What is your favorite poem posted in the AW poetry forum?

[skelly]

I've read a lot of poetry on this board. Some of it sucks butt fumes (several of mine share space on this particular bench), some is just ho-hum, some is good, some is great...but there are a few that absolutely curl my toes and make my hair stand straight on end every time I lovingly re-re-re-read them.

I don't like those "best of" deals where everybody lists fifteen different "best of's" and muses about each as if it were their favorite, as opposed to one of fifteen favorites. I think you ought to have to suck it up and pick ONE.

No, it isn't easy. I reduced it to two...and agonized over the final decision, but I made that decision. And yes, I well realize that no one really gives a rat's ass what my favorite poem in this forum is, but I challenge the rest of you to do the same. What's your favorite poem here? And no "runners up," "ties," "honorable mentions," "I was gonna pick this, but decided on that, not to in any way diminish how much I love this..."

One.

C'mon...

For me, ultimately, my favorite poem on this board is Ganesha's "Lightning strikes tower of babel." Here's the link. I bet I've read this poem 100 times, and every time I fall in love with it again. I'm not so much interested in the Giacometti reference as this:

soldiers of fire kept watch
and bid us townspeople
wait;

There is something so dynamic in those lines, beyond the more obvious duality that she is presenting with this retelling of an incident that actually occurred. When I read this poem I can see the surprised expression on every face of every person I have ever stood near when something out of the ordinary occurred. This poem seems to capture that perfectly. Love it.

 

[Voyager]

I now want you to write a poem about sucking butt fumes, lol. Make it a limmerick. Going to read more poetry now because I haven't read enough to play.

 

[Voyager]

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=578899&postcount=1147

I should probably preface what I have to say with the fact that I always feel like a eunuch at an orgy when I come into the poetry forum. It's like walking into some exclusive gentelman's club wearing pink sponge rollers and house shoes. I know nothing about meter. Hexameter, rhyming couplets, didactic pentameter shmameter. I know what flows for me when I read it and if it doesn't, I don't. I'm a fan of the genre, not of the science and a reader, not a writer. That said, I've read quite a few poems today, some were stunning, heartbreaking and beautiful, but my mind kept coming back to this one in particular. In a few lines, KTC managed to convey such subtle eroticism without being crude, graphic or off putting. Aside from the stunning visuals, I got a sense of urgency tempered by a desire to delay the actual act, which never lives up to the anticipation of the act. This reminded me of a poem attributed to Petronius, which I absolutely love. I got a sense of recklessness and indifference that conjured the insouciant attitude toward free love that was altered forever by the AIDS crisis. But most of all, it gave me a poignant sense of the loneliness we all feel no matter how connected we are to others physically or emotionally. I'm no critic, nor do I claim to be particularly insightful when it comes to finding the deeper meaning, but this is what I took away from this poem.

 

[A. Hamilton]

What you ask is impossible for me.
I cold never pick just one.
I do agree with you though, that your #1 choice is a beautiful poem.

 

[Writer???]

A single one? Never going to happen. Too, too many gifted writers here for me to have a single one. Too diverse like a really good anthology. I'm not a coward or anything, if I actually could pick a favorite #1 I would.

I could probably do a "What is your favorite today?" kind of thing. (or maybe this hour)

 

[nerds]

Sorry, skelly, I can't either. Maybe the Barge poem? JUST KIDDING.

I've always had a hard time with the favorites thing, anyway, even when I was a kid (when preferences are often quite clear-cut). I might have many favorites of something, but never only one.

Although, you might have pinned me down circa 1964 on favorite ice cream. Chocolate. But then . . . there's pistachio, and homemade vanilla . . . that's how it goes with me.



I do love the sucking butt fumes line. That is my favorite line for today.

 

[ddgryphon]

I can tell you the first few that jumped to mind, but an absolute favorite--not to be a wimp, but--I can't do it.

