Progress Notes

As sometimes happens when I spend time on a long, complex poem, I also began to write a shorter piece--an 18-liner that came readily. This is another in the series based upon the paintings of Martin Johnson Heade. The small size of his hummingbird canvasses, and I suppose the tiny hummers themselves, encourage short lyrics and meditations--sonnet-length and slightly longer.

The one I worked on last night and again this morning looks like a keeper.

It's good to have familiar subject matter and to have done a fair amount of research on Heade's life and art. I know enough about Heade to find a passageway into each poem; not so much that I've lost my curiosity, that I cease making small discoveries.