Driving Through Rural Indiana, an erasure of Maggie Smith’s poem “Ohio”
The landscape sings like
flat patience
a crisp
papery
persistent
melody
that
leaves
you
muffled
looping
like a memory
you
were born
with darkness
seen through
light
in scraps
11 thoughts on "Driving Through Rural Indiana, an erasure of Maggie Smith’s poem “Ohio”"
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Wow!! Oh wow.
This is masterful.
Great placement and great whitespace.
Reads and plays like e.e.cummings.
And read out loud in breath it is as stunning as angelou.
I couldn’t help my eyes from dancing among the leaves.
Thank you, Coleman!
I was struck by the verb “leaves” because so many of the words could describe the noun “leaves.” This gave much food for thought. Thanks, Karen!
Thank you, Nancy!
This is so compelling and has a great amount of compression and depth–so many interesting readings
Thank you, Shaun. I really liked how it came out that it could be read several ways around the word “darkness,” since I didn’t add any punctuation.
“The landscape sings like flat patience.”
What a beautiful image.
This is a poem that both stands on its own and inspires me to find and read the source.
Thank you, Gwyneth!
Love the structure of this piece!
I especially love the last 3 lines. Such a wise observation of how awareness begins.
I like that you show us the words in space. Nicely done.