Finally! A poem! I’ve been feeling decidedly unpoetic the last week or so (not the least reason for which is that I’m trying to polish up three short stories to send to a contest; the first short stories I’ve written in, ugh, five years?), but the workshop last night did its job of jolting me back into a poetic frame of mind. Furthermore, Margo had a prompt with paintings, which I wanted to try:
This is “Crashed Aeroplane” by John Singer Sargent. Something about the men continuing to work with this crash in the background: I first thought, maybe it’s at the instant that it’s happening, then I thought, maybe it’s long after it’s happened, and the work must go on. But then I noticed the pipe in the rear figure’s mouth, and the phrase, “It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it,” popped into my head. And the rest of the extended metaphor tumbled out from there.
I tried to layer the metaphors and possible meanings pretty densely without giving too much away; I’d rather see what people get out of it. But anyway, that’s that.
Haymaking
The scythe-man chews his pipe as he works,
humming along with the locusts in flight.
He is all sweep and method when he comes,
sweated through his shirtsleeves. No one
ever said this would be an easy job.
Wind tonight, says the gathering-boy,
hugging the stalks to his chest, his arms
all flecked with blood. The scythe-man nods.
He looks back at the lilied house
shut up tight and wonders about the gables.
They bring quiet wherever they go, save for
the hush hush of falling timothy-grass.
A cloud-boat reopens over a golden sea gone
summer-noon green. These small disasters;
the scythe-man says one’s good as the other.
Beautiful!
Sit at the end of winter hearth. Draw in that warmth. Hear. There’s the story.
I really enjoyed the rhythm and imagery of this poem, I could hear the sound of the grass being cut and the silence.
The scythe man knows what’s what…!
Wow, the scythe man is hardcore, and I like it. You’ve really got me thinking about this painting and it’s meaning. I keep reading your poem as well. It has such a measured feel despite the underlying intensity. Well done.
He just keeps moving along despite obstacles or disasters that may be found around him. A beautiful job telling the story in the painting.
To me what I took from your words is that even with the peaceful quiet, there is always fear about the loss of their hard work. Not sure I got it correctly but it reads very well :)
Wow. The painting is beautiful, and I can see why you found it so inspiring. Your response to it is lovely and haunting. I will be thinking about this for a long time.
A great visual concept just in the word Scythe. Very nice write. Well constructed.
I really like the rhythm you’ve captured here Joseph – the sweeping and the scything both – it’s as if, if they just keep to it, nothing else matters or will matter and goes very well with the picture…nicely done
http://aleapingelephant.blogspot.ca/2013/02/the-trees-stand-watch_26.html
A job well done, this life, then death…. I felt a hint of the reaper in your scythe man, and also, acceptance. I really liked this very much.
Oh well done. Challenge nicely met. You weave your phrases in such a lovely way. Very human, an aspect missing from many of the poems of our nations “best” poetry journals these days.
i like that the poem, like the workers, ignores the plane =)
it is like being in their frame of mind.
There’s something slightly zany about the whole scene, which somehow you catch with great character. I loved the phrase
“A cloud-boat reopens over a golden sea gone
summer-noon green.”
A wonderful sense of story in your poem, Joseph.
Ah, a farmer at heart..or gardener..timothy grass and scythe and the image took me right there..
Joseph, the mention of the timothy grass, the boy and the man work beautifully with your interpretation of the painting.
Pamela
When I first saw the painting I was immediately reminded of a Breughel that haunts me, of Icarus falling into the sea while a farmer ploughs [what's with farmers and things that fall from the sky?].
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1wm26QMV4yE/ULLB3u8IX3I/AAAAAAAAD_Q/gS38u7rNxbY/s1600/landscape-with-the-fall-of-icarus-pieter-the-elder-bruegel.jpg
I like the specific details you have in the poem and the possibilities for the metaphors!