Friday, September 11, 2009

Poetry Friday - The Weight of What Is Thrown

I love stones. I love the way they feel in my hand, how they skip over the water, or heavily sink. While doing a search for something related to skipping stones I stumbled upon this poem. Not only did I find a new poetry journal to read, but also a wonderful poet to look for. Isn't the Internet a strange and marvelous thing?
The Weight of What Is Thrown
by Joe Wenderoth

Smooth stones have always appealed to me.
River stones, I guess they’re called,
though the best ones come from ocean shoreline
where cliffs are crumbling and tides are rising
and falling
and perfecting what they have broken.

Read the entire poem.
The round up is hosted by Elaine at Wild Rose Reader. Do stop by and take in all the wonderful poetry being shared this week. Before you go, be sure to check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday all!

5 comments:

  1. Simply gorgeous. I hadn't before encountered this poet, and I'm pleased to see another Bay Area guy!

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  2. Wow. That poem lives up to its title. I gave stones with words on them to my children at one point. I wonder if they still have them?

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  3. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

    Very thought provoking. Happy to discover a new to me poet!!

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  4. Wow. Finally sat down to read the whole poem, and then had to read it a second time, then stare into space to mull it over. I think I'll return to it again.

    Thanks for introducing me to a new-to-me poet!

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  5. If people check out Joe Wenderoth, they might be in for a surprise. He wrote LETTERS TO WENDY'S, which is a cult classic and VERY strange - I guess you could say dark. It was used as an example in a dissertation Cody Walker (poet) wrote about what he calls "difficult laughter" - that is, the kind of thing where you shouldn't really laugh (because the thing that's happening or being described is so horrible, painful, whatever)but you do. LETTERS TO WENDY'S is something that I guarantee you is NOT about sweet things like beach stones (more likely its about what happens if you drink several gallons of coffee & are out of your head on caffeine) though I agree that this poem sounds much calmer. Anyway - Wenderoth is certainly a poet to take a look at - he's intelligent and funny (in a difficult-laughter way) but not exactly a calm writer.

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