topics: |  poetry

These are poems meant for two voices.  They come our rather well, even if
one is reading it for oneself.

Incidentally such poems have been conceived for a very long time.  The
Persian poet Rudaki wrote a 2-voiced poem in around 900 AD, check it out in
these excerpts from Jon Stallworthy's eminently
possession-worthy A Book of Love Poetry.

Water Boatmen

"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
We're water boatmen
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
                                      up early, rowing
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
We're cockswain calling
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
                                      and oarsmen straining
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
and six man racing shell
rolled into one
                                      We're water boatmen
                                     "Stroke!"
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
worn-out from rowing
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
                                         Bound for the bottom
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
of this deep millpond
"Stroke!"                            "Stroke!"
                                      where we arrive
and shout the order
"Rest!"                               "Rest!"

Fireflies (p.11)

	Light                           Light
	                                is the ink we use
	Night                           Night
	is our parchment
	                                We're
	                                fireflies
	fireflies                       flickering
	flitting
	                                flashing
	fireflies
	glimmering                      fireflies
	                                gleaming
	glowing
	Insect calligraphers            Insect calligraphers
	practicing penmanship
	                                copying sentences
	Six-legged scribblers           Six-legged scribblers
	of vanishing messages,
	                                fleeting graffiti
	Fine artists in flight          Fine artists in flight
	adding dabs of light
	                                bright brush strokes
	Signing the June nights         Signing the June nights
	as if they were paintings       as if they were paintings
	                                We're
	flickering                      fireflies
	fireflies                       flickering
	fireflies.                      fireflies.

Book Lice (p.15)

	I was born in a
	fine old edition of Schiller
	                                While I started life
	                                in a private eye thriller
	We're book lice                 We're book lice
	who dwell                       who dwell
	in these dusty bookshelves.     in these dusty bookshelves.
	Later I lodged in
	Scott's works - volume 50
	                                While I passed my youth
	                                in an Agatha Christie
	We're book lice                 We're book lice
	attached                        attached
	despite constrasting pasts.     despite constrasting pasts.
	...
	We're book-loving               We're book-loving
	book lice                       book lice
	                                plain proof of the fact
	which I'm certain I read
	in a book some months back
	that opposites                  that opposites
	often are known                 often are known
	to attract                      to attract