PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

This poem is both beautiful: This poem is both beautiful and wise.

Thank you.  Thank you so very: Thank you.  Thank you so very much!!!!  Even your comments provide a sustaining encouragement.  It is always a great joy to experience, and respond to, your poems . . . and, besides, some future grad student may find these comments helpful to their dissertation (which will be one of many others, I predict) on your magnificent achievement.

With delicate and sumptuous: With delicate and sumptuous strokes of beauty, you opened a window into the life of a creature that is both feared and vulnerable: a "red god of death" and a victim of human heartlessness and vanity.   By showing us the contrast in this regal carnivore's experience (The desire for the hunt vs being the hunted) and expressing her nature through her own eyes, you brought her to life and made her unforgettable.   A deeply moving, expertly conceived and praiseworthy work of art.   Respect!!!

I'm deeply troubled by the: I'm deeply troubled by the situation that is bringing you such anxiety and anguish. Sending prayers, compassion and positive energy now.    That my poem granted you comfort is the greatest reward I can imagine. Thank you for expressing your gratitude in your usual sincere and stunning way. Always the poet!   I'm also gratified that you extracted the essence of my work and then interpreted it with wit and insight:   "this fear, and the pain, do not have the final word, or even any kind of victory."   I'm humbled and filled with immeasurable gratitude for all your encouragement.   It would take volumes to express it.   God bless.

Once a Tom Sawyer and at: Once a Tom Sawyer and at another Huck Finn, finally wonder if each one ends up like Old Jim. at least that's one way a life may go, playing all these parts. Perhaps we could add Huckleberry Hound to to mix. A thought provoking poem. Thanks for the read.

First, I thank God that,: First, I thank God that, despite my medical condition, I have been blessed to live long enough to have read this poem---which is not only highly theological, but so deeply speaks to my own situation, both to comfort me and to remind me that, too often, I have relied upon feelings, not my Faith, when things get tough.      I am not going to put this poem to my usual analysis of a Patrician poem because, frankly, the poem towers above that so that anything I would have to say in my usual way would sound trite in the face of this great poetic blessing that the poem delivers.  A blessing both spiritual, literary, and partaking of the utmost verbal quality:  this is the kind of poem that only Patricia is qualified to write.  She combines both her cosmic and what I would call her local vision (the barn owl, the trees, the view of the moon), a combination she presents with unprecedented artistic and verbal finesse, which no one---and I mean, absolutely no one---can imitate.  In this poem, she not only matains the excellent quality of her previous poems, but she ministers to those readers who, like me, feel overwhelmed by their burdens.      Her use of the words love and light allude to Aoostle John's theology, and, while I would never presume to speak for the great Apostle, I have the distinct impression that he, too, would be mighty impressed by this poem.  As would be Dante and Eliot.         I am facing another painful medical procedure, unscheduled yet, but I expect to be told when during a phone call tomorrow.  And then, as it normally goes, my fear (yes, of the pain, one of the worst I have ever experienced) will begin to mount upon my back, and laugh in my ear, and make ugly faces at me.  But I have this poem to remind me that this fear, and the pain, do not have the final word, or even any kind of victory.  In this way, Patricia's poem is more than a poem---it is the conveyor of blessing and encouragement from the throne of God, and it is a reminder that we are here on this earth together, and have been created to minister to each other.     Thank you, Patricia, for posting this beautiful, powerful, spiritual, and ministerial poem:  I know that, when I face this next procedure, your poem will remind me, before I go, that the fear and pain will not get the better of me.  Thank you for that.

Please forgive a second: Please forgive a second comment posted so soon after the first one---on both this poem and the Siren poem---but I just had to tell you how impressive this one, and the other, are on a second reading.  Like the best poems on this site, or anywhere else, these poems become more resonant, more impressive (and, given their subject matter, even more chilling) on the second read.  And I am sure I will be reading them repeatedly---the same way I read Aickman's or Sarban's tales.  When I was a child, of elementary school age, I was asked why I wanted to watch, repeatedly (although not televised as often as I wanted) the old Universal horror films of the thirties and forties, since, upon a first viewing, I knew the story and how it ended.  And I realized, at that early age (one of the few learning experiences that I did not foul up), that the first viewing was to get the story; the second viewing, and all subsequent viewings, was to relish the artistry with which it was presented.  Reading your poems about the siren and the fox, yesterday, I was struck by the same realization, which was proven again this afternoon.  Although I now know how the "story" in each poem ends, I will continue to read them in order to enjoy the artistry of your presentation.