Poem of the Day 6/22/11

I had my poetry class again this evening and a poem was discussed that I quite liked. So now I will share it with you. This poem comes from a poetry anthology called The Made Thing.

Narcissus and Echo
By Fred Chappell

Shall the water not remember            Ember
my hand's slow gesture, tracing above          of
is mirror my half-imaginary          airy
portrait? My only belonging        longing
is my beauty, which I take        ache
away and then return, as love         of
teasing playfully the one being            unbearing.
whose gratitute I treasure        Is your
moves me. I live apart      heart
from myself, yet cannot        not
live apart. In the water's tonem       stone?
that brilliant silence, a flower        Hour,
whispers my name with such a slight       light
moment, it seems filament of air,          fare
the world become cloudswell.         well.

This poem is what Fred Chappell refers to as a "Shadowbox". It's where he has one poem inside of another poem. When he reads this poem for an audience, he has his wife read the italicized portion from where she sits in the audience. It's also helpful to know the story of Narcissus and Echo before reading this poem. Beautiful, isn't it?

--Blair