It's hard to place you
even as tableau
never having known
that voice, that old man
a white crag, etching
clear lines in water.

Beatnik dipped in ink
shipped East cut a path
nimble as Bashō  
peace in poetry
your heart's ease - stoppered
after one Spring rain.

The name rumbles on
in Cascadia*
no rhymes, no regrets.
Sakura poems
drift across the pond
blow through my window.

31 thoughts on “Tableau for A Prosodist”

1. Beautiful example of the poem, inspired by Sam’s poems. His poems are simple yet deep and really resonated with me. Love how you took some of his literary influences in his work specially:

   Sakura poems

   drift across the pond

   blow through my window.

   1. many thanks Grace – glad you can feel his influence here

2. I love what you did with the prompt, the imagery and the references works so well.

   1. thank you – Hamill avoided punctuation too which was the hard part

3. Such a beautiful poem!

   1. 🙏

4. 1st response I’ve read and now I just want to not even try, know that nothing I could do will compare. Marvelous work. Thanks.

   1. I’m very moved by your generous words Ron -thank you for the uplift

5. Nice one.

   much♡love

   1. ❤ Gillean – sorry I struggle to comment even though I keep signing in to google

6. He fits very well into my idea of Cascadia and its poets, though I didn’t know his work. Gary Snyder comes to mind immediately.

   You’ve caught the spare beauty that resonates with such clarity. (K)

   1. thank you Kerfe for the feedback and for another poet to familiarize myself with

7. I love this form as it is so easy to tell a story in few words. Sometimes the less said is better. You really reflected the poet so well. Wonderful ☺️

   1. thank you for your comment Christine – glad you enjoyed the tableau too – the 5 syllable lines can be a challenge but a good lesson in less verbosity

8. Your poem is a great example of the form, Laura, and echoes with Hammill’s influence, his rhythm and melody. I love the metaphor of the ‘old man / a white crag, etching / clear lines in water’ and the image of ‘Sakura poems drifting across the pond’.

   1. many thanks Kim – Hamill was a welcome find and led me on to read a number of his poems until I had enough flavour to write this tableau

      1. My pleasure, Laura.

9. Thanks for the prompt, Laura, and for introducing us to both the Literary Birthday site and to Sam Hamill in particular, your poem is a beautiful homage to both Sam and Cascadia and exemplifies the form you challenged us with perfectly…

   1. thank you for all your appreciation

10. A very lovely tribute!

    1. good to ‘see’ you ~Rosemary – thank you

11. Oh my! What a gorgeous tribute to Hamill and his style. A tableau for all of time. Thank you so much for introducing me to the form, Laura.

    1. my pleasure Helen – happy to know you enjoyed both poetry style and poet –

12. Your references: Cascadia, Basho, Sakura strewn through your lines makes for an even more enjoyable scenery to get lost in. Love it, Laura. Thanks dearly.

    1. thank you Selma – these are the touches of Hamill who translated many Chinese and Japanese poems as well as writing his own

13. “The name rumbles on
    in Cascadia*
    no rhymes, no regrets.
    Sakura poems
    drift across the pond
    blow through my window.”

    I love the feel of the poem, Laura. I read Cascadia, and fell in love with it.

    1. Cascadia a fave of mine too –

14. The last three lines wrapped up the poem so beautifully.

    1. Thank you Imelda – they floated readily on to the page

15. This a beautiful poem Laura, it washes into my soul.

    1. and your words washed mine – thank you Paul

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