Happy New Year, poetry people! I'm delighted to be hosting you this week.
I have been working on my cards for the New Year poetry postcard swap hosted by Jone Rush MacCulloch and pulled out my old Smith Corona. There's something magical about a typewriter.
Goofy, I know, but I love them. Sadly, my typewriter ran out of ink as I was typing my 8th postcard. My last three cards are on hold until a new ribbon is delivered.
In honor of the typewriter, I'm sharing a poem by Australian poet David Malouf.
Typewriter Music
Hinged grasshopper legs kick
back. So
quick off the mark, so
spritely. They set
the mood, the mode, the call
to light-fingered highjinks.
A meadow dance
on the keyboard,
in breathless, out-of-bounds
take-offs into
flight and giddy joyflight without
stint. The fingerpads
have it. Brailling through
études of alphabets, their chirp and clatter
grass-choppers
the morning to soundbites,
each rifleshot hammerstroke another notch
in the silence.
© 2006, David Malouf
The Poetry Sisters met on Sunday to map out our writing prompts for the year. We have a plan and a prompt for January. Would you like to try this month's challenge? We will be writing a tanku, a poem that begins with a tanka, followed by a haiku written in response. A tanku can be any length, but each verse should be written in response to the one before. You can find an example at Rattle: Poetry. Are you with us? Good! Please share your poem on January 31st in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!
Please join the Poetry Friday party by leaving your link below, and don't forget to leave a comment to let us know you're here. Happy poetry Friday, friends!
**NOTE** - Denise Krebs was kind enough to point out that Inlinkz doesn't work for everyone. If you click on a link and Inlinkz won't connect, go to the upper right-hand corner of the "refused to connect" page and click on the X. That should take you to the site. If that doesn't work, leave me a comment and I'll link those pages here.
"Light-fingered highjinks"
ReplyDelete"Grass-choppers"
"Rifleshot hammerstroke"
Such brilliant use of language! Thanks for sharing and for hosting, Tricia!
I love the clickety-clack of a typewriter. There's nothing like it. ❤️ I hadn't seen the Malouf poem before and I love the image of the keys as hinged grasshopper legs. Thanks for hosting, Tricia!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh. Now you, Tricia, have me wanting to get my orange cursive typewriter out of my shed. I need to dance her grasshopper self! Thank you! Thank you, too, for hosting. I am going to get her...I am! Missing your spirit here in VERY SNOWY Buffalo with an excellent Bills season.... xxoo, a.
ReplyDeleteHi Tricia thanks for this fun poem— I like both the grasshoppers and grass-choppers! Are you familiar with Leroy Anderson Ritvélin musical piece, "The Typewriter," here's a link to it: https://youtu.be/oiXTyqaOFnE?si=XF5Rvl4Qcl1t7yRq. Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting, Tricia - and thank you for this wonderful poem! I didn't know it. I do love the look, sound, and feel of a typewriter. "Hinged grasshopper legs kick/back." Perfect! :0)
ReplyDeleteFull credit to you, Tricia for keeping the nostalgia of typewriters alive with your postcard swap project. It was also a lovely surprise to see the powerful words of Australia's David Malouf's 'Typewriter Music' featured in your post. The ending is suitably evocative of typewriters- 'each rifleshot hammerstroke another notch
ReplyDeletein the silence.' Thank you for also hosting.
I still have my college typewriter, & especially loved the recently published book, Olivetti, by Allie Millington. I have that same typewriter, which I have, like you, Tricia, fit with a new ribbon & the granddaughters are in love! The poem celebrates those nifty wonderfully, "their chirp and clatter
ReplyDeletegrass-choppers
the morning to soundbites," - old & new, right? Thanks for all & for hosting!
Thanks for hosting! Yes, a typewriter is very fun. I remember typing papers on one, though, and I wouldn't want to go back to that! I can't get the linky thingy to work, so here's my post: https://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2025/01/poetry-friday-writing-group.html
ReplyDeleteTricia, thank you for hosting. The typewriter poem is a treat. I love the idea of the keys being grasshopper legs. I'll look forward to trying out a tanku with you all!
ReplyDeleteHooray for typewriters. I love "hinged grasshopper legs." So great! When I taught the summer writing camps at Hollins for high school girls, one year we brought a typewriter and they were FASCINATED! They took turns all week typing their poems on a typewriter. It made me feel... old. :)
ReplyDeleteOoooooh. I do love the sounds in this poem. The clattering, chopping, dancing. All those typewriter sounds are so satisfying. Your poem is rich with sound words. And, I love the image of grasshopper legs...busy grasshoppers getting the words out. Thanks so much for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI love that you're using a typewriter for your postcards (note to self--oops! gotta get on that one!). This poem is such a celebration of both typewriters and the elasticity of language. Thanks so much for sharing and also for hosting today!
ReplyDelete