by Richard Subber | Jul 31, 2021 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
in the world of blue water…
next time, ignore all the noise of the ferry passage…
More or less…
The blue water spreads my view
from here to the far edges.
An exceptional hugeness,
such a great nothing,
a silent marvel of rhythms,
such expanded absence
of nothing to point at…
Such chilling restraint on my imagination,
and yet I scan, from left to right and back—
it takes a long time to look at
so much of nothing much.
At sea near Hyannis, MA
August 24, 2018
My poem “More or less…” was published in my third collection of 64 poems, In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears. You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle), or get it free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2021 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Blithedale Romance
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, not really his best…
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In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | May 21, 2021 | Joys of reading, Language, My poetry, Poetry
doing what comes naturally…
In search of…
I wish I had a better way to say
the things I really want to hear today.
Alas, I don’t, and there’s the rub, you see?
The words I want won’t blossom here for me.
April 6, 2015
This is a sample of iambic pentameter, pure and simple.
For me, it often seems natural to write poetry in iambic meter, that is, words that seem to flow in a rhythm captured by an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, repeat, repeat.
There’s no mystery about an iamb: think of a word like “enjoy,” the “en” is not stressed (not emphasized) and the “joy” is stressed (emphasized).
For me, this rhythm, when extended, creates a lilting, almost singsong style that is pleasing to the ear and to the eye.
Unlike some poets, I don’t determinedly write this way, line after line.
I’m sensitive to the intended and the spontaneous visual and aural rhythms as I compose my poetry, and I let the rhythm heighten the impact of what I’m writing.
The quatrain above is deliberately written in iambic pentameter.
It’s illustrative, but it’s not my most beautiful piece of work.
Usually I don’t let style cramp my choice of the right words.
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2021 All rights reserved.
Book review: “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Loneliness beyond understanding…
by Herman Melville
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 53 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.
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by Richard Subber | Nov 4, 2020 | Democracy, Human Nature, My poetry, Poetry, Politics, Power and inequality
Too many gulfs…
Hand me that hammer
This lightening sky pulls my eye
upward from newly darkening earth.
Our troubled plain
has no points of light just now.
We face fears, terrors, hates, imprecations,
repudiations, exclusions…
Too many gulfs appearing,
too few bridges imagined
in the grim thoughts of too many.
I will build one bridge today,
I welcome this lightening sky
to ease my work.
November 9, 2016
I work on building a bridge every day. I try to do a good thing every day. That’s good for me and for America. It helps to keep me sane.
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2020 All rights reserved.
Book review: Shantung Compound
They didn’t care much
about each other…
by Langdon Gilkey
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 53 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
by Richard Subber | Oct 30, 2020 | Language, My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
Really, you had to be there…
(my new poem)
Debut
Saucy streaks in brightened sky at dawn
frame enlightened trees on yonder sward.
The arching hues quickly pale
to common blues,
and slide below still darkened earth,
beneath the rim that hides
the great star of day.
March 13, 2016
I was on the road, alone, early, heading downhill, cool in the morning, I was thinking about breakfast…a single break in the tree line offered one glimpse of the hot sauce smeared across the lightening skyline. I didn’t have to stop to make any notes for a new poem. I mentioned everything to my friend at breakfast. The vitality of it was still quivering in my mind when I wrote this little bit later that day. Call it a nature poem. Or call it a love poem, if you’re in love with beauty.
Book review: Cleopatra: A Life
…don’t even think about Gordon Gekko…
click here
My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2020 All rights reserved.
In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
by Richard Subber | Sep 14, 2020 | My poetry, Poetry
A slower, sadder take
on Bobbie Gentry’s classic…
another “Ode to Billie Joe”
…oh my, sweet teen love, no need to hurry…
Molly Johnson calls herself a jazz singer…she’s a lot more than that.
She’s my new fave (OK, I’m a bit late to the party), a while ago I heard her version of “Ode to Billie Joe” and I’m hooked, it’s on her “Lucky” release.
Now, Bobbie Gentry’s original 1967 cut is real good, too, but it has a driving element that rushes your heart to the climax and then leaves you sort of without words…
I think you’ll agree with me that Molly’s offering is slower, wistful, sadder, filled with sweet teen love and the raw silence of a breaking heart, and it fills your mind and heart with words…
…you know the Tallahatchie Bridge is a lonely place.
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2020 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Snow Goose
…sensual drama, eminently poetic…
by Paul Gallico
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Seeing far: Selected poems with 47 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Mar 17, 2020 | My poetry, Poetry, Reflections
Look who’s counting!
At a certain age, counting fingers is a big thing.
Numerology
He’s counting his fingers now,
another threshold passed without a look back.
He puts some energy into it,
doesn’t remember to count every one every time,
but he’s counting, he’s doing it.
Old Grandfather starts it off,
tapping fingertips,
“One, two, three…”
and he picks up the rhythm,
splaying the fingers of one hand,
fearlessly extending the count,
“…four, five, seven, eight.…”
A couple of those eager fingers get counted twice,
sticking up like chicks in the nest stretching for the worm,
and that’s alright, those fingers are stretching
for the joy of discovery
and the cool of flashing in the air
in the ritual of counting fingers with Old Grandfather,
and counting twice is confirmation, not a sin.
We do it again.
Same noisy delight. Different count.
Someday he’ll understand that doing it together is what counts.
October 10, 2015
My poem “Numerology” was published in my first chapbook, Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups. You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle), or get it free in Kindle Unlimited, search for “Richard Carl Subber”
Previously published in The Australia Times Poetry, miller’s pond poetry magazine, and Whispers.
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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2020 All rights reserved.
“…the ravell’d sleeve of care…”
wish I’d said that…(a bit of Shakespeare)
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My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 53 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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