Flipping through back issues of Poetry, I came across this gem of a poem by Jill Osier, which I somehow missed the first time through. See? It pays to keep all these old journals around the house.
One More Thing
Making the circle larger, I can include
the green shed fading in the lot. Sometimes I think
we already have it. I think the world’s that big.
Then your dog dies, and the planets are more perfectly
imperfectly-shaped than ever. I’m not afraid?
How else to explain invention? In that story
where the man wakes up and can’t find his wife, now,
suddenly, their bed’s a moon, too big and too bright.
P.S. What are the rules governing reprinting poems from journals or books on private blogs? Violations of copyright, I’m guessing, but are we too small for it to matter? Even if we are, do you all, as poets, see this as a dangerous thing or do you welcome the wider audience? I guess if someone is willing to take the time to transpose my poem and post it on her blog, I should feel honored, which I would if it happened. And surely, no one would be in favor of posting unpublished poems by other poets on their blogs thereby nullifying first publication rights. Still, all this brings up some good questions. Is an online presence, regardless of the form it takes or where our words show up, a good thing?
Finally, I leave you tonight with my first two line poem:
It is far too late to still be up.
There's a chance I might be pregnant.
One More Thing
Making the circle larger, I can include
the green shed fading in the lot. Sometimes I think
we already have it. I think the world’s that big.
Then your dog dies, and the planets are more perfectly
imperfectly-shaped than ever. I’m not afraid?
How else to explain invention? In that story
where the man wakes up and can’t find his wife, now,
suddenly, their bed’s a moon, too big and too bright.
P.S. What are the rules governing reprinting poems from journals or books on private blogs? Violations of copyright, I’m guessing, but are we too small for it to matter? Even if we are, do you all, as poets, see this as a dangerous thing or do you welcome the wider audience? I guess if someone is willing to take the time to transpose my poem and post it on her blog, I should feel honored, which I would if it happened. And surely, no one would be in favor of posting unpublished poems by other poets on their blogs thereby nullifying first publication rights. Still, all this brings up some good questions. Is an online presence, regardless of the form it takes or where our words show up, a good thing?
Finally, I leave you tonight with my first two line poem:
It is far too late to still be up.
There's a chance I might be pregnant.
Goodness, Casey: I hope you're not pregnant. What would the marriage counselor think?
ReplyDeleteI am guilty of posting poems online, but often I post poems that can be found elsewhere. I generally see blogging about poems as a form of review, and I don't feel like it's wrong to give someone publicity.
Also, I have about six followers, so I'm less concerned about someone finding my blog and asking me to cease and desist. I would, of course, remove any content the copyright holder asked me to remove.
Sarah, I agree. I can't see anyone putting up a fuss about anything I write or post on here. I do, as a writer myself, however, want to respect copyright and intellectual property rights. Myself? I would be honored to have a poet devote a blog post to a poem of mine, though not of a poem I've yet to publish in a literary journal.
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