Reading David M. Dulkrazu’s “The Missing Stanza In Bryant Park” The Missing Stanza The tiny Asian woman who Just walked past me as I sit Reading a Billy Collins poem About creating tension With the word suddenly Seems the missing stanza That reveals tension also comes From walking through a park Clapping your hands loudly And shouting obscenities … Continue reading "Suddenly…Nothing…Something…Everything"

Reading David M. Dulkrazu’s “The Missing Stanza In Bryant Park”

The Missing Stanza

The tiny Asian woman who
Just walked past me as I sit
Reading a Billy Collins poem
About creating tension
With the word suddenly
Seems the missing stanza
That reveals tension also comes
From walking through a park
Clapping your hands loudly
And shouting obscenities
At no one in particular
� David M. Dulkrazu

I commented:

I was reminded of the opening to Virginia Tufte’s “Artful Sentences” where her first quote is from Anthony Burgess’ Enderby:

And the words slide into the slots ordained by syntax, and glitter as with atmospheric dust with those impurities which we call meaning.

Anthony Burgess, Enderby, 406

And I noted the offending Billy Collins poem from here:

And I wrote a private “thank you” note to the author which turned into a response poem:

 

Thank You for the Memento Mori

Suddenly, I am reminded

of David Hume,

but I can’t remember why.

Suddenly and muddily,

a dead carp of a phrase rises

from Sister Helen’s philosophy class

45 years ago.

“Constant conjunction, not causality”.

Unsuddenly,

I remember cinnamon

rind of orange

cloves

Grandmother’s English Breakfast tea

in nice china cups and saucers

“Constant Comment”

in dorm rooms.

This river of image

just as suddenly

dries up.

 

And just as suddenly the moment, it was over.