Our assignment today was a poem on the subject of “landscape,” using the technique of enumeratio (the enumeration of multiple elements in the same series). However, we were supposed to make this piece a “found poem,” meaning we were to search for all the words in some other works, then use those “found” words to piece together our own original work, then copy and paste our own poem into our post (somewhat similar to the way a ransom note is constructed).

Unfortunately, yesterday and today have been excruciatingly full and stressed, so I did not have any time to hunt for words in someone else’s work. It sounds like an interesting exercise. I’ve never done it before, so I plan to try it sometime in the future. In fact, I think I’ll use it with some of my own poetry students in the future. But for today, all I can offer is an alternative. Here’s a poem I wrote some time back that incorporates landscape and, in my estimation, a small amount of enumeratio as well. Hope it will pass for today’s homework.

ALONG THE RIVER

The sun is playing hide and seek with clouds
Along the river.
The clouds are gray, but friendly, soft, and free
Along the river.

I move unhampered by the flirting breeze
Along the river
Breathing deeply of the moistened earth
Along the river.

Quiet now invades my mind and soul
Along the river.
I’m letting go of tumbling, troubled thoughts
Along the river.

My past recedes; my future quiet rests
Along the river,
And water speaks to waters deep within
Along the river.

I sit and contemplate historic past
Along the river
The generations served by this same stream
Along the river.

And sense that I belong to something great
Along the river
A part of something bigger than myself
Along the river.

And far beyond my power to understand,
Along the river,
An elemental knowing I am known —
And I am loved —
By the Creator of the river.

 

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