From that first line, Sheila, that duality speaks, but so does the power ‘she’ holds, & the way the lines march (3 words each) tell a story of her power to order, to fore a kind of obedience, or that others hear her that way. So, yes, an ambivalence on both sides inscribed throughout. How it works, sharp, evincing.
Doug
> On Jan 12, 2020, at 11:54 AM, Sheila Murphy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Glad to hear you acknowledge the duality here, Bill. I appreciate it! Sheila
>
> On Sat, Jan 11, 2020 at 2:28 PM Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Ode to a teacher or a certain sort of teacher, Sheila? Or is it a critique
>> of a teacher? Interesting line turns constantly surprise.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> On Sun, 12 Jan 2020 at 7:41 am, Sheila Murphy <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> She sounded used
>>> to being given
>>> credit for what
>>> others do without.
>>>
>>> Others around her
>>> listened beneath listening
>>> in case she drove
>>> something unexpected
>>>
>>> in an unexpected turn
>>> that would adjust
>>> the way they
>>> had to think
>>>
>>> and do and
>>> play whatever
>>> game she said,
>>> she said things
>>>
>>> she did not know
>>> she said
>>> or she did know
>>> as others were accustomed
>>>
>>> to obedience she
>>> taught how to perform
>>> as she demanded
>>> invisibly and clearly
>>>
>>> so the others knew
>>> and did as she
>>> required and stiffened
>>> spines to make sure
>>>
>>> nothing would be
>>> different any time
>>> and nothing would
>>> occur beyond her
>>>
>>> presence, all eyes
>>> remained fastened on
>>> her least move,
>>> the unspoken glow
>>>
>>> was one way
>>> to know who
>>> you were so
>>> people listened up
>>>
>>> and worked
>>> the way they knew
>>> had worked and made
>>> themselves her selves.
>>>
>>> Sheila E. Murphy
>>>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations 2 (UofAPress).
Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
Listen. If (UofAPress):
Done in by creation itself.
I mean the gods. Not us. Well us too.
The gods moved into books. Who wrote the books?
We wrote the books. In whose dream, then are we dreaming?
Robert Kroetsch
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