• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Danika Dinsmore

Author / Educator / Activist

  • Writings
    • White Forest Series
      • Song from Afar (Coming Soon)
      • Brigitta of the White Forest
      • The Ruins of Noe
      • Ondelle of Grioth
      • Narine of Noe
      • Voyage from Foraglenn
      • Omnibus Edition Vol. 1
    • Poetry
      • 3:15
      • Her Red Book
      • Everyday Angels and Other Near-death Experiences
      • Between Sleeps
    • Other Words
      • And the start line is…
      • Now reShowing
      • Reckoning Press
  • About
  • Events
  • Resources

Dropped Pages – On the Night She Left Her Form

February 22, 2009 by openchannel 12 Comments

Dropped Pages is a series of poems that were originally dropped from my books or chapbooks. I have reclaimed them here.

~ ~ ~

This poem was dropped from Her Red Book. I’ve been tweaking it for years and have never been completely happy with it. Who was it that said perfection is the enemy of done?

On the Night She Left Her Form

her form is an extension of content
so these spaces     the places she blows
     (heart beat)     taps her foot
these things are little character assassinations

she is     content to watch the
parade go by

marching band step
     arpeggio
a graceful dive     speak hours of
concentration
          the lonely
play bagpipes in soft November Vancouver
streets past the hash den past the
heroin alley past the Chinese pot
stickers to Commercial Drive hip hop
studio     where restless father poet
dreams     of NYC     everybody
dreams of NYC     even poets
in NYC dream of NYC

     in the city
formal kisses on the cheek
measure the place born
replace the content
of her mouth’s soul
          form a lightning rod
          shape a gun barrel

(There are actually more spaces in the poem then appear here. Tabs are a pain in the butt in html.)

catch the poetry train, yo.

Filed Under: Archived Blog, dropped pages, her red book, monday poetry thang, poetry Tagged With: chapter book, poetry, poetry train

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. poetry666 says

    February 22, 2009 at 10:58 pm

    i like it, who inspires you?

    Reply
  2. Richard says

    February 23, 2009 at 6:13 am

    even NYC dreams of NYC – the Bronx dreams of Brooklyn, Manhattan dreams of Queens, Queens dreams of getting out of Queens but has a slice instead…

    I like “the lonely play bagpipes in soft November.” It’s a nice image – it might also be why they’re lonely. (smile.)

    Reply
  3. Deeptesh Sen says

    February 23, 2009 at 8:14 am

    Loved it.I’m Deeptesh 4m the poetrytrain.Do visit me soon at deepteshpoetry.blogspot.com

    Reply
  4. lissa says

    February 23, 2009 at 9:27 am

    it makes me think of restless soul walking the streets, just dreaming away of NYC

    to me no work is ever final, even when it gets printed and read by everyone

    Reply
  5. Paul says

    February 23, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    That’s a very cool poem, lovely use of structure and rhythmic devices to catch the mood and wrapped around the original form and content idea. Very nice.

    Thanks, Paul! (and it’s not even one of my coolest ones… haha… this was dropped from the book manuscript, after all)

    Reply
  6. stan says

    February 23, 2009 at 3:37 pm

    This could apply to any city – we’re never satisfied with what we have (or the work we do).

    Reply
  7. Tumblewords says

    February 23, 2009 at 6:48 pm

    I can see this being performed. It sings and dreams, begs and laughs. Nice work.

    Thanks, Tumblewords. I love performing my work as well. Hope you enjoyed the book and CD.

    Reply
  8. Sweet Talking Guy.. says

    February 24, 2009 at 6:53 am

    There’s a great feel to this, a wandering spirit that can’t be contained!

    The NaisaiKu.. Challenge!

    lol… yup, that’s me… a wandering spirit that can’t be contained

    Reply
  9. julia says

    February 24, 2009 at 8:03 am

    (LOL) – Richard remarked on both of my favorites:

    ‘the lonely
    play bagpipes in soft November Vancouver’

    and

    ‘studio where restless father poet
    dreams of NYC everybody
    dreams of NYC even poets
    in NYC dream of NYC’

    Reply
  10. openchannel says

    February 24, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    Hi Poetry 666 – I am inspired by most things…

    Small occasions, every day angels, natural miracles. I am inspired by little daily things.

    As far as poets who inspire me, there are many. Bernadette Mayer, Sharon Dubiago, Frank O’Hara, Renee Gregorio, Rumi…

    Reply
  11. openchannel says

    February 24, 2009 at 8:43 pm

    Richard – I’ve heard more bagpipes since moving to Canada then the previous 35 years of my life. 🙂

    Hi Deeptesh, thanks for stopping by.

    Lissa – guess that’s one of the beautiful thigns about poetry, it can always be altered for another round.

    Reply
  12. openchannel says

    February 24, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Stan… that’s an interesting take. I’m trying to recall my mood when I wrote it… not sure, but the entire Her Red Book series was written while traveling back and forth between Seattle and Vancouver when I was dating my husband.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Subscribe to Danika's Mailing List

Get updates on upcoming books and events right in your inbox.

* = required field
AMAZON GOODREADS
  • Archived Blog
  • Contact
  • Credits
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2023 Danika Dinsmore • Developed with ♥ by Ming Liu

Manage Cookie Consent
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, check out their Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}