I meant to post this yesterday, but was overwhelmed by a very busy schedule, so let’s all just pretend it’s still Thursday, okay? Great. Now, my housemate and I have had a standing challenge for the past few months: that every Thursday, we each must find a new great poem to share. ‘New’ here merely means something we haven’t read before.
The purpose of this is twofold. Firstly, it forces us to look further and further afield to find excellent poems, and in the process, discover poets we’d never have otherwise come across. There’s just so much out there we’ve yet to read, and this is a great incentive to range far and wide. Secondly, it keeps us engaged in a field of writing we both love – it ensures we aren’t simply passive in our readership, that we’re both investigative and critical.
It’s also just a fun, lively way to spruik what might be an otherwise ordinary day or night. It’s something I’ve grown to love, and while we’re not zealous in our application of it – sometimes we miss the day, or forget – we always catch up. And if we don’t get to share it because we’re busy, we’ll still have read more poetry during that week than we otherwise would have, and that’s a win in my books.
So I thought it’d be a good idea to start sharing the poems I find on this blog, so that everyone can have a look at what I’ve stumbled into. The last entry, which I’ve read a half-dozen times, and is fast becoming one of my favourite poems ever, is an absolute delight. I’m talking about Bill Manhire’s ‘Hotel Emergencies.’ It’s evocative and powerful, mixing mundane observations with an ever-widening ripple of connected thoughts, taking branches both logical and poetic, and always, always building its rhythm beautifully.
I highly recommend you read it aloud.
You will not regret it!
