Try it out. Even though you might not understand every stanza of Stevens' poem, challenge yourself to emulate the structure of his stanzas, his use of figurative language and his use of concise imagery.
These are some ideas that you may use to compose your own poem. However you are free to come up with an idea of your own as well:
13 Ways of Looking at New York City
13 Ways of Looking at the Lower East Side
13 Ways of Looking at New York City Garbage
13 Ways of Looking at Pigeons
13 Ways of Looking at New Yorkers
13 Ways of Looking at the Subway
13 Ways of Looking at NYC traffic
13 ways of Looking at Tompkins Square Park
13 Ways of Looking at Times Square
etc...
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
1
Among twenty snowy mountains
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
2
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
3
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.
4
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
5
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes.
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
6
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
7
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
9
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
10
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
11
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.
12
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be going.
13
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar limbs.
13 Ways to Look at 9th Street in the Rain:
ReplyDelete1
Among scattered buildings, satiated with secrets
With moss covered bricks
The raindrops pound.
2
I was of countless memories,
Like the countless raindrops
Suspended instantaneously above West 9th Street.
3
The raindrops blurred my vision.
Thick deception in the air.
4
A wish and a dream
Are one.
A wish and a dream and a raindrop
Are one.
5
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of a sudden inspiration
Or the beauty of a toiling thought.
The rain splashing
Creating patterns on the sidewalk.
6
Long ancient shadows
Filled with misty reminiscences.
The fresh newness of a raindrop
Coming down harder and harder.
The mood
Traced in the past
A nonexistent cause.
7
O sweet youth of the naïve,
Why do you see joy?
Do you not see the anguish
That is seeped in the rain
Of the tears from the clouds?
8
I know the veneer of a smile
How enticing and warmly hypnotizing;
But I know, too,
That the rain on 9th Street is involved
In what I know.
9
When the pavement was veiled with the residue of rain,
It marked the edge
Of the point of no return.
10
At the sight of the rain
Arriving with full thrust,
Even the seeds of dry morbid plum colored thoughts
Would cry out excruciatingly.
11
She walked through the street
In her tattered sneakers.
Once, terror pierced her.
In that she mistook
The promise of death
For the divulging rain.
12
The cars are moving.
The rain stays with vehemence.
13
It was twilight all through the early morning.
It was raining
And it was going to rain.
I sit
On the cold steps of a brownstone house.