Navy

I know that I've been quite out of touch lately. In my defense, I was in Wellington for a week, then came back to my first week of environmental literature, and have been generally writing so much in other capacities that this one is often the one that gets shunted to the side. That and the world cup is going on, so my free time that is also free of rugby is less than usual.

We wrote a lot of poetry this past week, and it was the very first day, as we were just observing and recording, that I realised: an unsettling number of my thoughts about things are just references to other things that I've seen, but most often to what I've read. It was a bit depressing really. But then I remembered that Mumford and Sons' song "Sigh No More" is largely stolen from Much Ado About Nothing, and my professor, Ed Higgins, reminded me that, "Bad poets imitate; good poets steal." So I sat down Monday night and wrote this. I hope you enjoy it, and if you can figure out all of the references without cheating and looking them up, maybe you'll win a prize.

The Plagiarist: An Original Poem

They say it is nothing to worry about

That it is a gift, this tendency of mine to be reminded.

I watch and see only recognizable things.

I listen and hear only familiar sounds.

Everything is a reminder of something else.

Everything is a reference, a quote, an allusion.

They say it is good that I remember the things that I do.

And perhaps they’re right.

Perhaps I should think to barbarically yawp

As each leaf of grass blows in the wind.

Maybe it is right that as I slice bread with a knife,

I remember the crystal goblet and also the wine.

And who wouldn’t recall damned spots as she washes her hands?

But it feels as though I am just one of the thousand

Thousand fruit to touch, to take in hand.

It feels as though there is always a fly buzzing

In the room where I lie down to die.

It feels as though I am only watching a garden bloom from a window,

Seeing bees fumbling the flowers,

Sitting inside, naming the parts of a gun.

I plan on providing a recap of Wellington sometime over the weekend. Stay tuned!