The following poem was published on The Community Storyboard way back in June 2013. I confess this re-post is in part because I’m at a loss for new material. The well runneth dry at the moment. But another reason is because I’m preparing to take a free online class on how to write poetry. The course is through the University of Iowa International Writing Program. You can find more information about by clicking here.
This poem is in memory of Wendy Bishop. She was my mentor when I began my master’s in English program back in 1990. I had a teaching assistantship and she was director of the teaching program, so we had frequent meetings. I recognized a kindred spirit in her: we had both lived on the West Coast, we both had liberal views relative to those in the region where we now lived, we were close in age, and we were introverts. But I was intimidated by the depth and breadth of her ever-growing portfolio and shied away at times when I should have been close at her heels. We kept in touch off and on over the years until she died from leukemia at the young age of 50, in November 2003. She was always incredibly busy, but always, always smiling and writing.
I miss her still.
***
They laid their hands side by side
She marveled
At how much alike they were
The one near death
The other nearest life
The one near death
Burned bright
With beach-bleached hair
Sandy skin
A smile an ocean-wide
She burned bright
And hummed through
Dot-matrix printers and laserjets
A low constant hum of life in words
Paper cascading from their mouths
Laid end to end they would circle the earth
And wrap it tight like a silk girdle
She burned bright
Writing more in her one-half-century
Than most could have written in two
She burned bright
The one near death
And marveled at her daughter’s hands, so like her own
She burned . . .
. . . out
And grown men cried
And grown women sighed
And I
who so wanted to be like her, she who burned bright
Stopped breathing
***
32 responses to “Poem: She Burned Bright #Mondayblogs #poetry”
I understand the well running dry thing, because Blogging can be draining, as I know too well. Having said that the poem is moving and the story behind it just adds to the richness of the lines.
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Thank you very much, Peter! Now, you surprise me. You never seem to be short of stories 🙂
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Beautiful – this was so expressive.
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Thank you so much!
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Very powerful and beautiful. As far as reposting old stuff, I do the same at times. It’s hard to keep a blog fresh.
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Thank you, Charles. I really appreciate your comment. I guess one advantage of having been blogging for a long while is I can sort through and find something that maybe most of my followers haven’t yet read. Thank goodness for that 😉
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True. New people can see the popular old ones too. After a while, it’s impossible to read through a blog’s archives.
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What a beautiful way to honor your friend Wendy. I’m glad you re-posted it, Marie.
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Thank you, Jill. She was an amazing woman. I think she wrote almost everything: poems, fiction, essays, pedagogy.
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Marie, this was a somber paean, but beautifully written. I look forward to seeing even how much better your poems will be after the U of Iowa course!
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Thank you, Phillip! The course is off to a good start. I might have to write a few blog posts to describe what I’m learning.
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Beautiful Marie. Such a nice tribute.
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Thank you so much, John.
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So lovely. And also nice to hear I’m not the only one struggling for material right now!
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Thank you, Linda! You’re struggling?! Perhaps you should visit Latvia for inspiration?
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Ha ha! Maybe I should 🙂 Yeah, bit of a dry spell. Feeling a bit meh. Sure it will pass!
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Oh, it will pass. Maybe you just need a break, time to just observe and listen. Jut down notes, observations, thoughts, snippets of conversations. In a class I’m taking right now, one of the poets puts her scrapes of notes into a bowl and then draws them out randomly. It’s one way she creates poems, but I think the same could work for blogging 🙂
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That’s a really nice idea! I have a few thoughts but nothing fully formed. Always good to have a few ideas on standby though! 🙂
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What a gorgeous poem!!! So glad you posted it.
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Thank you! I really appreciate it 🙂
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Awesome, Marie.
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Thank you, Andra!
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Thank you for sharing your poem, but even more astounding is that Wendy Bishop was your mentor. Lucky, lucky you. Memories of my assistantship teaching rhetoric and comp have suddenly came flooding back to me.
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Thank you, Jeri! I’m grateful for the time I had with her. I only wish I had believed in myself as much as she seemed to believe in me. But still, I learned so much from her and I do attribute much of my confidence in my writing to her support.
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A wonderful and sad story.
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Thank you!
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Marie, this is a touching and vibrant tribute. Your words are from the heart, your writing is strong and specific, and you do honor to both your mentor and the friendship and respect that you still have for her.
This is beautiful.
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Marilyn, thank you so much. I really appreciate your kind words 🙂
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Marie, very beautiful tribute for your friend. what a tragic loss. I want to wish you a wellspring of poetic inspiration for your class!!
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Thank you, Luanne!
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It is so hard to imagine losing a friend to death. I might feel like stopping breathing, too. This was simply lovely and a warm tribute to your wonderful friend, Wendy. Hope you will not worry about re-blogging, since you may have listeners who have never read or heard your words before in such a way, Marie.
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Thank you so much, Robin! I really appreciate your kind words.
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