Our Minds the Wick
Words the moth.
Fleeting, wings beating.
Feeding the light.
Infinity could not contain
the many paths
crossing where they will,
yet always moving on
from the intersections.
In us, around us,
rising and falling,
like accepting starlight
in search of consolation.
There is no simple formula
or parametric equation
for the birth of a poem.
Words to keyboard or pen,
prompted or not,
open my eyes to thoughts
waiting to be heard.
Poet to poet,
thoughts easily aligned.
A sharing or harvesting,
enfolding memories
that are not quite dreams.
Thankfulness in the waning moments
of inspiration for words gathered well.
This found poem is sourced from comments or replies I’ve made to various poets on WordPress. Those poets are David @ ben Alexander, Kerfe Roig, Merril Smith, Kim Russell, Barbara Leonhard, calmkate, Lisa @ Tao Talk, and Paul Vincent Cannon. Thank you to all of them for their inspiration.
I am sharing this with Open Link #280 – LIVE! at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
rivrvlogr 
This actually sounds as though Kerfe could have co-written it 🙂
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Thank you, Jane. It’s hard to read Kerfe and not be influenced/inspired.
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She goes beneath the obvious and tries to make sense of what she finds there.
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Indeed.
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I always have help….
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Hands across the sea and the miles.
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So true.
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I sometimes think that commenting can be bit like a collaboration or renga, it gives me some ideas for a prompt… 🙂
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Agreed. It does feel like renga.
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totally agree!
-David
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Hey ken. Great melange here. Love the word-moth opening
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Thanks, Eric. It was good to see you at the live event.
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I love the equation and birth of a poem lines. This is such a fantastic piece!
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Thank you, Lucy. I like to think my poetic comments include parts of the writers who inspires them.
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This is absolutely exquisite, Ken 🙂 I especially love; “There is no simple formula or parametric equation for the birth of a poem.”💝💝
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Thank you, Sanaa.
With so many variables, sometimes it’s just kismet when things come together.
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Ken was very happy to see you at the live reading and hear your comments and then the poem. There is a coziness in the poetic community here that has sustained me in bleak moments and raised me in joy with spirit. I see this line as a mantra/prayer:
“open my eyes to thoughts
waiting to be heard.”
❤
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Thank you, Lisa.
The Live Meet is an example of that community, a place to hear those thoughts.
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You are welcome. It is heartening to see the faces behind the words. Adds a deeper dimension to hear them.
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“To thoughts waiting ….” I love the way you relate the birth of a poem as communal brew, a pan-thespian creation of the soul. I am touched to be named, thank you so much for your lines you birth.
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Thank you, Paul, and thank you for being a part of this community.
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It is a great place to be.
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I, too, found this found poem…………………………delightful.
Well done KG
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Thanks, Ron.
It was nice to see you. Here to the next Live Meet.
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Thanks Ken. I do feel like we are mirrors, absorbing and reflecting each other’s light.
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There’s much to reflect on here. Thank you for the inspiration, Kerfe.
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And I thank you back.
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Thoroughly enjoyed your reading today …. Found poems are wonderfully unique … as is yours.
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Thank you, Helen. And I have many thanks for the people who helped me find the words.
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Nice approach for Ars Poetica, to get at the poets themveryselves. Loved especially the enfolded memories, not quite dreams. this comes near the description I once heard of poetry as that art in which we express through words things that cannot be expressed with words.
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Thank you, Lona. It certainly is poetry that helps us find those words.
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I love this so much, Ken!
And love that part of it is on my blog 😀
-David
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Thank you for the inspiration, David. It was my short poem for you that helped me realize there was a thread I hadn’t noticed.
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I love a good found poem and this one is a gem as you took the time and effort to look back at your comments and replies. Thank you for including me, Ken. The title is a spark of genius and I agree with Jane, that this could have been a collaboration with Kerfe, and with Bjorn about commenting being like a collaboration or renga . I love the moth word metaphor and the lines:
‘There is no simple formula
or parametric equation
for the birth of a poem.’
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Thank you, Kim.
If I leave a short poem as a comment, I try to remember to save it. Even so, some just fade into the woodwork. These just happened to follow a grain that I hadn’t realized. For any of them, it comes down to the inspiration of other poets. The title and first stanza of this are the same as those I left in the poem comment on David’s poem.
https://skepticskaddish.com/2020/12/09/moth-or-wick/comment-page-1/#comment-2352
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Thanks for the link, Ken!
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‘There is no simple formula
or parametric equation
for the birth of a poem.’
So true! I love how you drew from this fellowship of poets to create a tribute to them in a new work.
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Thank you, Ingrid. I do appreciate this community.
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This is beautiful, Ken.
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🙂 Thank you, Robbie.
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I enjoyed hearing and seeing you read from the recording yesterday, I hope to make the next live one! This is a great community that inspires and you have proven that here. I like that a poem is born by “thoughts waiting to be heard,” and there is no equation to it. I believe it is listening to life and each other 💕👏
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Thank you. 🙂
The Live sessions have been rewarding. I’m sure you would enjoy it.
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I’m going to try to make the next one!
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“inspiration for words gathered well”–your close is killer. After writing poetry for 60 years, I still get that sweet rush when some lines or stanzas pop out at me. I never tire of the mysterious hand that often guide my words. There is something undefinable about it. Like acting in a film, when you produce a profound “look”, where the inner monologue rises up.
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Thank you, Glenn. I appreciate your insight.
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A sharing or harvesting,
enfolding memories
that are not quite dreams.
Yes, sharing among poets will bring good dividends in knowledge and skills and not merely end up in dreams. Well said Ken!
Hank
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Thank you, Hank. I’ve been fortunate to find fellow poets who inspire me.
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Beautiful poem and I love that you were inspired by other poets. Poets inspired by other poets is enlightening.
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Thank you.
Yes. This community has its rewards.
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Most welcome!
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I’m always hoping and waiting for my words to be attracted to me like moths to light. Nice visual.
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Thank you. It’s usually about attracting the write (!) words. 😉
I appreciate the ones that come to me from other poets.
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