I was cleaning out files yesterday and found a typed copy of James Tate's poem, "A Dangerous Adventure." I had forgotten about this poem, and that's astonishing because who could forget a poem that begins:
The woman I love is typing in a nearby room.Clippity clippity clippity clippity, then silence.
Today I went hunting for it online because now it had to be my Poetry Friday pick. (He had me at clippity.) It was a bit of a scavenger hunt, with my first search result landing on a page that told me this:
Wait. Full Poem Text Available at ... Jama's blog?! Perfect. I headed over there.
The post from Jama, written in 2009, began like this:
Well, of course I am.
And at the same time, please marvel with me at the beauty and endurance of this Poetry Friday community. I've been on this ride with you all for nearly twenty years. We post, we read, we share, we comment, we forget who-posted-what-or-when and it's all good because it's all about poetry and friends. The people of Poetry Friday are typing in nearby rooms — clippity, clippity, clippity, clippity — and I love every single one of you.
A Dangerous Adventure
by James Tate
The woman I love is typing in a nearby room.
Clippity clippity clippity clippity, then silence.
She’s thinking, like a jaguar, or a dagger.
Words but more than words. Currents, hairpin
turns. It’s scary but exciting. It’s like dancing
on a precipice or sleeping under a waterfall.
She doesn’t know the way home but she’s running
and leaping over chasms in the earth, and she’s singing too,
in a foreign language she’s never heard spoken.
But the melody is one I’ve known all my life.
....
(Read the rest here, at Jama's blog, and kindly applaud
her husband Len for his forever-support of a wife
who types in a nearby room.)
~~~~~~~~~~
The Poetry Friday round-up this week is being hosted (of course) by Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
26 comments:
Okay, this is so incredibly magical. The universe was calling out for this poem.
Now, I can't recall what I read yesterday, let alone 17 years ago, so I'm glad you've shared this. It's a lovely poem. All these years later, I still stand by my disdain for sickly sweet love poems.
Yes, the magic is palpable! ✨✨ And I still love a well-placed e.e. Cummings, as well as a hearty ode to writers, which Tate certainly pulled off.
"That's my baby..." I love it. To be loved for one's creativity...cheered on and supported, what a gift. Oh, wait! I have that gift too. It's delicious. Now, to go find a typewriter!
Linda, I love that! Cheers to your husband, and yes, get thee to a typewriter! :D
It feels as if everyone should read your post, Karen, as a reminder to take the time to find ALL the links and connections, just as Tate's husband revels in ALL his beloved is doing in her own adventures! What an awesome story, then poem, you've shared. 2009, Wow! I think I started joining in some years later! Thanks for a special story, one I'll share with friends!
Clipety clipety, and this is SO COOL!! LOVE. xo
Karen, that is some lovely serendipity! Clippity, clippity, clippity, clippity. Thank you. I didn't know this poem before.
Okay, I'm on summer blog break but somehow got a telepathic message to check your blog today and voila! Beyond magic and serendipity! This is like Twilight Zone stuff. :) I still love Tate's poem, had pretty much forgotten about the post but am happy to clippity clippity with PF friends anytime. Wonderful to know that even 17 years later, this community rocks harder than ever. Even though I don't use it, I still have a manual typewriter in our basement. xo
Love this (poem and post). This blogging world has proved an enduring gift. So lovely that so many of us are carrying on, Karen 🤗
* Linda B., I feel like we’ve been blog friends forever, so I would have put you in the OG category. :D Yes, taking the time to scavenge pays off. ❤️
* Irene, thanks for clippitying (that’s hard to say, lol) by! xo
* Susan, serendipity is truly the word of the day. :)
* Jama! Knowing you were on a blog break, I was going to email you today and issue a personal invitation to stop by. I love that the magic in the air (in the Twilight Zone?) reached out to you before I did. 🤩 I still have a manual typewriter too — my parents’ old Royal from the 50s. I love it. (I don’t use it, but I love it.)
* elli, you are also an OG. ❤️ It’s hard to believe we’ve known each other for so many years. It’s a gift indeed.
