Collaboration. Second photograph.

This poem also incorporates the following Exercise; Write 2 short poems with free metre and making different use of rhyme.

This is Dave's second photo. 

I'm enjoying the opportunity this project is giving me to look at how my own responses are formed. Dave offered no caption or explanation for this photo so I'm intrigued to hear his take on it after he's read my response to it. Initially when I studied the photo there seemed to be an ethereal quality to it, almost like a fairy tale. This aspect and the boat immediately led me to think of  Edward Lear's  'The Owl and the Pussycat';

The Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are,
What a beautiful Pussy you are."

Pussy said to the Owl "You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing.
O let us be married, too long we have tarried;
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows,
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?"
Said the Piggy, "I will"
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon.
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand.
They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

   As I read up a little about Edward Lear I learned that he 'is remembered primarily for his nonsense rhymes and limericks, but in his own lifetime he sought recognition as a landscape painter' (Harvard University Library 2003). Perusing the Harvard site (referenced and linked below) it is clear that he was extremely accomplished. Sir David Attenborough discusses his collection of Lear ornithological work here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20081949 . Yet another 'creative' who worked across diciplines. It seems to be a common trait.

     But to get back to Dave's photo.  It seems that the iambic meter and rhyme scheme of Lear's poem inspired me to construct a loosely rhymed and metered poem myself. However the photo itself evoked contrasting feelings in me. On the one hand the composition and his post editing resulted in a beautiful fairy-tale atmosphere, while on the other the un-natural colours were disconcerting. Perhaps in an illustration they might have proved less so but in a photograph the colours led me to think of more ominous explanations. Perhaps I expect to see truth in photographs? Or try to equate them with reality more than I would with illustration or drawing? Whatever the deeper reasons for perspective the un-natural prettiness of the colours caused some disquiet.

    In addition to this there is currently much local debate about the building of huge nuclear waste dumps just a few miles away across the Solway in Cumbria. The two things combined to inspire my response to Dave's photo with the poem 'Geiger Counting'.

Geiger Counting.

Here is a boat without any oars

And a river of rippling ink.

Here acid water laps alkaline shores,

And poison is pretty

So pretty in pink.

You’ll find no safe harbour

No berth and no jetty,

This place is no Eden,

despite what you think.

They buried their waste in the

deep silent silos,

And poison looks pretty,

So pretty in pink.

So far I have no clear idea of what I want to do with this project but I'm erring towards the idea of revisiting the short responses at a later date and developing each poem into a finished piece of work. At the moment I see them as starting points. But Dave's photos are certainly catalysts that ignite many potential routes of inquiry. 

Dave's feedback pointed out that the use of 'they' and 'their in the lines 
'They buried their waste in the
deep silent silos'
suggested a remove and he wondered how I felt about changing it to 'we' and 'our'. Initially I agreed with him and changed it.

Geiger Counting.

Here is a boat without any oars

And a river of rippling ink.

Here acid water laps alkaline shores,

And poison is pretty

So pretty in pink.

You’ll find no safe harbour

No berth and no jetty,

This place is no Eden,

despite what you think.

We buried our waste in the

deep silent silos,

And poison looks pretty,

So pretty in pink.

 The change, although subtle, facilitated a more subjective sense to the poem, making the narrator complicit and remorseful. But on further reflection I felt that the objective, slightly detached tone of the impartial observer was lost along with the ironic observation that toxins can look attractive.I felt that the irony became somewhat cynical. So ultimately I think I prefer the original version but also decided to present both options here. It's interesting how such a slight alteration in the wording can totally change the perspective and the intended meaning of a poem.

References.

Harvard University Library. 2003. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou01475 Accessed 09/02/2013.

Lear E. (1870) The Owl and the Pussycat  available at (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171941 accessed 9/102/13