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11 October 2012

Poem for the week - a poetry project

To my delight, I find myself able to remember the poem I learned last week. OK, it's only 6 lines long, and I did "rehearse" it rather a lot, both in writing and by saying it out loud. My reward is not only the pleasure of having "a new companion" but also the opportunity to put it into a bookwork - either on its own (that would be a small book, though...) or as part of a collection.

Working towards the bigger book, I am setting myself the project of learning a poem every week - a short poem, and for a minimum of six weeks. 

This week, I have chosen, pretty much at random, from New Poems on the Underground 2006 - the book opened to "Words in Time" by Archibald Macleish (1892-1982):
This poem is twice as long as last week's, so either there's half the chance I'll remember it, or I'll have to work twice as hard on it. At first reading it seems rather bewildering (which is, imho, a good sign!) ... I look forward to getting to know it. First step: copy it into my constant companion, The Black Notebook.

This project will continue as long as it continues to interest me. Please join me by learning a poem of your choice - and let me know what you've chosen!

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