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Poem by Carrie Etter

Eyewear is delighted to welcome Carrie Etter (pictured) this Friday. Etter is an American poet resident in England since 2001. She used to live in Normal, Illinois and southern California.

In the UK her poems have appeared in, among others, The Liberal, Poetry Review, PN Review, Shearsman, Stand and TLS, while abroad they've appeared in places such as Aufgabe, Barrow Street, Columbia and The New Republic. Subterfuge for the Unrequitable, a pamphlet, was published by Potes & Poets in 1998.

She is an Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing for Bath Spa University and a tutor for The Poetry School.


The Honeymoon of Our Attraction

The honeymoon of our attraction subsided abruptly,
as though after a summer in a beach cottage I resumed
the urban and a drinking spout’s arc became the only water
I put my mouth to.

If then I’d painted the seaside town from memory, I’d have chosen
watercolours for the streaks of illumination become impalpable.
Incarnate rode the subway stink, the traffic din, the elusive
beauty of passing faces.

Yet months later the dune grasses, smelling of transience,
smelling of risk, scratch my palms with their long blades.
Where did they come from? Of the wave’s surge I know only
I stand soddened.


Poem by Carrie Etter;
originally published in Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art
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Comments

Ben Wilkinson said…
I liked this: the language isn't afraid to be rich, grand, descriptive, and truly poetic. I also appreciate the length of the lines: the rhythm of a line is there to be expanded and explored, and yet you don't see long poetic lines being used enough in contemporary poetry (exceptions spring to mind, of course; David Harsent, for example). A beautiful couple of closing lines too, very moving and thought-provoking.
Sat Aug 18, 11:11:00 am 2007
Area 17 said…
Agreeing with everything ben says!

I love the "Incarnate rode the subway stink" start of the third line, and "the elusive beauty of passing faces" from the second stanza is a knock-out in itself.

The description of dunes (dune grasses) is spot on, and brings back both physical personal memories, and memorable film classics I've watched on many a rainswept impassable Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
Sat Aug 18, 07:15:00 pm 2007
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