.
The Moment
I’m sure of what will happen when
The tide resumes its rise again
And drowns the beach:
Erasing signs that we were here,
The water will be sure to clear
What’s in its reach.
The wind will whisk, as surely, too,
Our words away, both false and true,
Beyond the sky.
But, now, our footprints line the sand,
Our voices roar, the hour’s unplanned,
And time stands by.
.
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On Humility
The streamlet never doubts it’s destined for the sea.
The sapling never balks in clasping at the sky,
So never shall I let some feigned humility
Abolish from my life the eagerness to try.
The streamlet may, in fact, run ultimately dry.
The sapling may be crowded out from waving free.
And I may fail as well, but this will not be why:
Bald cowardice as virtue urging, “Do not be!”
.
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The Road Least Traveled
Two roads diverged within a yellow wood
But others having blazed the both of these,
My soul’s survival instinct deemed I should
Continue through the trees.
.
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Benjamin Cannicott Shavitz received his PhD in linguistics from the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. He lives in Manhattan, NYC, where he was born and raised. He has published two collections of his own poetry (Levities and Gravities), as well as an anthology of public domain poems by New York City poets (Songs of Excelsior). His work has also been published in The Lyric. He runs two online businesses: one that teaches innovative, linguistically informed classes on language skills, including poetry writing, and one that offers dialect coaching for actors. See www.kingsfieldendeavors.com for an overview of his activities and www.kingsfieldlinguistics.com or www.phoneticsforactors.com for his businesses.
As you so nicely said it in “The Moment,” realizing “our footprints line the sand” is something that becomes important to us and inculcates a memory, Often when I am in the moment, I am conscious of the true pleasure that I shall remember someday as exquisite. “The Road Least Traveled” is a cute spinoff of the Robert Frost poem.
I enjoyed reading these poems, Benjamin. I am especially inspired by your lines on personal bravery: “And I may fail as well but this will not be why:/Bald cowardice as virtue urging, ‘Do not be!'”
All three of these are excellently crafted pieces of work. They are striking, un-cliched, and unusual in form.
“The Moment” is composed of perfect little tercets of two tetrameter lines followed by a dimeter. And the rhyme scheme of each pair of tercets is AAB CCB. This arrangement suits the poem’s theme exactly — the passage of time, the momentary nature of what we do, and yet right here and now it all seems vividly alive and important, and all tied together in the traditional metaphor of the surf washing smooth the sand. What a perfectly profound and at the same time economical piece!
On first reading “On Humility” I thought that it was in six-beat alexandrines, but the stresses didn’t seem right. Reading it again, I sensed that the poet was going back to the old Anglo-Saxon four-beat line with a heavy caesura:
The STREAMlet never DOUBTS // it’s DEStined for the SEA.
The SAPling never BALKS // in CLASPing at the SKY
And finally, “The Road Least Traveled” is — at last! — a well-deserved slap at Frost’s overrated poem.
All three of these capture attention with wording simple yet uncommon. I’m especially intrigued by “On Humility.” It correctly identifies the vice of cowardice as something that can be masked by false humility. However, there’s also an implication that humility is not much of a virtue even when sincere, for the speaker surely values “eagerness to try” above humility real or feigned. The images, streamlet and sapling, exemplify ambition that may succeed or fail. The title thus seems to scorn false humility and ignore humility as virtue.
Margaret, the poem takes the same stance as Henley’s “Invictus.” It’s that of someone vigorous and active, who may indeed fail but who will go down fighting if necessary. The speaker is not in favor of humility, whether false or genuine, but sees it as a stumbling bock to achievement and victory. We all reject the false humility of Uriah Heep, but this poem points out that even virtuous humility can be a hindrance to striving, and an excuse for failure.
I enjoyed all three of these poems urging us not just to try, but to flourish and be different.
I especially liked the imagery of ‘The Moment’ and felt transported to that beach.
Thanks for the reads, Benjamin.
I enjoyed all three of these well-crafted poems, Benjamin, but especially the last and shortest – a rather different – and perhaps obstinately individualistic – take on Robert Frost.
These are wonderful. I especially loved “The Road Least Traveled.”
I love every single one of these beautifully crafted poems. They all sing to me – “The Moment” makes me want to make the most of life here and now, before Time erases all traces of me. “On Humility” makes me want to strive for survival and success, even though I know I may fail, and “The Road Least Traveled” (my favorite) makes me want to dance my own steps Baz Luhrmann’s “Strictly-Ballroom” style. Benjamin, thank you for a delightful slice of poetic joy that has brought a huge smile to my face!
Not bad at all. You test the sinews of our respective minds.