My friend Carol Ann Heckman has studied with Denise Levertov and feeds voraciously on her work. For many years I have loved Levertov's "The Secret" and today, rereading an email from Carol Ann, I went looking for a mathy poem by this beloved poet. I found the following -- with two numbers (and a hint of recursion):
The Mockingbird of Mockingbirds by Denise Levertov
A greyish bird
the size perhaps of two plump sparrows,
fallen in some field,
soon flattened, a dry
mess of feathers--
and no one knows
this was a prince among his kind,
virtuoso of virtuosos,
lord of a thousand songs,
debonair, elaborate in invention, fantasist,
rival of nightingales.
This poem rests on my bookshelf in Levertov's collection, Breathing the Water (New Directions, 1987).
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
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The mockingbird poem is still fresh! Thank you for the gift.
ReplyDeleteMiriam
Thanks, Miriam, for dropping by.
DeleteJoAnne