Push and Pull
One poem, three ways to read
This year has been one of discovering and rediscovering poetry in all its various forms and styles. I have loved seeing how form and content often can’t be separated from each other. Certain subjects beg to be particularly bound. I was drawn to the form of the following poem for those exact reasons.
The poem below is a contrapuntal poem, a form composed of two or more separate columns that can be both read on their own and together, creating one piece that can be read in multiple ways, saying many things at once. I stumbled upon this form earlier this year when I saw a few poems written as conversations between two characters from classic literature, like Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and Penelope and Odysseus. I was very much inspired by the push and pull between these opposing voices and ideas and the interweaving that happens. This was my first attempt at writing in this style.
This might have been my first contrapuntal poem, but it has not been my last.
This form called to me when I was in the fresh grief of a miscarriage, swinging between feeling both the deepest sorrow and the richest love poured out on me by others, and again while listening to a trio perform a round about the trinity, the parts weaving in and out of each other. I am excited to share that these two poems, titled “Sorrow and Love” and “Three in One,” will be published by Solid Food Press in their forthcoming print journal set to release early next year! I hope to share more about those two poems when they are published, so stay tuned!