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Backyard Quince - A Paean to Petworth


dcmarti1

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A narrow, urban, and uptown alley,
peopled by the old and by the new,
find comparison to be troubling,
as bitter as backyard quince.

Those self-same old and self-same new,
neither hating, loving, nor knowing
the other, find indifference an effortless aegis,
as unyielding as backyard quince.

Mason jars of lemon curd and red plum jam,
opened and stabbed from exotic tongues and skins,
could find common hearth on calescent scones,
as redolent as backyard quince.

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Poems of place are among my favorites, and I love how you capture this locale. These environs are home to the poet-speaker, away though he may be, apart, as if from a lover, from his domicile to where he intends to some day return. A person might have more than one residence, but he has only one domicile. Furthermore, "A person can remain domiciled in a jurisdiction even after he has left it, if he has maintained sufficient links with that jurisdiction or has not displayed an intention to leave permanently."1 But we're not talking law here, we're talking matters of the heart. Though my home is elsewhere, in an altogether different state, I still feel a connection to the place where I grew up.

Of particular interest: "peopled by the old and by the new." I feel that way whenever I visit my parents at my childhood home. I haven't lived there for decades, but it still feels, in some ways, like home.

Very nice work with this poem. I love it.

Tony


1. Domicile

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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3 minutes ago, tonyv said:

Poems of place are among my favorites, and I love how you capture this locale. These environs are home to the poet-speaker, away though he may be, apart, as if from a lover, from his domicile to where he intends to some day return. A person might have more than one residence, but he has only one domicile. Furthermore, "A person can remain domiciled in a jurisdiction even after he has left it, if he has maintained sufficient links with that jurisdiction or has not displayed an intention to leave permanently."1 But we're not talking law here, we're talking matters of the heart. Though my home is elsewhere, in an altogether different state, I still feel a connection to the place where I grew up.

Of particular interest: "peopled by the old and by the new." I feel that way whenever I visit my parents at my childhood home. I haven't lived there for decades, but it still feels, in some ways, like home.

Very nice work with this poem. I love it.

Tony


1. Domicile

This was my 2nd and last neighborhood after "downtown" Dupont. "Uptown" Petworth was far more residential and was undergoing PAINFUL gentrification. Modest townhomes and modest apartments-turned-condo reaching prices long-term families could not afford. (I guess I was part of that problem.) Middle-class and business owning Black families had been there, and I was told a sizeable Jewish presence on Kennedy Street.

A dear neighbor still corresponds with me, and she sent me a photo of a pie she had made from her "backyard quince".

Thanks, Tony.

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2 minutes ago, dcmarti1 said:

This was my 2nd and last neighborhood after "downtown" Dupont. "Uptown" Petworth was far more residential and was undergoing PAINFUL gentrification. Modest townhomes and modest apartments-turned-condo reaching prices long-term families could not afford. (I guess I was part of that problem.) Middle-class and business owning Black families had been there, and I was told a sizeable Jewish presence on Kennedy Street.

A dear neighbor still corresponds with me, and she sent me a photo of a pie she had made from her "backyard quince".

Thanks, Tony.

There can be appreciable differences even from one neighborhood to another in heavily populated areas. That also sums up my current environs. Personally, I find it exciting. 

I live in Providence County, Rhode Island, only about forty miles from where I grew up in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. But even in such a short distance, with the many towns and at least one other county inbetween, there are noticeable differences in demographics, culture, and (in my opinion) attitude. 

There is some interesting stuff in the Wikipedia link re domicile of origin, domicile of choice, etc.

Tony

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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Like how you use the 'preservatives' in the context Marti.

Triston Moss is guest editing on the publication Snakeskin and 'environs' is the theme:

Quote

Advance notice: September Snakeskin will be a special issue on the theme of 'Environs', guest-edited by Tristan Moss. Tristan writes:


Environs will be the theme for the September edition of Snakeskin. Please interpret broadly.

Poems could be about the environs of a town or a city: for example, greenbelts, housing estates, rubbish tips, wastelands, nature reserves or parks. Or could be about the environs of a pub, school, workplace, allotment, shed, farm or space shuttle. Or you might want to write a poem about the virtual environs of a video game or website. Some argue that we now live in a global village, so by this measure the whole world could be seen as our environs.

Poems might show how an area’s environs have changed. Or they might show the effect of change on you (or other people); or the effect you or others have had on an area’s environs.

These poems should have a strong sense of place, with well chosen specific details, but there may be exceptions to this, too.

I welcome all forms of poetry, from traditional ones to experimental ones.

 


 

Your Environs verses should be sent directly to Tristan at tristanmoss@hotmail.co.uk .

http://www.snakeskinpoetry.co.uk/

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8 hours ago, badger11 said:

Like how you use the 'preservatives' in the context Marti.

Triston Moss is guest editing on the publication Snakeskin and 'environs' is the theme:

http://www.snakeskinpoetry.co.uk/

I feel bad about being a Colonial and sending in a poem to the Mother Country, but, what the hell. Thanks for the tip. I will send it in. And, also, thanks for reading.

Edited by dcmarti1
typo error
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Hi Marti,   This gem has a nostalgic vibe.  Love the backyard quince anchor that makes this unique and adds flavor.  The poem seem organic, effortless.  ive read this several times and it just keeps getting better and better.

