 2021 4:59 pm
“I’m not overgrown
like the forsythia in my yard
and not clipped close
like a landscaper’s victim”
“I’m a poem that knows
what it doesn’t know”
“I’m a scrap of paper
to be read later
to be unfolded and noted
before I change my mind”
Brilliant.
May 27th, 2021 7:22 pm
What a clever disguise, hiding there as a poem. Solid! ~peace, Jason
May 27th, 2021 9:29 pm
A great poem. We really are poetry in motion! You are a poem read from the heart out!
May 27th, 2021 10:18 pm
I’m a scrap of paper
to be read later
to be unfolded and noted
Funny, that seems to be the reaction of those who see poems just as a time stopper for later and not reading it eventually. Thoughtful thoughts Colleen!
Hank
May 28th, 2021 3:35 am
this piece spoke to me in so many levels, specially this one:
I’m a poem that knows
what it doesn’t know
that doesn’t claim
to be your favorite
May 28th, 2021 4:14 am
Love your poem – and your poem.
May 28th, 2021 6:50 am
I love this…intimate and beautiful.
May 28th, 2021 8:57 am
Oh, I really like this–so clever and thoughtful.
May 30th, 2021 1:15 am
Great poem Love the images like ‘not clipped close
like a landscaper’s victim’ and love the last stanza
Beautiful
May 30th, 2021 1:38 am
A poem to return to often, I think!
May 30th, 2021 3:09 am
That is the beauty of being a poet to be able to create and humanise anything they write about.
May 30th, 2021 6:24 am
I thoroughly enjoyed the poem, especially the third stanza! 🙂
May 30th, 2021 8:31 am
this is lovely.
the process of writing a poem may not be easy.
the last stanza defines it so well.
May 30th, 2021 10:04 am
Mystery, fun and control in this stanza:
“I’m a scrap of paper
to be read later
to be unfolded and noted
before I change my mind”
Loved and enjoyed it!
May 30th, 2021 1:23 pm
I’M ~~~~ a strong declaration. Love this, Colleen.
May 30th, 2021 1:35 pm
“I’m a poem that knows
what it doesn’t know”
Now, that’s a brilliant poem. Most of us go around thinking we know so much, when the truth is a lot more complicated than that (and often much more fun to explore).
June 10th, 2021 4:58 pm
I love this post! Making the poem come alive….comparing it to all of these things…a living being. I especially liked these words
“I’m the girl next door
who you know without talking to
with dog eared corners
and a streak of blue”
That personification is fabulous!
June 10th, 2021 5:26 pm
Wow, I love the imagery here. This one is really captivating:
“I’m not overgrown
like the forsythia in my yard
and not clipped close
like a landscaper’s victim”
It’s a little bit of mystery and intrigue in one. Like a poem, it’s more than what meets the eye. You communicate that beautifully with how there is more to people and their depth than what we initially perceive. Amazing work.