Low Tide at Kiwanda, Pastel, by John Cummings
BLUMENTHAL VII
After Blumenthal by Ulrich Schanuss
One time the sky was alive with punctuation
Nothing serious
Pounds and pipes.
I forget my wings at my desk and had to walk.
Commas are like the sky
Crammed full of possibilities
Like ushers pushing people into a crowded train
More to come always more and more.
If I had my wings I’d punch these clouds apart.
Even at this distance
The pleasant embrace of parenthesis
The cool and satisfying em dash
Urges us on
The problem with wings is
You think you can go on and on and on
Rise above this angry rain
People below small invisible
Ultimately you return to the ground
Gravity wins.
This trip, this day, this moment,
Has a period.
The paragraph ends
And white space below is not the tops of clouds.
_____________
Marc Janssen
Review by Jared Pearce
In just a minute I’m going to go research the title and the subtitle because I don’t understand them. In the meantime I’m going to enjoy the idea of the punctuation romping through the poem. I think this is lots of fun.
Review by Kathryn de Leon
Such an interesting juxtaposition of punctuation and wings. “One time the sky was alive with punctuation” is a fascinating line, it peaks my interest. This tells us that the sky is no longer alive with punctuation, “the paragraph is ending,” the speaker’s flight is ending, they are returning to the ground. I’m wondering if there is a typo in “I forget my wings at my desk and had to walk,” there are two different tenses here. The last line of the poem is very thought provoking. I found the song “Blumenthal” on YouTube, it’s a lovely song.