~~Tink

~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~

For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com

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On 6/26/2019 at 12:23 AM, badger11 said:

Triston Moss is guest editing on the publication Snakeskin and 'environs' is the theme:

http://www.snakeskinpoetry.co.uk/

 

Environs -- it's deifinitely a cool theme. You should submit the poem, Marti. In line with the concept, for additional inspiration, I'll submit this here:

 

 

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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11 hours ago, Tinker said:

Hi Marti,   This gem has a nostalgic vibe.  Love the backyard quince anchor that makes this unique and adds flavor.  The poem seem organic, effortless.  ive read this several times and it just keeps getting better and better.

~~Tink

No, not effortless. The IDEA was easy, but I had to adjust MANY words with an online thesaurus.  😉

 

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6 hours ago, tonyv said:

 

Environs -- it's deifinitely a cool theme. You should submit the poem, Marti. In line with the concept, for additional inspiration, I'll submit this here:

 

 

Population, minus me. Genius.  :)

I did submit it to the e-mail addy that badger sent. Twould be my first Euro publication. Sigh.

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10 hours ago, dcmarti1 said:

No, not effortless. The IDEA was easy, but I had to adjust MANY words with an online thesaurus.  😉

  

Ha Marti,  That just proves you not only have the soul of a poet but you also are a craftsman in the art.   

~~ Tink

~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~

For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com

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7 minutes ago, Tinker said:

Ha Marti,  That just proves you not only have the soul of a poet but you also are a craftsman in the art.   

~~ Tink

^This! I make extensive use of the thesaurus (together with the dictionary) when writing. I have a few older, bound volumes which are indispensable to my writing, but I'll still use online versions whenever I'm too lazy to get up and get the books. :biggrin:

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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16 minutes ago, tonyv said:

^This! I make extensive use of the thesaurus (together with the dictionary) when writing. I have a few older, bound volumes which are indispensable to my writing, but I'll still use online versions whenever I'm too lazy to get up and get the books. :biggrin:

I have a few bound Thesaurus too, but my favorite is The Synonym Finder by J.I.Rodale of which I have one at home and one at the office.  They are both paperbound and falling apart. Loose pages, the one at the office is the older one and it has broken into 3 different sections. I keep it in a drawer because it looks so beat up, even the front cover is scotch taped on.  I guess it is time for me to spring for a new one.  I also have rhyming dictionaries, The Complete Rhyming Dictionary Revised, edited by Clement Wood is a good one but the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary has become my favorite because it seems easier to find sounds. It too it is starting to shed pages and both books are hardbound copies.

~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~

For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com

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30 minutes ago, Tinker said:

I have a few bound Thesaurus too, but my favorite is The Synonym Finder by J.I.Rodale of which I have one at home and one at the office.  They are both paperbound and falling apart. Loose pages, the one at the office is the older one and it has broken into 3 different sections. I keep it in a drawer because it looks so beat up, even the front cover is scotch taped on.  I guess it is time for me to spring for a new one.  I also have rhyming dictionaries, The Complete Rhyming Dictionary Revised, edited by Clement Wood is a good one but the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary has become my favorite because it seems easier to find sounds. It too it is starting to shed pages and both books are hardbound copies.

I don't have a rhyming dictionary, so I'm using Rhymezone online, but my thesaurus and dictionary are older. The thesaurus has lots of words. 💡 I think I got the thesaurus from a school library that was getting rid of a lot of books!!! 😮

IMG_20190630_105916.jpg

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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58 minutes ago, tonyv said:

I don't have a rhyming dictionary, so I'm using Rhymezone online, but my thesaurus and dictionary are older. The thesaurus has lots of words. 💡 I think I got the thesaurus from a school library that was getting rid of a lot of books!!! 😮

IMG_20190630_105916.jpg

I like rhymer.com

https://rhymer.com/

 

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8 minutes ago, dcmarti1 said:

I like rhymer.com

Thank you for this, Marti! I never cared very much for rhymezone. It's too cluttered and seems kind of buggy/bogged down.

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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David W. Parsley

On-line rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses are a godsend because of their convenience while composing.  But they are definitely not all created equal.  And sometimes they just plain miss valid synonyms.

Nice crafting on this one, Marti.  Like badger, I liked the subtle allusion to preservation and its role in the milieu here.  Nice use of -en, -in, and -ent sounds, tightening and grounding the poem.

 - Dave

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23 hours ago, David W. Parsley said:

On-line rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses are a godsend because of their convenience while composing.  But they are definitely not all created equal.  And sometimes they just plain miss valid synonyms.

Nice crafting on this one, Marti.  Like badger, I liked the subtle allusion to preservation and its role in the milieu here.  Nice use of -en, -in, and -ent sounds, tightening and grounding the poem.

 - Dave

As always, I appreciate your time and perception. After 6 years, still working out many aspects of this move.

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  • 2 weeks later...
David W. Parsley

Six years!  Has it really been so long?  Well, you are still transmuting the experience into art, so something is right!

 - Dave

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/25/2019 at 11:23 PM, badger11 said:

Like how you use the 'preservatives' in the context Marti.

Triston Moss is guest editing on the publication Snakeskin and 'environs' is the theme:

http://www.snakeskinpoetry.co.uk/

They decided not to use it. Still, I am undaunted. 😉

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10 hours ago, tonyv said:

Well Marti, we've decided to use it here. 

Tony :happy:

And I thank my system administer for it! You. 😉

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