Welcome to the 197th Virtual Poetry Circle!
Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.
Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.
Also, sign up for the 2013 Dive Into Poetry Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Please sign up to be a stop on the 2013 National Poetry Month Blog Tour and visit the stops on the 2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour.
Today’s poem is from Jehanne Dubrow‘s The Hardship Post:
Third Generation
We dream of falling as we fall
asleep, but wake to feel
the weight of quilts, our pillows chill
as granite to the cheek.
What science calls the hypnic jerk---
a heartbeat slows too quickly
in the body's cage, air ripped,
lynched half between the lips
and ribs. We know that memory skips
some families like a stone
across a lake. They sleep alone.
But we, the chosen ones,
are chosen for a crowded sleep,
each night compelled to leap
the barbed wire ledge, a heap
of limbs. We somersault
to spill ourselves on basalt
slabs below. It's not our fault,
this twitch of muscles snapping us
from rest, electric pulse
so like descent we drop weightless
until we flinch awake,
so sure of death that we mistake
our nightmares for the ache
of breaking bone.
What do you think?
For Today’s National Poetry Month Tour post, click the image below!
