Part 2: Last Essay for ModPo

Well, I had about 20 minutes between classes today and so I used my time productively!  If you see the entry below, I started the assignment for my Modern Poetry class on Mesostic poetry -- and below you will see how I analyzed the poem I "made" (honest!  read below first before reading this entry!)  I talk about the original version of the Mona Van Duyn poem that I used and then I introduce the "new version" that I made by putting her poem into this link:

Moves 

YOu,

INklings 

A

OurselVes, 

ThAn

IN

Or Deal

Stumble Upon

BY 

MoNa

Though I was a bit nervous about approaching this assignment (I am not a creative writer at all!), something Al said in one of the video discussions stuck with me in terms of this week's poetry -- the pressure of poetic creation is off (whew!) but then the focus becomes more about interpretation (yeah!).  We are being asked to shift our attention and think about what we "hear" when the structure is "exploded" and then pieced back together.  I don't pretend to get "this" 100% but here are my thoughts:

This rearrangement starts with a verb "moves" which is then immediately followed by "you."  Saying "Moves You" is more insistent than a more traditional description, "You are moved."  The brilliant word which follows, "Inklings," refers to a slight suggestion or indication -- so is the "problem" alluded to in the original version now an "inking" and not this onerous, huge "problem"?  Is the emphasis now more on feeling (the harder thing to get at) than the actual problem itself (whatever that might be which, of course, becomes a moot point in the end anyway).

I love, love, love how the last line ends -- "stumble upon by Mona."  This version is in the present tense and it alludes to Mona "stumbling upon" the words/ ideas/ conversation instead of actually creating the poem itself (and the use of the first name indicates a closeness, a relationship).  I think of "stumbling" in terms of "pebbles" and not huge cosmic boulders (or the "planets" as mentioned in the original version of the poem).  So, again, this re-version of the poem gets at the "inside" of these hard to talk about feelings and emotions (the use of "ourselves" and the "V" being in the middle where our attention is also encourages this interpretation).

So what say you?  Climb into this interpretation with me!