Today we visit Elizabeth Steinglass in NW Washington, DC. I met Liz at a Highlights Foundation Poetry Workshop two years ago and I am a great admirer of her work. It's whimsical and intellectual at the same time, and always closely observed.
Reading the first three entries of her NPM project, I'm excited by her daring in promising a poem each day about little treasures in her own back yard. Of course, I don't know how big her back yard is--like many of my Poetry Friday compatriots whom I know virtually or even in person, I have never encountered Liz in her natural habitat!
Liz has written so far in April about daffodils (a topic which if you ask me can never get tired--what joy they bring each nearly-spring) and about twig men and cloud men. Here is my favorite so far:
Message on a Log | Elizabeth Steinglass
Someone’s left a message here,
a swirling, curling missive, clear
in the flesh of this log.
They’ve stripped away the gnarled bark.
They’ve used a blade to leave their mark
in letters I can’t read.
Like hieroglyphs from ancient lands,
or characters by distant hands.
I wonder what it says. ....
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If you also wonder what it says, read the rest by visiting Liz at
http://elizabethsteinglass.com/blog/
and don't forget to stop by Amy's Poem Farm for the very rich Poetry Friday roundup!
Thanks, Heidi. What a lovely surprise. I guess I should confess that I'm using a somewhat liberal definition of backyard. My walks take me all around the neighborhood and I suppose if I get desperate they might take me all over DC and closer to your backyard!
ReplyDeleteI, too, am enjoying this series by Liz. And I am excited to be visiting you too. This is a very generous and community-minded thing you're doing here - thank you! Will Tweet. Happy PF, friend.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking me with you to Liz's backyard--I feel like I'm on a Highlights reunion!
ReplyDeleteI love that "I wonder what it says..." Yay for backyard poems (whatever one's backyard looks like)!
ReplyDelete"Always closely observed" is exactly right! Liz has a true talent for using all of her senses.
ReplyDeleteThis month sounds like a wonderful adventure for you, Heidi. What a great idea of making it your mission to explore others' projects!
This is beautiful, Heidi. Thanks for sharing Liz's poem. What an intriguing concept of a message in a log. :) And so mysterious too.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd check in after many hours of toting kids here and there. I feel much better now. Thanks for all of your wonderful support!
ReplyDeleteSo, when are you going to tell us about your backyard, my virtual friend?
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