.
I struggled with an image to pair with my poem. I didn’t want to activate in your imagination any particular situation. So I’m curious to know, what is this poem about…for you? Who is the “I”?
Margaret challenged the Inklings to study enjambment this month. This poem got started with the sneaky way I included in-jam-meant. Then I noticed I was writing in three-syllable lines, which sort of forced the issue of enjambment. So I cheated a little, but it was still interesting to notice which lines DO have a natural pause/stop and which lines are enjambed.
I found myself noticing enjambment as I finished the Sealey Challenge. This year, I discovered a new favorite poet, Kate Baer, thanks to the recommendation of I can’t remember which one of you. I am in AWE of the way she used enjambment in this poem:
Speaking of the Sealey Challenge, here are the books I read this past week: THE RED EAR BLOWS ITS NOSE by Robert Schechter (2 days), WHAT KIND OF WOMAN by Kate Baer, WHAT HAVE YOU LOST? ed. Naomi Shihab Nye, THE PARTING PRESENT by Manuel Iris (2 days), I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL by Kate Baer, AND YET by Kate Baer (still in progress).
Speaking of enjambment and the Inklings, here’s what the rest of the crew came up with this month:
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Heidi @my juicy little universe
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Ramona has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at Pleasures From the Page.
A(nother) Year of Reading 
How clever you are to place “in a jam
(ment” in your poem, and then it took off with your three syllable lines, that add to it! Your poem makes me think of some small, slightly furry animal on one of their missions doing something they need to do… Thanks for all, and the mention and sharing of Kate Baer’s poem too!
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To answer your question, when I read your poem I thought of myself sometimes struggling to complete the day’s Connections puzzle that forces the brain to think differently – slight veer left to get back on track. Love your play on “enjambment,” by the way. Thanks also for the recommendation of Kate Baer and I agree, her poem is a masterful example of enjambment.
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Wonderful imagery … you brought me right to a city intersection that I know. I imagined you driving a car into this very confusing merge where several roads come together and then split several ways and cars are trying to cross each other’s paths to get where they want to go. I was relieved to hear that you ended up on the right track! How to Be Happy is an incredible use of enjambment!
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What a clever way to play with in jam meant! I love it. I’m afraid my hustle these days is more like the poem you shared “swing your legs/out of bed and shout, ‘Ah! I am alive!'” I am grateful for each new day.
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Mary Lee,
Your poem “in a jam (meant…)” is so fun! I think of all sorts of things, like Michelle said, an animal. Mine would be scurrying to safety in the desert. I think of those busy roads where vehicles are like ants avoiding hitting each other. But, like Margaret, I think of your poem as a metaphor for life’s twists and turns. The last stanza makes me curious of what image you would have chosen. Thanks for introducing me to more of Kate Baer’s books. I did read What Kind of Woman on August 13 for the Sealey, and I loved it, but now I’m going to go back for more of her works.
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I do love the title of your poem, too, Mary Lee, a reminder that everyone can get out? What does the poem mean to me, kind of the “try, try again” mantra or it reminds me of a recent picture book by Peter H. Reynolds, “When Things Aren’t Going Right, ‘Go Left'”. Your own “Don’t look back.” Great advice! Thanks for intro to me of Kate Baer & “How to Be Happy”. It’s such a down-to-earth poem, wonderful.
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The “jam” in your poem made me think of a time when I blurted out something I shouldn’t have. I was eventually able to veer the conversation in another direction it, but it was awkward. : ) I love the way you poem can mean different things to each reader. Great work!
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Like Linda, I love how your poem can mean different things to each reader. I also imagine it might mean different things to one reader at different times. Your title made me think of fish, so then somehow I got salmon in my brain. But we also walked the train tracks tonight, so that seemed to fit as well. Then, I liked the idea of it as a metaphor for facing challenges in life. I do hope you’ll share the image you had in mind at some point! Finally, I also saw the Kate Baer reference that someone made recently and grabbed one of her books from the library. Thanks for reminding me that it’s sitting in my stack. Loved the poem you shared!
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I’m thinking something duckish – like Jemima Puddleduck. (Don’t dither did that.) Clever poem. And wow. There’s a mentor text right there, in Kate’s poem. Thank-you for sharing. 🙂
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I was thinking of a fly caught in an actual jam jar…and the poet writing a humorous mask poem description.
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Definitely a traffic jam for me, Mary Lee, but also thinking biking, which allows
for so
much
more veering, lo
and behold suprises.
How about that stanza 4 of “How to Be Happy”? Checking out Kate Baer, and thanks for sharing some of your Sealey reading which, as usual, you pulled off with considerably more concentration than I. And I’d like to take “Hustle, don’t/dither” as my personal mantra for the next month, but so much of my life depends on the decisions of others right now–I’m suffering from Acute Referred Dithering!
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I immediately imagined banana slices (the slight veer)that got grabbed and put onto a peanut butter sandwich(in – jam-ment) … probably NOT where you thought! I will check out Kate Baer now!
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Mary Lee, I love the way your poem moves. At first, I thought of driving along a new route like last night. My husband is all about hustle, don’t dither when he wants to get going. Then, I thought of the giant ant parade we saw last night while dining outside. My little grands and I watched at least 100 ants making their way here and there, hustling to go somewhere. If I took a photo, I could have spoken from the ant’s POV. Thanks for Kate Baer’s poem. I like her style.
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Okay–my immediate thought was traffic jam–I might have sat on I-95 yesterday for hours… I hope you enjoyed the Sealey Challenge! I already have ideas for next year. 🙂
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Mary Lee, appreciations for this mystery.
Your word play on the technique of enjambment is brilliant.
I love the variety of ways this short snappy poem sends us & all the ideas.
Since I’m in back & forth with med. stuff it. Puts me to mind of conflicting choices in which way to decide on treatment.
But on a larger scale – a weather note. Your poem reflected the dilemma many of us in GulfCoast FL felt about Cat 3 upon landfall Hurricane Idalia’s approach which at first targeted a wide swath of the vulnerable FL gulf coast communities. Go? Stay? Lots of dithering for lots of folks. How much to armour the windows? Should we leave with no evac. called in? Etc.
Blessedly, our area fared much better than expected, we armoured our windows well in advance, but had no limb or other missles flying into our house, although several families in our community did. InOur prep included carrying all light & heavy patio furniture to “safe” places. We came out from our hustle ready to return to status quo. We invested in a whole-house generator a fw ys. ago, so when our utility lost 8 hrs of power, we had AC & lights.
Happy Labor Day Weekend to you & your hubby & Fam. 🙂
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Unlike so many others, I did not think of traffic. Rather, I found myself considering the chain of event that have brought me to the present. After a week of my new role, I’m taking your words to heart: I “might get there/after all.” Thank you!
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This is fun, Mary Lee! Three-syllable lines is a great challenge, too, and you certainly succeeded. I like Kare Baer’s poems, too, which I just read for the first time this year.
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