Love PoemRon Padgett
We have plenty of matches in our house.
We keep them on hand always.
Currently our favorite brand is Ohio Blue Tip,
though we used to prefer Diamond brand.
That was before we discovered Ohio Blue Tip matches.
They are excellently packaged, sturdy
little boxes with dark and light blue and white labels
with words lettered on the shape of a megaphone,
as if to say even louder to the world,
"Here is the most beautiful match in the world,
its one and a half inch soft pine stem capped
by a grainy dark purple head, so sober and furious
and stubbornly ready to burst into flame,
lighting, perhaps, the cigarette of the woman you love,
for the first time, and it was never really the same
after that. All this will we give you."
That is what you gave me, I
became the cigarette and you the match, or I
the match and you the cigarette, blazing
with kisses that smolder toward heaven.
While reading the first few lines of the poem, I thought, "how can this be a love poem?" I have always associated matches with destruction, but this poem gave a new perspective.
ReplyDeleteI distinctly remember Mrs. Majerus reading us this poem from memory in creative writing.
ReplyDeleteRon Padgett, who has written the only poem I’ve bothered to memorize, “Nothing in that Drawer” (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20967), is simply awesome.
This poem has a nice feel about, because at the beginning the reader is trying to find the connections between the title and the subject matter, but slowly Padgett builds up upon this idea, this comparison that works really well, especially due to his great imagery and sense of how to choose the best word.
One of my favorite poems of all time. I love the postcard.
ReplyDeleteJohn, it's quite a feat to have memorized "Nothing in that Drawer! ;)
P.S. You gave me a copy of the Ciardi postcard. I'd love to have one of these, as well.
ReplyDeleteAs featured in Jim Jarmusch's movie 'Paterson"
ReplyDelete