Monday, January 12, 2009

Defying Zephyr

zephyr capriciously chose to gust through northwest Iowa
without a thought, he thoroughly threw snow
over the perilous prairie.
his blustery caprice drafted
a sketch of snow onto the stagnant fields

his gust became a blizzard
and we were driving in between the lines.
between shrouded yellow solid
and frosted white strips of paint
through his vast white blunder

his bluster cried for our submission.
but our defiance stronger than his will:
tires inched along,
plowing white padded cement,
with gentle touch of slow
and speed,
we trounced his angry squall
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this poem came from my drive from lincoln, ne to NWC this afternoon. there was quite a wind and snow storm. i had to drive with little visibility. but it was an adventure. i wrote a response to Zephyr, the greek god of the west wind, who attacked us. i want it to be a humble, yet defiant piece. from reading it, do you get an image of an incredibly blusterous blizzard and a very arbitrary wind system? from your reading what is the tone of the poem? what images work for you? does the repeated 'th' sound in the first stanza sound like wind?

please help me by answering any of these questions or by just giving me feedback...

1 comment:

  1. I like the first stanza quite a bit. And the language--"Zephyr's vast white blunder"--seems to really take on the attitudes of defiance you seem to hope for.

    I think you use the god's name too often. I also think that you should leave out "09", as this is something contemporary rather than historical. I'd like to see more language driving the contention between human and divine.

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