I can't stop smiling from this post, just read Jama's post through as I wasn't quite following it yet. Both posts are gifts from the Poetry Guru Goddesses that are with us somewhere. My husband has many a night started eating dinner or finished as I've been entranced either with a brush or keyboard in hand—life of an artist, perhaps that's true love, thanks Karen 🥰
Michelle, that’s true love indeed. ❤️ And I’m grateful for those Poetry Guru Goddesses!
My favorite line of this post, “ The people of Poetry Friday are typing in nearby rooms — clippity, clippity, clippity, clippity — and I love every single one of you.” Right back at you and to the God who gathers us all into this generous universe of poets!
*Clink*! Amen and raising a glass to toast you, Margaret!
THIS IS AMAZING. WOW, Karen, I'm ...wow. That we still know both of you lo, these many years later, is also a gift. But this is my new favorite poem of the day - I shall go clippity-clippity-ing back to Jama's to read it one more time. Thank you for sharing the magic.
Such beautuful synchronicity, Karen. We all experience such moments and its freaky how often they occur when we are on our own, just quietly rummaging or ruminating and the suddnely the stars align. Enjoyed the James Tate poem and the whole vibe eminating from your post,
Karen, with me arriving to Poetry Friday so late, I am glad that I read your poem that holds many fun lines. I could be the lady who is intrigued with writing more than dinner. Tate has a wonderful way to write a poem so now I need to read more of his work. AND to think that the Jama's blog is such a tender way to add her husband's thoughts without the goey stuff. I thin many of us will like to be clippety. Why did I give away my typerwriter?
* Anonymous, come back and tell me who you are! I’m WOW too, inside and out. :) ❤️
* Alan, yes to the surprises that come upon us while we’re rummaging and ruminating. (That sounds like the beginning of a poem.) :)
* Carol, ah, it’s so easy to give things away in the midst of decluttering fits, isn’t it? (I’m projecting, I suppose, because that’s what I do, then sometimes later regret the giving away.) :) I’m so glad you enjoyed and related to the poem!
p.s. Tanita, I'm guessing you're Anonymous today. :)
Holy cow...the universe is calling! What a delight to read and see and share in this synchronicity! I was not part of the community in 2009 -- and I'll say a prayer of gobsmacked thanksgiving for its longevity -- But what a joy to feel a part of it now. Thank you, Karen, for sharing this!
This is a beautiful tribute to the Poetry Friday community! We have been feeding one another's spirits with poetry and friendship for ages! Such a wonderfully romantic poem. <3 Please do share it again later!
Golly gumdrops! What a story and what a poem! Thanks for both of those, but also the trip down memory lane. The roundup by Big A little a, who started the whole Poetry Friday thing. Other commenters from long ago. (Where was I? I had to go look...I shared a Linda Pastan poem. Jama commented on mine, but it seems I didn't comment on hers. Hmm...Soon after that, I took over gathering the roundup when Kelly / Big A little a needed a break.)
Yes to all of those family members who hear us clickety-clicking!
Karen, love the serendipity!! "A Dangerous Adventure" is a poem I will return to as it left me breathless! 20 years of Poetry Friday is an amazing milestone, and I loved your heartfelt tribute to your fellow poets. I am a newbie, but so thankful Poetry Friday exists! Thanks to you, and everyone who makes it happen!
* Patricia, I’m so glad you’re here now! Poetry Friday-ers come and go (understandably) but what a gift this community has been for so many.
* Tabatha, the poem is worth a rerun, for sure, and the community is worth a tribute, also for sure! :)
Mary Lee, yes, the Big A little a days! Yesterday I went looking for my first-ever Poetry Friday post and it was in September of 2006. I didn’t have the whole “here’s who is hosting the round-up” thing mastered yet, but it was the beginning for me. :D
* Marcie, I’ll see your “yes” and I’ll raise you a clickety. :)
Mona, I love a poem that can leave us breathless. It reminded me of Richard Wilbur’s “The Writer” and — in another serendipitous moment — I found that Jama mentioned that connection in her ’09 post too. “The Writer” is one of my favorite poems of all time, a breath taker-away-er.
Ha ha ha -- hello, full circle!! Wow, what a great story -- and WHAT a great poem. Clippity Clippity Clippity!!!
Post a Comment