The history of women and wood

The history of women and wood

A Poem by Delmar Cooper
"

A response to a suggestion by C.D. Campbell

"

A History of Women and Wood

A boy, years on the farm

Barely notices time,

But each year the notch where the horse

Rests his long jaw on the manger

And feeds, grows smoother and deeper.

The hoe handles, never sanded,

Bought rough and used rougher,

Are yet now smooth.

Free of the least imperfection.

I hear your voice,

Feel it glide like water into my heart.

I mount the stairs to your apartment;

The oak trod shallow in the tread.

The newel, the banister, fall like silk

Beneath my hand.

So why, when I touch you

Am I surprised at such smooth perfection?

 

 

 

© 2018 Delmar Cooper


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Featured Review

And you got all that from horse trough or at least "horse". He does have to eat from somewhere, so I guess manger will suffice as it is a synonym for trough. Clever. Maybe I should challenge you with the words "spicy burrito" next time. Ok, I think the only thing that has been proven is that you have been holding out on us and poetry is not a waste of your time. {insert smiley face emoji of your choice} I know we kid each other and I can wax on about the typical imagery, metaphor, and all that stuff, but I think this could be published easily. That's my highest compliment. CD

BTW--At first reading I could've swore you had some type of meter scheme going.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

6 Years Ago

Thanks for your generous comment. I wrote a "short story" that more completely addressed your promp.. read more
CD Campbell

6 Years Ago

I didn't expect any type of particular form. I'm just used to pulling off my shoes and counting syl.. read more



Reviews

I love how you choose to highlight all the ways wood can be honed by constant touch over the years & your well-expressed & specific examples harken intensely-felt memories of different wood items in the reader's history just like that. I love the comparison between smoothly worn wood & some loving encounter from a long life of such comfortable encounters. I could not tell for sure if this poem would end on a sweet note or a sour one. The sweet ending works well. I have to admit, your title brings something altogether different to mind, given my history as a woman lovin' woodies! *wink! wink!* Fondly, Margie

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

I think, don't know just think, you are close to reading my mind in your comment. I tend to whisper.. read more
barleygirl

3 Years Ago

"Can one man alone" . . . it all depends on how OCD he/she is *wink! wink!* Some of us can't keep ou.. read more
Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

Your hugs take on whole new worlds of meaning. Thanks for sharing.
Wow. Not sure how I came across this, but very glad I did. The transition from the boy/he of the first half of the poem to the 'I' of the second is direct without being jarring, what a wonderful tribute to the awe we sometimes feel in love. This whole poem builds to those last two lines so beautifully. Just wonderful.

Posted 5 Years Ago


CD Campbell recommended I take a look at your work. I’m glad he did.

I like the distance of the voice in this poem. There’s a speaker, but he prefers to speak around things, and I think that reveals a lot about what the poem is holding back. It does feel like a road toward holding back. The depth of feeling sometime being too much and needing a dam. I am often struck by what I am missing when everything stops and I do not have anything left to come between me and whatever it is that’s left in the immediate frame. That’s a lovely aspect of the poem, the way it makes you (me) think about presence and absence. It works as a reminder. As much as the rumination seemed to act as a reminder for the one who is speaking.

I love the simplicity- the sort of invocation of different facets of the past- and how that comes together to make the present (future). There are echoes of Robert Frost in the boy. I thought of his poem Birches, and then moved out into the landscape of your poem. It’s rich and evocative. I enjoyed it very much.

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 2 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

Thank you for reading and for your commentary. Campbell is a talented writer and I respect him imme.. read more
So obsessed with smoothness of things,
he never noticed how soft she felt!

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

I never thought to write about wood or flesh, but about the effects of use and experience upon peopl.. read more
Mrudula Rani

5 Years Ago

I was explaining my comment!
Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

And I my thoughts when I wrote the poem. I'm glad you read it and happy you commented. It's meanin.. read more
both with rough edges, can eventually be smoothed out with the right touch.
j.

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

Thanks Jacob.
I would imagine a carpenter or anyone who works with wood appreciates the results of their hard graft. Turning a piece of rough wood into something smooth and beautiful takes time and effort. I liked the comparison between the smoothness of the wood and a woman's skin. Maybe the surprise here is because the woman's perfection came easy to him who had endured a life of hard graft. I enjoyed the ambience of this poem. Thank you.

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your gracious and thoughtful comment. I am your debtor.
Chris Shaw

5 Years Ago

You are most welcome.
I like how you told this. Setting the scene of an honest working man, someone who works with his hands who is still jolted by the feel of his woman. It's not written as a sappy love poem yet your last two lines speak in such high volumes. It's how it feels to me. Something with love at the root of it.

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

thanks for your comment. I had two ways I looked at this one, but there are two sides to every oyst.. read more
Papaya

5 Years Ago

I suppose it makes no difference?
One sees what they want to see.
:) you're welcome .. read more
You started this poem in one place and transitioned to the opposite side of the world smooth as butter. This is great stuff. What a lovely outlook on time and life's peculiarities.

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

"You started this poem in one place and transitioned to the opposite side of the world smooth as but.. read more
RomaineCoppola

5 Years Ago

Hah. Too true, and too unfortunate.
So I have to thank both you and CD Campbell eh....Okay thank you both, wot a smashing little write this is... write on.................................................Neville

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

He was a sport about the whole thing.
Neville

5 Years Ago

For he's a jolly good fellow then.....well done the pair of ya................
stunning piece of work here

Posted 5 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Years Ago

Thanks Anise. I appreciate your reading it.
Anise

5 Years Ago

you're welcome :)

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Added on February 26, 2018
Last Updated on February 26, 2018

Author

Delmar Cooper
Delmar Cooper

Trussville, AL



About
I write- a little. I don't write to reinvent the wheel, or discover fire. I just drag along from sentence to sentence hoping for a spark. more..

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