Some people confuse inspiration with lightning
not me I know it comes from the lungs and air
you breathe it in you breathe it out it circulates
it’s the breath of my being the wind across the face
of the waters yes but it’s also something that comes
at my command like a turkey club sandwich
with a cup of split pea soup or like tones
from Benny Goodman’s clarinet my clarinet
the language that never fails to respond
some people think you need to be pure of heart
not true it comes to the pure and impure alike
the patient and impatient the lovers the onanists
and the virgins you just need to be able to listen
and talk at the same time and you’ll hear it like
the long-delayed revelation at the end of the novel
which turns out to be something simple a traumatic
moment that fascinated us more when it was only
a fragment an old song a strange noise a mistake
of hearing a phone that wouldn’t stop ringing
January 1
Analysis, meaning and summary of David Lehman's poem January 1
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Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by David Lehman better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.
This poems structure is interesting. The lack of punctuation suggests that the poem itself is one stream of thought, infact a single inspiration. This supports the theme of the poem. Though it is not one of my favorite poems I have to say it has a certain amount of enticement. The thought doesn’t end either but continues after the poem is finished (no ending punctuation) I had to comment because I have never seen this done before and I find it quite interesting and a wonderful way of conveying the message.Quite good.