Solvitur Ambulando Poem

Solvitur ambulando is a Latin phrase that means 'it is solved by walking.' The phrase is used to describe how a complex issue can often be resolved through practical action and experience. The term is often attributed to the philosopher Diogenes.

More generally, it means that a problem can be solved by taking action, getting a new perspective, or simply clearing your mind through physical activity like walking.

So, I find walking is perfect for resolving outstanding matters and determining future action, as well as its health benefits. This was the harvest of my poet's walk...

Solvitur Ambulando

My brisk morning walk

Came with some minor revelations

Not life changing,

Nor, earth-shattering,

Merely noteworthy.

While spangin

There was a singular encounter with a lone jogger

A woman, small in stature

Who passed with a laboured gait

And a strained face

Reminiscent of a failed bowel movement.

Two young women

Passed by jauntily

Resplendent in active wear

And incongruously vaping smoke signals

-to track their location, perhaps.

The usual profusion of magpies

Wandered about on the footpaths

Unfazed by my passing

As they silently scratched about

in no rush to take flight.

The mixed responses

Of the intermittent passers-by

-the selective mutes,

-the committed ground starers,

Some responding to my greeting

With nothing more than a brief smile

and awkward acknowledgement

Others maintaining a frozen gaze

Like Easter Island statues

Give nothing away to a passing stranger.

A shrieking flock

Of white cockatoos fly in

Before settling briefly

On overhead wires

In a random stop.

Up ahead

A dog named Norman

Ignores repeated requests

To return to the side of its human.

All too soon I am home

My body exercised, cluttered thoughts

Replaced by keen anticipation

of wordly action across the remainder of the morning.

It is Poetry Friday and this time our host is Laura Purdie Salas who is keenly anticipating the imminent release of her latest book 'Flurry, Float, and Fly!' Laura shares a villanelle poem for her new book titled 'The Voice of Winter.'

Comments

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York. I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...

Opposite Poems

O pp o s ite P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,' Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. N...

Powerful Poetry, 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston

This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully @ Salt City Verse where Janice shares some original words and offers us a taste of Thomas Carlyle to ponder. I encourage you to join a host of poets from all around the globe and visit Janice's page... Almost two years to the day, I wrote a post featuring the poem 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston. The poem was included in Brian's first book of poetry, 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' A very powerful Reverso poem and technically brilliant. A Reverso poem can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. It will often express opposite opinions depending on which way you read it. Such poems really make us think. A Reverso poem is like a picture turned upside down, a frowning face upended to reveal a smiling one. The poem read in reverse, contradicts itself with an opposing message. In 'Refugee' Brian Bilston focuses on a societal issue that tends to polarize feelings and the opposing views are clearly in eviden...

Search This Blog