experienced we are, it’s difficult to predict how readers will interact with and interpret what we’ve written. From imagery, to regional word usage, to lived experiences, to age differences, to personal tastes, to knowledge of punctuation, syntax, and grammar, to the time of day that a piece is read, there are so many places for readers to find meaning where a writer never intended them to be found.
This week, I wrote a short poem that I think is fascinating because the way I interact with it, the meaning I make from it, and the things that I imagine while reading it vary dramatically by changing just one word.
I’m very curious to hear what you think.
When you read poem # 1 and poem #7, how do you feel? What do you imagine? Do you see the people in these two poems dealing with the same issues, are do you imagine them trying to forget completely different events from the night before?
Please let me know in the comments.
(1)
The man at the bar
drinking to forget the things
that happened last night.
(2)
I never saw it.
But I was close enough to
feel fear, even now.
(3)
Looking at the sky,
I wonder: Do ants feel this
when they look at me?
(4)
Today I shaved and
removed the beard from my face,
but no one noticed.
(5)
To be like the sheets
blowing freely in the wind,
basking in the sun.
(6)
What would spring be like
without the warbler’s birdsong
dancing on the air?
(7)
The girl at the bar
drinking to forget the things
that happened last night.
As always, thank you for reading.
