Thanks for all your comments, they’re really helpful. Cos it’s written about
a friend of mine who killed himself and I sensed I needed people who didn’t
know that to read it and mention what they'd found...
So, Sally, your comments about the coffin are worth reading...
And, Christina, I sense you found what I hoped would be found in the poem –
and you caught my reasons for struggling with the title. Title’s are things
I sweat over long after the body of a poem is sorted. I often think I can
leave final decisions until the poem finds a place after and before other
poems (and let the title be a link as much as an invitation to read the poem
it precedes). But here I sense it should primarily belong alongside other
poems about his life and death (so it may only need the title it’s got for
its primary purpose). However poems have more life (and more of a future
than the one we may intend them to have).
I never intended the (mysterious) “he” of the poem to be as grand as God (!)
but that understanding (recognising how sublime, or plaintive, gifts can be
drawn from individuals is intriguing!). It’s odd that I wrote in this style
(not my usual style) too. Tell the truth but tell it slant, I suppose.
And, yes Frank, I’ve wondered about the last line (should I add the “or” at
its start or not...). In the end I sensed the comma on the preceding line
gave a kind of subtle abruptness I liked more – so I didn’t include it. But
how many hours do we spend on such little words, such fine nuances?
And to And to Ian, Marilyn, too, my thanks.
Bob



>From: Bob Cooper <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: New Sub - The Violin
>Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 19:21:08 +0000
>
>The Violin,
>
>
>Now lift it, lower it,
>close the case, press
>each loose chrome clip,
>feel each tightening click.
>He’d held down, controlled
>sounds on its neck, unseen
>resin flaking off, fingerprints
>drying too quickly to see,
>
>now its body’s snug, at rest
>inside the blue velvet,
>and inside the gleam of varnish
>where darkness is hidden,
>where tunes came from,
>a white-wood heart
>so few consider,
>know is there.
>
>
>Bob Cooper
>
>(who's not yet at all sure about the title...
>but who seems loath to give more information!)
>an occasional poem
>and all comments welcome!
>
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