Three or four jumped immediately to mind in this order:

Bird of the Fifties by Cassie88
Black Coat Girl by Godfather
Three's a Crowd by Truman Coyote
I Saw Your Face Today by KTC

And there are many others:
Across the Mendoza Line by PoetinaHat
Dylan's Story by Limey Dog
Arias in the Morning Moon by Stew21

And others, so many many others. I love it here.

The variety is staggering and the quality while it goes up and down at times is amazing.

Just one--There is simply too much to love only one above others--at least for me. Perhaps I'm weak, but I love a great deal of the work I read here.

 

[skelly]

Hmmm. Maybe I'm just weird, but I don't usually have any problem finding one work that rises above all others and touches me in some very meaningful way. Favorite albuim? Live, The Distance to Here. Favorite book? Time Storm, Gordon R. Dickson. Easy. And it in no way diminishes my appreciation of--or the value of--the other poems on this board, or other albums, or books that I have read.

Maybe it's so easy for me to pick a favorite because I'm actually very shallow, and one dimensional

I had a difficult time of it, though. It came down to Ganesha's "Lightning..." or Mark's "The Straight Lines of Giza," which is another one that I dearly love. In the end it was just that "Lightning Strikes..." had a certain magical something that tugged at me a little harder. But it wasn't an easy decision. All of this has given me an excellent idea for a blog article, though, so I guess it's not a total waste of time.

 

[nerds]

If your article will be about favorites in general, and the inability or reluctance of some to choose them while others choose easily, I would read that. Not sure if that's what you meant, but that seems like an interesting subject to explore.

 

[rhymegirl]

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=578899&postcount=1147

I should probably preface what I have to say with the fact that I always feel like a eunuch at an orgy when I come into the poetry forum. It's like walking into some exclusive gentelman's club wearing pink sponge rollers and house shoes. I know nothing about meter. Hexameter, rhyming couplets, didactic pentameter shmameter. I know what flows for me when I read it and if it doesn't, I don't. I'm a fan of the genre, not of the science and a reader, not a writer. That said, I've read quite a few poems today, some were stunning, heartbreaking and beautiful, but my mind kept coming back to this one in particular. In a few lines, KTC managed to convey such subtle eroticism without being crude, graphic or off putting. Aside from the stunning visuals, I got a sense of urgency tempered by a desire to delay the actual act, which never lives up to the anticipation of the act. This reminded me of a poem attributed to Petronius, which I absolutely love. I got a sense of recklessness and indifference that conjured the insouciant attitude toward free love that was altered forever by the AIDS crisis. But most of all, it gave me a poignant sense of the loneliness we all feel no matter how connected we are to others physically or emotionally. I'm no critic, nor do I claim to be particularly insightful when it comes to finding the deeper meaning, but this is what I took away from this poem.

I like that poem, too!

 

[chevbrock]

Here y'are, skelly and voyager, a limerick about butt fumes!!!!

"My new car, it only goes "vroom
When it has been sucking butt-fumes
She goes much too slow
or just will not go
Unless more baked beans are consumed"


Stinks, don't it!!

 

[LimeyDawg]

I'm a big fan of Dylan's work, but Cassie88's "Birds..." is magic....

 

[Stew21]

Alea Jacta Est (haskins) and nearly everything I see by him awes me.
neurofizz blew me away with his poem of the goldwatch - and animalia is amazing as a series and individually.
limey continues to amaze me. Each one becomes a new favorite
Perks did a number on me with the lacrymal
Ktc - Morrissey Bridge and The Poet Breathes and eat the wild white -truly, each of his touches me in some way. amazing words. amazing poet.
truman's - well, Truman's everything.
poetinahat - mendoza's - all of them and so many others. he is so talented.
dylan has some goregous work, I can't even name one.
davids - bthoom
skelly - I LOVE Edward
kie - gorgeous work.
godfather - watching him grow as a poet has been an absolute delight. He is such a fine poet.
ddgryphon had on (french title) - the bomb - gorgeous
Michelle had Callisto at the corner cafe - amazing.


you would have done better to ask me what is my favorite of each poet. Having done the highlight body of work crit series, I have to say that I don't believe I can name one. I have favorites from each and every poet here.
I love so much of it.