Where Shadows Go
April 14th 2009 16:09
One of my own photos
Where shadows go no one can tell,
As when the night clicks shut its chest,
Abruptly ending daylight’s soft farewell,
Enclosing all in darkness tight compressed.
The sun retreats into the west,
Decrees of time and space to quell.
Where shadows go, no one can tell.
We choose to end the lamplight’s burning spell,
But dark controls itself without contest.
We then in sleeping blindness dwell,
As when the night clicks shut its chest.
The summer shadows, sharp and blessed
With lengthened life, cannot dispel
Encroaching night, the sun‘s long reign to wrest,
Abruptly ending daylight’s soft farewell.
The shadows sense the sunset’s speeding knell;
They see approaching death and so invest
Their time with life enlarged, before the night can swell,
Enclosing all in darkness tight compressed.
Do shadows have an afterlife as honored guest
Of void between the stars, eternal well
Of life, or are they by the sun possessed,
Or is it in this closed-lid, darkened shell
Where shadows go?
This poem form is called Rondeau Redouble (or double rondo). The rhyme scheme is abab baba abab etc. to the end. Each line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of each subsequent stanza, as you can see in the poem I presented here. The very last line of the poem is the first bit of the first line. It's a really tough form to write because of the rigid rhyme scheme as well as the line repetition.
As a result, I used a scheme known as Anastrophe (uh-nass-truh-fee) which is when the regular grammatical sequence of a phrase/clause is reversed. I like to call this "Yodafication" since this is how Yoda always talks in Star Wars. For example, the normal way would be "No one can tell where shadows go" but I reverse it to be "Where shadows go no one can tell." This is a common poetic (and prosaic) technique that stretches back to the ancients. It works too, as long as you don't overuse it--then it just sounds forced and cheesy ("Hallmark" poetry). I use this scheme in several spots in this poem, "Where Shadows Go." Can you find them all?
I'd also like to say a word about photography. I absolutely love taking photos, especially of nature (landscapes, plants, animals, sunsets, etc.) because it's fun trying to get the perfect angle of something, the perfect distance and coloring and lighting, to make something ordinary into something beautiful. It's all about new perspectives. If you can get at something with an unusual perspective, or an interesting angle, that thing suddenly becomes more interesting and beautiful. I think all poets and writers ought to take up photography and maybe even take a photography class. It really helps stimulate my creative process. In fact, the picture I posted on this post (one of my own) inspired me to write "Where Shadows Go" and a few other poems. So next time you go for a walk or a drive, take your camera along--you never know what might strike you at a given moment.
Oh, and yes I've returned from my long hiatus. I didn't expect it to be so long, but it turned into almost a couple months! I got so caught up in life that I forgot about this little blog, then I realized that the 60 day mark was coming up soon, so I decided I needed to start posting again! I started this thing in the first place to help spur me along in my writing and not get complacent, which is exactly what happened during my hiatus. I was very busy with schoolwork and life in general, but I wasn't writing very much. Over Easter, I was relaxed and rejuvenated and my muse returned to me. So here I am again!
I plan to highlight more poetic/rhetorical schemes and tropes in the future, and maybe talk more specifically about photography. Until then, have a great day and keep your eyes and your minds open!
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