That Senryu works so well on: That Senryu works so well on several different levels---form, content, the sense of the given moment and yet the anticipation of a future moment. You have compressed so much resonance into that small space, and I applaud your verbal artistry.
The splendor of this prayer: The splendor of this prayer goes beyond its literary prowess, which is considerable as always; what makes this monumental is how it was answered in such an inspiring way.
And so it now beams as a landmark on your spiritual path and a testimony of faith's power. Whenever I read your heartfelt devotions, I often feel that King David has met his contemporary match.
Divine art.
I can't thank you enough for: I can't thank you enough for the honor of a second visit gleaming with intricate insights and an extremely valuable endorsement.
You're an inspiration, fine Poet and messenger of Light.
Sorry I missed replying to: Sorry I missed replying to this in a timely manner, but thank you for the compliment. Today was the first day, since Thanksgiving weekend of 2019, that I have not awakened with a cranky attitude . . . whoo-hoo! Ain't medical procedures a hoot?
Your poetry demonstrates the: Your poetry demonstrates the paradox of starlight: produced in a process and venue of the most striking grandeur, and yet, when appearing in the sky (the most natural of nocturnes), it is as delicate as a twinkle, and can appear as small as a snowflake. When I was an undergraduate, I came to the conclusion that of the writers of New Testament Scripture, the Apostle Saint John was a real poet. I was also surprised to learn that many first year Greek students learn to read his Gospel first. I found this, also, to be a paradox: the profoundest Gospel (as most commentators would agree) provides the easiest reading experience for someone new to the language? The answer is that John's Greek is so ordinary and so common that it creates almost no barriers to the student learning Greek. But from simplest terms---light and darkness, joy and sorrow, etc.,---John creares the profoundest poetic statements. You, Patricia, are a Poet after the school of Saint John.
Wow, you do know how to set a: Wow, you do know how to set a stage! The ambiance, crafty and evocative in itself, was an effective part of the character study, the dynamics of the relationship and the shattering exchange.
I was absolutely seeing—and feeling!—the moment when everything plummeted and "the wallpaper was going/ to be permanently indelible" and "the taste of garlic lamb wine sauce would/ smack of rejection".
Even the mussels became part of the tragedy—collateral damage, you might say.
Small details carry a lot of weight in your surprisingly efficient, very human drama. You slyly linked emotions to small yet highly symbolic details and allowed the scenery to express the devastation, but when you were overt, you took it to a stunning level of artistry:
"Is there a way to let the air out of your soul so many times
That it no longer can be filled again?"
Everyday sorrow turned into art. Marvelous.
I too wish that somehow you: I too wish that somehow you could share this poem and comment with the snickering snobs who couldn't appreciate the legend that shook the world in her own way. I'm thrilled that you were vindicated and encouraged by my review.
Your comments, as radiant and: Your comments, as radiant and artistic as your poetry, are appreciated more than you know.
"A nocturne". I had to smile when I read that.
I'm wildly gratified that you accurately defined the effect and the message I was going for. You always get it and you always express it with the astute and masterful precision of an aficionado of poetry as well as a great poet.
Deepest, endless gratitude. God bless.
Repreading this comment once: Repreading this comment once more, I am so very grateful for it. I wish I could have sent this to the two "scholars" who put enormous pressure on me to drop her from my sophomore project; but both of them are deceased. Still, it was an honor, after twenty-one years, to be asked at that reunion dinner, "Is Mary Shelley still your girl?"
I have said before, and will: I have said before, and will continue to do so, that the posting of a new poem by Patricia is an event; a significant event; a colossal event. This poem is no exception to that trend. I truly believe---and I have no ulterior motive to say, and nothing to gain by saying so---that she is not only the greatest Poet that I have ever encountered at postpoems, but that her work sets benchmarl's (like Vergil's. Stevens', Eliot's). Studying these poets in my undergrad years, I often wondered what it would have been like to see their poems or books appearing one by one. In my undergrad years, however, I would not have been mature enough to appreciate the experience of watching greatness unfold in my sight; now, decades later, I am able to witness it and declare it.
In its remarkable litany of metaphor, this poem reminds me of the work of two powerful Poets, Pop Stevens, and the French_diplomat (Ambassador to the United States, 1928-1933)---both of whom used metaphor heavily in their poetry. Patricia's poem presents a catalogue of night metaphors---a nocturne, if I might be permitted the pun---and one can almost hear the delicate piano notes of Chopin's Nocturnes---in the background.
In the final three stanzas of the poem, we arrive at its center of gravity, about which all the other metaphors orbit. And we also see a very subtle shift when she reaches the "unutterable love": she shifts from using metaphor to using simile, which is an entirely different kind of comparison. The Apostle Saint John described the nature of God, God is Love. No Poet, not even one of Patricia's stature, can improve upon that; so simile becomes the best strategy here.
She also reminds us that there are no insigificances in God's eyes; even each hydrogen atom in the entire universe is significant, and known to, God. Again from Saint John: For God so loved the world; and that which is loved cannot never be insiginifant to the Lover. And when I check the word for "world," I find that the word Saint John used was "Cosmos." Not just this planet; not just Jupiter; not just Alpha Centauri; but also the farthest known stars, Icarus and Earendel. And all the microbes that have fossilized in the pits of empty Martian lakes.
Patricia has the great talent of being able to explain a cosmic process in terms of the cosmosc, first and foremost, but in metaphors and similes than the language conveys. This is one of the most difficult tasks facing most Poets. She, however, presents it so successfully that it almost seems that she invented the concept.