Thursday, November 14, 2013

New Poem: "Some Trees (In Response to John Ashbery)"

I studied John Ashbery's (pictured) famous poem, "Some Trees," as part of my MOOC Modern and Contemporary American Poetry offered by the University of Pennsylvania.  I was struck by Mr. Ashbery's conceit concerning the harmonious community of trees and what humans could learn by the trees' example.  As a biologist, I know that trees compete with each other ruthlessly for water, soil nutrients, and even the light of the sun.  My twist on "Some Trees" takes a more cynical look at Mr. Ashbery's subject.  I kept the rhyme scheme of the original poem, and even some of the words, albeit twisted.

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