HIGHLIGHTS
    A series of very pleasing things this February, in a month that seemed to me to be much busier than usual. There is quite a crowd at the top of my 'most memorable' list. Jeff's Parasite; Several of Ewan's Poems to his Daughters, and one or two of the 'filking' poems. In the end I've settled on Cobb Valley and Power Station, as being 'the poem that will not go away'.

        Opening their treasures
                               your silken mountain tops
                      pleasured
                               the kissing clouds.
        We marvelled where
                          your marbled mountains
                                                loomed over
        your cruel glacier carved lake.
 

RESPONSIVE CRITICISM
    I was very pleased to see reactions to alice's poem Harvest from Ewan, Terry and Patricia. The comments were detailed, and intelligent (not to mention flattering)  Patiricia's face is always welcome, and far too rarely seen. Her comments are sensitive, backed by an extensive knowledge of poetry and full of interest. They all picked up on the weakness of the final couplet, and the final version, now up on Nexus BBS Prose, shows the results of their imput. The problematic lines read:

               I hold the first of harvest
               in my single palm: I toll the fading sun.
               For this frail family in the rough,
               there may not be, enough.

and the final version, until someone comes up with a better solution, now reads:

               For this frail family in the rough, 
               there may not be 'enough'. 
 

Emily's poetry also produced more than one reaction. I'm glad to see this, since we all have to learn that our Readers will very rarely all agree on anything. Learning to pick and choose, to listen to constructive and creative criticism is pretty important, as is making the final decisions ourselves. 

RETURN TO POETIC MESSAGING
    I was rather pleased with this little poem from Emily, as part of a message to someone else. It has been a while since poetry flowed as part of the conversation, but it is good for us all. Emily has been used, in the past to indulging in this pastime with Porcelina and Dave, and it is great to see it back.

       It didn't matter where you sat
       There wasn't much to look at
       But when the boat began to move
       And everything was going smooth
       I could see magic mountains
       And the sea spray beside the boat
       When I got to go outside
       I felt as though I were a slide
       I could taste the salt sea air and
       Smell the fresh water swishing on
       My face
 

FILKING

    'Filking' took off with a buzz, and a hiss, and a slice of pizza. As I understand it, To 'filk' is to use one poem in order to structure another, but I'm still waiting for articles from Eddie and Corwin on the subject. Porcelina has recently posted a lively hymn to pizza, which just misses the February dateline.