Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Word Warm Ups for Summer!

Thanks to everyone who turned out to see the Bartram's Boxes Remix exhibition and maybe even bought a copy of Solace (still available here -- hint, hint)

So what's up next?  During my annual beach sojourn, I decided to do some 'warm-up' poems just for fun without some huge project in mind...yet.  Kind of  like doing your stretches and cracking your knuckles to do some future heavy word-lifting.

A few years ago, I wandered around the historic Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia and snapped shots of headstones for people whose names were also nouns or adjectives.   This one certainly begs the question: Who would name their child "Charles B. Dull"?

So with no aspiration for historical context, a warm-up poem from the word...

DULL


No luster or reflection
or nuanced conversation.

No animation or edge of irony.

No twinkling of eye
or curve of lip in a wry smile.

No sharp wit or curiosity.

What is dull, in fact,
is your lack of interest
      
in me.


(c) Beth Feldman Brandt 2014