Thursday, May 23, 2013

Lenny Wept



image borrowed from bing


Lenny Wept

My page was too white
My ink was too thin
The day wouldn’t write
What the night penciled in.
--Leonard Cohen

I am moved by broken flower stems, by
the patina pock-marking all the iron that
surrounds us, abandoned machinery, chipped
and bent gears lying in fat precarious piles
in dark corners, wood beautifully aged by weather
on those east/west walls facing direct sunlight,
hand-hewn rail fences twisted like arthritic limbs,
with deep verdant moss adorning tops & corners;
but my mere words lack any substantial bite;
my page was too white. 

I do capture images with my mechanical lens
that later might arouse my slumbering poetics;
classic hood ornaments, jets, rockets, & archers,
toothy or snarling chrome grilles, wide white wall
tires, moon hubcaps, torn leather seat covers,
faded brand names on some old cans of tin, 
Buck Rogers, Howdy Doody, & Gene Autry
action toys, and painted metal lunch boxes;
very hard to imprison with words meant to win;
my ink was too thin.

I love to stoop and peer into steel-ribbed culverts,
hoping to greet another pair of eyes in the shadows,
reading aloud the city and year that certain foundries
cast on manhole covers and fire hydrants, staring
lovingly at every kind of window and door, all different
styles, colors, materials; different sizes & height;
wandering the harbors, marveling at the thick ropes
that tether the ships & boats, while always searching
the motley skies for those wings of might
the day wouldn’t write.

Artist, performer, photographer, & poet--
all sweet monikers I proudly wear while
processing this marvelous world through
my personal filters, describing the tastes,
sharing the emotions, creating the tableaus
before revealing who actually was the assassin;
still pleased that others appear interested in
my unique views, perspective, & compositions,
while never fearing the specter of oblivion--
what the night penciled in.


Glenn Buttkus

May 2013

Posted over on dVerse Poets FFA

Would you like to hear the author read this Glosa to you?

19 comments:

Brian Miller said...

smiles...love how you process that world g...the textures and imagery in that opening stanza are awesome....love the looking in for those eyes as well...ha...i take odd pictures too on my phone of things that might inspire my writing....things others would surely think odd....very cool glosa man...

Anonymous said...

Awesome! You took the cabeza, built on it, personalized it, made the lines yours by putting in your points of view and personal thoughts. Amazing.

Claudia said...

really cool choice of your cabeza and love where you went with it...all the images and scenes..detailed snapshots..the painted metal lunch boxes..cool.. the other pair of eyes in the shadow...everything write itself at some point..

Semaphore said...

Leonard Cohen is one of my most admired figures - poet, songwriter, philosopher. You've captured the soul of that quatrain wonderfully here, and have woven it in your verses, but the glosa is definitely in your voice and not Cohen's. That in itself is a minor miracle, with your narrative momentum, your eye for both concrete and inferential detail. Beautifully done.

brudberg said...

I love how you describe the photographer's view, how you constantly scanning for motives and how Cohen's word become yours. But I wonder if the ink is truly too thin.. I think you do a great job of describing what you see :-)

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Beautifully done Glenn - both words and reading.

Leonard is one of my beroes too and my first (and abandoned) attempt at the Glosa was based on his words.

You have indeed succeeded where I failed.

Anna :o]

Dave King said...

Wonderful Cabeza which you spun into a glorious glosa.

Scarlet said...

I enjoyed reading a bit (and more) of you in this post Glenn ~ May your ink always flow freely night after night ~

And that quote you chose is just as powerful ~

Grace

TCPC said...

Nice imagery and the details you painted, so befitting the lens and a pen too to write, elaborate, decorate! and the few breathtaking only for the eyes to savour

Lady In Read said...

Artist, performer, photographer, & poet--
all these monikers you wear well!

Laurie Kolp said...

I can relate... just got back from a field trip with my youngest and captured some wonderful photos.

Jeff said...

Yes, it is hard to put life into words, but here you manage it quite well! Nicely written piece, such precise images . . . like a well shot photo.

vivinfrance said...

I loved the quatrain, but still had a start of surprise and joy at the serendipity collections in your glosa. A poem I wish I could have written!

Anonymous said...

This is such a strikingly photographic glosa - a great serious of images.

S.E.Ingraham said...

Really well done. I kept listening for Leonard in his "Tower of Song" but I only heard Glenn and I heard you clearly and finally only heard you...no small feat to take on such a formidable voice and drown it out, in my view. So good on you. I am in awe.

http://thepoet-tree-house.blogspot.ca/2013/05/table-for-four.html

henna ink said...

I loved the quote and your poem. It gave me chills at the end of each stanza to read how you'd woven in the borrowed line. Bravo, Glenn. Excellent work.

RMP said...

you've captured such an array of interesting objects; stored them away perfectly so your (no longer) slumbering poetics could transform them with ease.

kaykuala said...

Yes, Life can be testing. You've smoothly brought things through. Nicely Glenn!

Had some problems with my connections. The correct one is http://imagery77.blogspot.com/2013/05/birds_8197.html

Hank

Lydia said...

In awe (of Leonard Cohen, who I've seen twice--best concerts ever-- and of your glosa). Hope this makes sense: rather than a collection of poems this is a poem about collections... of things well-noted and well-loved, including your sweet monikers.