Monday, July 22, 2013

I Prefer

Flowers for Jane, 2013

To race breathlessly along pages, line by line
without pause.

To gasp for air at the end.

Or to slowly devour words, licking
each one from the page.
Indulgently.

The inhaling with rapid speed.
The necessity of knowing it all. Now.
I've done it.

But I prefer the licking.

41 comments:

  1. Is that your poem? It's lovely and so correct.

    Says someone who just inhaled a book.

    But if t was a really good one, I would have made it last.

    Love your white scabiosa.

    And your mind.

    xo Jane

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    1. Yes, the poem is mine.

      I knew you'd be able to name my flowers! I've never seen this type before. They are making me happy, and others too. There were many smiles from strangers on the way home. One woman even asked if she could photograph them. Of course, I let her click away.

      Thanks for spreading happiness, Jane.

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  2. Lovely poem, and I've read it three times :) Very pretty white flowers, I thought they were some type of mum. Thank goodness for Jane or none of us would ever know what's in the house.

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    1. Three times. Well. I have a big smile on my face. Thank goodness for Jane, indeed.

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  3. I must write this poem down and give it to my father...he breathes to read and I know he will appreciate these words immensely.
    At the shop we recently did an all white flower wedding and the bride's bouquet was white scabiosa...it was stunning. Simple and beautiful.

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    1. I hope your father likes it. An all white flower wedding. Ah. I know I'd love it.

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  4. simple scabiosa. so clean and pretty.

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  5. lovely poem and lovely flowers. thanks for being here and offering your words and images. they feed my soul.

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  6. Love all the ways you describe the experience of reading!
    Sweet flowers.

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  7. I guess how we read is determined by what we're reading at the time--I hadn't thought about it that way. Lovely to have flowers in the house.

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    1. There is writing that seems to beg to be read quickly and writing that demands I slow down. Sometimes I decide.

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  8. Glad to see you back.
    It has been so long since I have committed myself to reading anything long term - I think I have forgotten how to sit still. I am due for a holiday beginning of August and reading a novel cover to cover is on the list of things to do.

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    1. And the beginning of August is just around the corner. Enjoy.

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  9. I love this. Lingering over the words and being fascinated by the author's ability is one of my favourite things.

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  10. I raced breathlessly through The Poisonwood Bible just as you have so aptly described. I licked each word from the pages of Cry the Beloved Country and let them dissolve on my tongue before swallowing. Lovely poem, just lovely.

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  11. Yes, as I linger over your words.

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  12. wonderful wonderful

    it makes me think of a Mark Strand poem, "Eating Poetry"

    Ink runs from the corners of my mouth
    There is no happiness like mine
    I have been eating poetry...
    ....

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  13. Oh what a treat ~ pretty flowers and beautiful words. What a lovely visit this was...

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  14. Hi Denise,
    I LOVE your blog. I like the topics you shared. I encountered three sweet little boys one day and shared it on my blog. You might enjoy reading it: "It's OK to Go Artificial" (March 29, 2013). I am your new follower. Christa

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  15. I love your poem Denise. And the flowers. As an habitual inhaler of words I love when I'm forced to slow down and lick carefully instead. I enjoyed the thought of your progress home, bearing flowers that spread happiness.

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    1. People really did seem to like them, possibly more than any flowers I've ever carried home.

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  16. For me, books are like chocolate -- try as I might to savor, I end up devouring.

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    1. We all have our ways. It would be so dull if we were all alike. Happy devouring, Rachael.

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  17. Beautiful poetry and lovely flowers.
    Truly soul food, Denise :)

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  18. What a beautiful Poem Denise. I think I devour (in short bursts) rather more than I should. I will try to lick. I popped over to Jane's site. I love the idea of FITH, how very inspiring.

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    1. I've followed Jane for a long while. She so often makes me smile.

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  19. Yes I prefer the slow devouring. This morning I read, and re-read a paragraph over and over - I was loathe to move on, but also eager to. Such a conflict of desires - to stay at that 'moment' or rush forward to the next. The times I do 'race breathlessly' I become anxious that I'm leaving some part of the whole unseen, but the desire to tear ahead and see what happens is overwhelming... Ah the joy of a good book - slow or fast :)

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    1. Fast or slow, it seems we all have the desire to know more, and the hope not to miss a thing.

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  20. what a wonderful visual. I do have assorted eating habits with books and poems. Some books are as if i had been starved for months...others feel like i can't take one more bite... and then there are the "just right" porridge bowls...

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    1. Yes. Madness, Rack, and Honey was the "just right" bowl of porridge.

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