[stylist] Poem - "Paper Minds" - Second Draft

[William L Houts]

Hi Jackie,


There's a longish story about the Sophie quote.  It's not from any book 
or show, it comes from my life.  I used to live in a house owned by a 
woman named Betty Jane Narver, something of a legend in Seattle and 
truly a great, great lady.  She owned a German shepard named Sophie, who 
was a hilarious character.  We used to do all sorts of stunts and games 
which involved Sophie.  For instance, I'd sort of straddle her, grab her 
collar and say in a kind of generic cowboy accent, ","I'm gonna ride 
this doggie all over this great  land!"  We played a scene called 
"Sophie's Choice", in which I informed Sophie that she would have to 
give up her crunchies for zee Fatherland.  Finally, I would put my arms 
around her neck and cry in a kind of catchall foreign accent, "Oh 
Sophie, whyfore have you eated all de cheeldren?"  The funny thing about 
this is that Sophie would respond with a piteous whine, clearly 
distressed about de devoured cheeldren in question. I've spent maybe 
years trying to find the ideal quote for my signature and I finally 
think I've found my favorite.  Thanks for asking!

--Bill







On 11/16/2014 11:05 AM, Jackie Williams wrote:
> Bill,
> Where did your quote at the bottom come from? Could not find it anywhere.
> Sophie, whyfore have you eat'd..."
> After praising all of your poetry, I want to share some more detailed
> critiquing with you. I tried to make corrections on your poem to send back,
> but Outlook would not accept them, so I will just make some general remarks.
> I do this because I want you to submit this somewhere because of the
> content.
> Let us talk about format first:
> Most poetry contests do not want double spacing or size 14 font, unless
> specifically stated. This might happen in a publication for the blind, but
> not in other contests or chapbooks.
> So with single  spacing, it will fit on one page with its 27 lines.
> Also, you might think about separating it into stanzas. Using what felt like
> natural breaks to me, I came up with four or possibly five stanzas which
> would still make it fit on one page with your info at the top.
> Your spell checker should pick up all words stuck together with no spaces,
> of which you have two or three, and also tell you about capitals. You might
> have to go word by word to find all periods followed by a space and a
> capital if not. Example, "A doctor" instead of "a doctor."
> The simple things like this will disqualify even the best of poems. I have
> learned the hard way, and I still make errors, so I usually have a sighted
> person eyeball them for strange things like a change of font out of nowhere.
> Incidentally, you have two words, "news of" underlined  which may or may not
> be intended. Perhaps you copied this from an article, so it does not quite
> fit in looks.
> There is a task analyzer  available, but I find it confusing to use, but
> perhaps you would not.
> I hope these comments do not offend. I do not know your circumstances, and
> if you have someone with you who takes an interest in your poetry. I do not,
> but my aide uses the computer and when I have all of my entries ready, she
> will check for red and green lines, change of font style, page numbering,
> stanza break signals, etc.  It is part of her work of doing mail, bills,
> telephone calls, and so forth in case I have made mistakes.
>
> I kind of like Lynda's idea of a chap book by Kinko's as a starter. It would
> give you all kinds of practice in getting a theme, or themes seperated, and
> sorting content.
> Good luck in whatever you attempt.
> Jackie
>
> Time is the school in which we learn.
> Time is the fire in which we burn.
> Delmore Schwartz	
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William L
> Houts via stylist
> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2014 7:59 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: [stylist] Poem - "Paper Minds" - Second Draft
>
>


-- 


"Oh, Sophie!  Whyfore have you eated all de cheeldren?"