Poetry—The Art of the Voice is another one of my poems published in This Enduring Gift – A Flowering of Fairfield Poetry, 2010. Editor Freddy Niagara Fonseca posted this poem on his Amazon.com page: VISITING POET Ken Chawkin: Poetry – The Art of the Voice, which links to the complete version on his Live Journal.
Poetry—The Art of the Voice
How fine will your breath become
from listening to these words?
How soft will they seem to be
as they settle through the mind
like silent snowflakes falling
from a windless winter sky?
I often marvel at the mystery—
how words can work
on a listener’s heart and mind,
upon hearing a poet’s thoughts,
a poet’s breath, flowing
from an inner voice—
a windless wind, speaking
through a voiceless voice.
© Ken Chawkin
Published in This Enduring Gift – A Flowering of Fairfield Poetry, 2010
http://www.thisenduringgift.com
This poem came out of the inspiration listening to the Diane Rhem Show: Bill Moyers on Poetry, when she invited him on to talk about his latest PBS special on the Poetry Festival he had attended and filmed, and his new book of it, “Fooling With Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft” (William Morrow). They had invited 3 poets: Marge Piercy, former poet laureate Mark Strand, and Jane Hirschfield, to call in and discuss the inspiration for a poem they had written and share it with the listening audience. The effect on the Festival audiences was also discussed. See , with links to the program, book, and each poet reading their poem.
When the call went out for poems from Fairfield poets for This Enduring Gift-A Flowering of Fairfield Poetry, I sent it in along with some haiku and a tanka. It was published and later selected as the POEM OF THE DAY: Poetry – The Art of the Voice, by Ken Chawkin.
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