[stylist] Writing prompt- Brown winter

Thu Feb 14 15:51:01 UTC 2013

Shawn,
If possible, I would love it if you would bring information from this book 
to our discussion on the phone meeting - I think it would fit in perfectly 
with our discussion on how our life is reflected in what we are thinking 
about and writing.  I am sure you will find parallels between Helen Keller 
and Rita Dove's interview that could be so interesting to us all.

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
>>
>>
>>
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