Sunday, April 05, 2009

The Fifth Daily Poem Project, Week Seven Call for Votes

THE FIFTH DAILY POEM PROJECT, WEEK SEVEN

Here are the poems to vote for in the seventh week of the fifth Daily Poem Project (the poems on Poetry Daily from Monday, March 30, to Sunday, April 5):

April 5: David R. Slavitt, Fog (vote only on the first poem)
April 4: Jack Gilbert, Not Easily
April 3: Susan Wheeler, Air Map
April 2: Ghassan Zaqtan, A Picture of the House at Beit Jala (tr. Fady Joudah)
April 1: Edward Nobles, Blue Fire
March 31: Wisława Szymborska, A Moment (tr. Joanna Trzeciak)
March 30: Hannah Louise Poston, Words Sonnet

HOW TO VOTE: You can send your vote to me by email or as a comment on the blog. If you want to vote by commenting but do not want your vote to appear on the blog, you just have to say so in your comment (I moderate all comments on my blog). I will post comments as they come in.

Please make a final decision and vote for only one poem (although it is always interesting to see people's lists).

As I will be out of town for Easter, I will not post the results of the week-seven vote until Monday, April 13. So you may vote until then. I will post the results and the call for votes for week 8 by that evening. As usual, I will still accept votes as long as I have not posted the final results. (April 13 at the latest.)

The winner of week one was Sherod Santos, Film Noir.
The winner of week two was Edward Field, Cataract op.
The winner of week three was David Bottoms, A Chat with My Father.
The winner of week four was David Schloss, The Myth.
The co-winners of week five were Jason Gray, Letter to the Unconverted, and David Huerta, Before Saying Any of the Great Words (tr. Mark Schafer).
The winner of week six was Stacey Lynn Brown, Cradle Song II.

17 comments:

Suz said...

Okay, this is better! Unlike last week, I like several of these poems--Zaqtan, Nobels, Porston, and of course Szymborska (although this poem doesn-t measure up to others of hers, I think). Anyway, in the end I will vote for Zaqtan "A Picture of the House at Beit Jala" for imagery that was both sparse and precise, and for a really fine characterization built in few words.

Anonymous said...

I really liked AIR MAP by Wheeler!
Dino

Susan English Mason said...

I vote for David R. Slavitt's "Fog" because it made my heart sink, which in my world is what I'm after - a real emotional response.

Marion McCready said...

Jack Gilbert's 'Not Easily'.

Peter said...

For me, dog, it's between Gilbert's "Not Easily," and Poston's "Words Sonnet," though I agree with the rpevious commentator that the Zaqtan trans is good.

So I choose: Gilbert's "Not Easily."

Jill said...

I am torn between Zaqtan and Gilbert...but will go with Zaqtan as well. The imagery!

Anonymous said...

I haven't finished deciding,
but here are some of the bits
that really grab my attention:

The heavy-duty (weight-bearing?!)
subject matter of 'A Picture of the
House at Beit Jala' ... and also of
'Fog'

And several particularly strong images
and/or rhythmic lines from 'A Moment' :

I'm walking on the slope of a hill newly green.

rocks growling at one another,

The path as a path from always to ever.

Woods in the guise of woods world without end amen

-- dhsh

Colin Will said...

For the 2nd week running, none of the poems have really grabbed me. It leaves me with three contenders - Poston, Zaqtan and Gilbert. I'll vote for Zaqtan.

swiss said...

for me it was a toss up between szymborska and nobles. i liked zaqtan but i couldn't help that something was missing in the translation.

i'm biased to wards szymborska so nobles it is

SarahJane said...

I wasn't crazy about this szymborska, though i'm a fan of hers. I liked Words Sonnet, but am going with Blue Fire.

Go Blue Fire!

Tom Atkins said...

Zaqtan's poem tugged at my heart. I have to go with that one.

Anonymous said...

'A Picture of the House at Beit Jala' -- Zaqtan

-- dhsh

Gabe said...

I'm starting to worry that my taste in poetry is severely out of step. Nonetheless, I'll stick with my convictions and go with "Words Sonnet."

Unknown said...

Jack Gilbert, in a landslide!

gabrielle said...

I like Blue Fire becuase it evokes a picture, like a photograph.

Katy Loebrich said...

Gilbert - Not Easily

Although picking that poem was - easy, that is.

Nothing like coming in under the wire! Busy week....

Andrew Shields said...

I'm joining Gabe and a student who voted by email in voting for the "Words Sonnet." I would have voted for the Gilbert poem I blogged about a few weeks ago, but this one did not floor me as much as that one did.