[stylist] Writing prompt- Brown winter

Tue Feb 12 18:54:39 UTC 2013

Shawn, your comment here gave me chills - what happens when something so 
profound is realized.

"It's amazing how the poetic process is a caving expedition to the forgotten 
parts of the soul."

OH, about Kourous time:
So very funny that you found Greek Statues: I taught Ancient Green Art 
History for a very long time, and your poem brought back memories of that 
time for me. The Ancient Greeks had two different words for time:  Chronos 
and Kairos. I meant to type "Kairos" but my fingers hit "Kouros" instead.

Yes, the Kouros is a statue of a Greek male. It shows the male in the nude 
because the body was believed to be perfect - if it had clothing on it, it 
would be imperfect, so even when the Greeks participated in the olympics 
they were in the nude.  There was no idea of shame  or immorality in the 
human body, in the Greek World.

But, here is a good link for Kairos time - what I see in your poem.  It is 
quite different than chronological time (Chronos) that we usually think 
about when we use the word, "time."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos

I am so glad I took the time to go back and really disect your work here. I 
was afraid to do that because I was afraid of being offensive, but I just 
had to tell you what I was seeing and experiencing as I read it through.  I 
did not want you to think I was "over the top"   but it just kept calling to 
me to come back and look again at it.

This is what poetry is really all about. It is about everything we have ever 
experienced; everything we are surrounded with; everything we take in 
through all our senses; everything  we have ever had a thought about; all of 
life.  A poem is something that moves, lives, breathes, speaks, loves, 
reveals, and more.  I believe that is why so many people are so afraid of 
really deeply reading a poem. It is alive.

Lynda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jacobson, Shawn D" <Shawn.D.Jacobson at hud.gov>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writing prompt- Brown winter

> Lynda
>
> Thanks so much for your comments.
>
> I do think there is a mental landscape behind the physical.  I just read 
> "The World I Live In" by Helen Keller, and she writes extensively about 
> building up mental landscapes.
>
> I think that deep down I was longing for childhood Christmases when I 
> could go home from school for a couple of weeks and not have to worry 
> about anything except what I would get for presents.  This was back before 
> I was old enough to help with the snow removal from the driveway.  It's 
> amazing how the poetic process is a caving expedition to the forgotten 
> parts of the soul.
>
> I was curious about the meaning of "kouros time"; I looked up kouros on 
> Wikipedia and saw a lot about Greek statues of young men.  I'm not sure 
> how that relates to "kouros time".  My curiosity is aroused.
>
> Thanks again for your kind words.
>
> Shawn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda 
> Lambert
> Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 10:19 AM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Writing prompt- Brown winter
>
> OK, Shawn, I have had to return again and again to your poem, and I have 
> things I want to say now about what I see here. I think this poem is 
> compelling.
>
> I have re-read this several times. Something about it kept bringing me 
> back again. That is a good thing. It is memorable.
> You know, Shawn, on longer reflection on this poem, I am getting a sense 
> that is is not at all a physical landscape you have brought us unto, in 
> the poem. I am getting much more of a sense of an internal landscape - a 
> psychological as well as a physical state of being.
>
> The sense of "time" here is very sophisticated.  It provides little 
> glimpses into the psyche in tandem with actual landscape language.  You 
> have used "time" as we know it in the passing of season, and combined it 
> with Kouros time. This is quite sophisticated and gives you poem a dynamic 
> tension that is remarkable.I had not picked up on this on my first read, 
> but I have read it many times now, and the more I read it the more I feel 
> I am there on this path, too.  It is an "act of remembering" and "longing" 
> for something that is lost. I can hear the voice here, speaking of things 
> past (expectations that are felt in the Novembers of our life) ; a 
> description of things as they are now (perhaps temporary, perhaps not).
>
> You give "winter" a mind. Winter is given human qualities.
>
> Quote:
> "Does winter want to claim the land or not?
> These snowy days of yore I've almost forgot."
>
> Winter can think and Winter can make decisions that affect a person. 
> Winter considers and decides, and keeps us guessing what it has planned 
> for us next.
>
> You also give winter a warmth that can only come with the falling of snow.
>
> Quote:
> "This cold ground chills but does not warm with snow's Christmas invoking 
> sight.
> This snowless winter I wish would be gone."
>
> The poetic voice believes that something is not quite right about a winter 
> without snow.  It is the snow that brings the warm feelings of Christmas, 
> and without the snow, there is nothing to celebrate. Because winter has 
> come, but not brought the joy of snow with it, the poetic voice just wants 
> it to come to an end.
>
> I am also reminded of another dimension of snow, and that is:
> Snow covers things over, hides them, makes them disappear.  Without this 
> covering, things are left exposed, brown, bare. Snow, here becomes a 
> metaphor for a number of conditions of the mind as well as the human 
> condition.
>
> Shawn, this poem is an excellent one, in my mind. In just a few lines you 
> have brought out a universal truth. I say, very well done.
>
>
>
>
>
> Lynda
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
> To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2013 3:37 PM
> Subject: [stylist] Writing prompt- Brown winter
>
>
>> Yes, pretty obvious, grin. California Loving, right by the Mamas and
>> Papas?I share your sentiments. I like the pacing and flow of this. Good
>> job.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter, editor, Slate & Style
>> Read my blog at:
>> http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>>
>> "If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can
>> satisfy, we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for
>> another world."
>> C. S. Lewis
>>
>> Message: 26
>> Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:55:06 -0500
>> From: "Jacobson, Shawn D" <Shawn.D.Jacobson at hud.gov>
>> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List (stylist at nfbnet.org)'"
>> <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: [stylist] Writing prompt (brown winter).
>> Message-ID:
>>
>> <44EB7EEFF5A7374B9043B34E0A44139A495FCC9AD4 at EXMAIL07A.exh.prod.hud.gov>
>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>> OK. I'll try it.  I think you should be able to guess the song that the
>> first line comes from.
>>
>> All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray
>> but I see no snowy white.
>> This cold ground chills but does not warm
>> with snow's Christmas invoking sight.
>> This snowless winter I wish would be gone.
>> It seems November caries on and on.
>> Does winter want to claim the land or not?
>> These snowy days of yore I've almost forgot.
>> This dithering weather leaves me with a frown.
>> Be snowy or be gone oh' winter brown.
>>
>> Shawn Jacobson
>> Mathematical Statistician
>> Phone# (202)-475-8759
>> Fax# (202)-485-0275
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Subject: Digest Footer
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> stylist mailing list
>> stylist at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> End of stylist Digest, Vol 106, Issue 16
>> ****************************************
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Writers Division web site
>> http://www.writers-division.net/
>> stylist mailing list
>> stylist at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> stylist:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/llambert%40zoominternet.net
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site
> http://www.writers-division.net/
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> stylist:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/shawn.d.jacobson%40hud.gov
>
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site
> http://www.writers-division.net/
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> stylist:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/llambert%40zoominternet.net
> 