Poets in your poems
By Sophia Hardy
I was recently reading New York Pocket Book by Paula Green. I noticed she has
several poems that referenced other poets; delved into their world, life and legacy.
‘Emily Dickinson is vanishing before your eyes’ was one my favourites. If you are
looking for a writing idea today, try putting a poet in your poem or read about
the life of a poet you don’t know, they can become characters in your
heart.
Here’s one of my poems about William Blake, I had been looking at his portrait of
Jupiter and reading about how his wife, illiterate at the time their marriage,
signed her name with an ‘X’.
Blake’s Jupiter
When the portrait of Jupiter was wrought
only the storm clouds at the window provided muse
It was outside
on a little wooden table
rain darkened
weed ridden
with feathery moss
to touch beneath her finger tips
That deep grey day in Albion
the sky was secretly aflame
and the god scorched and drenched
holding power in his creased palms
It was beneath the table
where the picked clovers wilted
and the sun drained into the shade
Jupiter was hot with rage,
William could hardly contain the raging image
As his heated metal hands would not be engraved
Beneath the table in the shade
where willow had fallen
delicate green
was a page signed with an X
Happy writing
Sophia Hardy
X