Thursday, June 5, 2014

a word is just a word is just a world


photo © 2014 Jennifer Wagner


who knows
what may come

what may grow
from an open palm,
a seed pearl
missing,

slipped from its shell
into dark fleshy loam

sweetness?  light?
drought?  blight?

who knows
what may come

from paper to lips

both dust
and sugar bowls
                           tip

to the tip,
to the tip,

from word
to poem
the ink
is drunk
or sipped

and a new world jewel
sprouts

honeyed
and/or blue

but
it’s up to the reader
what
it
will
do



© 2014 Jennifer Wagner


This is for dVersePoetics - Seeding, where Shanyn invited us to imagine our words as seeds. 

She makes the point that “Words have power, but like seeds, we don’t often get to see what goes on beneath the surface and can only observe what is growing after it comes out of the soil.”  I am too late for the link, but here is my offering.


31 comments:

  1. Awesome! poem. Very imaginative and moving images for my brain to capture the visuals.

    I like this poem very much and greatly written. :)

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  2. That's the truth of it I think! Liked this a bunch Jennifer!

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  3. true that....once we write it, it is up to the reader in how they will interpret it...we let it go when we put the seed to the earth...and as much as we may want it to grow in one way, it may in another....

    our prompts are similar so i tagged you into tonights...hosts perogative...smiles...

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    1. Thanks Brian--what a nice surprise! You are a most gracious host.

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  4. Who knows what will sprout and indeed its up to the reader to decide what to do ~ I love that new world jewel ~

    Grace

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  5. So very true. It is the reader who, in the end, finds meaning in your words.

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  6. Wonderful! Yes, who knows?!

    but
    it’s up to the reader
    what
    it
    will
    do

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  7. Very true unless we see the outcome we can't just assess the impact!

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  8. A word of encouragement just might change the world !

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  9. the ink /is drunk - love that image, Jen. ~

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  10. Ultimately, you nailed it, but I like to think we manipulate the reader a little. Here, for example, you lead with short lines and spacing, a long column of things going down--a pearl, a word, a meaning. You leave the reader holding the bag with wonder. Tricky indeed, and wonderful.

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  11. Thats very sweet and lovely What come next is always a mystery.

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  12. So true, I love the poem and the title is great...sometimes a poet has no idea what she/he has written until the reader tells us.

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  13. I love the way you wrote this. I too think that words can be used akin to seeds, they can sprout and grow into something beautiful if we receive them as such :)

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  14. yes - it's always a bit up to the reader as well as we all read and understand in a different way - that is one of the things with words that makes it difficult on one hand when it comes to communication but magical when it comes to poetry

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  15. Oh, I do enjoy how these words slip down the page with their questions. And, of course, the answer depends on the reader.

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  16. Indeed.. I feel exactly the same.. Sometimes the true meaning is created by the reader.. And sometimes the opposite I might have meant.. Which is why I love ambiguity..,

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  17. I agree that meaning starts with the poet but how the reader receives it is a true sign that they have succeeded.

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  18. We write a world as we seed it, carefully tilling that thought into a bloom. It is always interesting when you think you planted a Black-Eyed Susan, but up comes an American Beauty upon the light of another's reading.

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  19. Love the cadence your choice of rhyme/near rhyme confers upon this piece, Jennifer. There is a profound message in this, at first blush, somewhat whimsical write. Very clever.

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  20. Wonderful. Enjoyable to read aloud

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  21. i like the way you connected both the themes! more power to your words!

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  22. I enjoyed reading this, Jennifer. It's like little drops of magic dripping into my hands. :-)

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  23. We might have one meaning in mind and the reader might conclude another also; perhaps they miss the point..it happens...I don't know that there is a remedy for that, if it did happen. ;)

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  24. Mesmerising... Who knows what will come...but everything that comes from you is just spellbinding. :)

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  25. I liked how you questioned things here... one of the hazards of writing, we never know who's heart we touch but still continue to write

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  26. Love it and the pic from Chichuly :)

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  27. The idea that it's up to the reader...so accurate. It always amazes me, when reading comments, how vastly different interpretations can be of the very same post. Adds to the creativity of the words...we plant them as we intend and then they take on a life of their own in how they are received and read. Great pacing in this post :-)

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  28. Mind spills
    Pen to paper
    This writer's ink in sight
    Drawing out these nomadic thoughts
    A river

    __Reading, that which someone else has written, so often inspires, as did this, this Cinquain. Nice Jen! _m

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Thank you for your thoughts!