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Post by louisa on Nov 16, 2008 1:45:23 GMT 2
Panty Raidby Terri Ford submitted Janet McCann I like this poem because its image is so funny and real, you can see it, whether you were there in the panty-raid era or not–the hush, the crowd, and the great, almost wistfully awaited descent of those garments we weren’t even allowed to mention—tossed forth as teasing, symbolic promises. And at last an XXL, like that final burst of fireworks that represented the flag in color. Why not associate ascension and underpants? Death and adolescent sexuality? Sorrow and pleasure? This poem has a kinetic energy; its rapid-fire sequence of metaphors carries the reader right through it. The poem seems to ask me, what is sacred? Isn’t magic where you find it, where you make it up? What is good about rites of adolescence? What’s good about rites, period? I admit to a fondness for poems that are over when they’re over--that are complete in themselves. This one leaves you with the delight of a conclusive, lingering image, a snapshot of the past and a reprise of the adolescent’s feeling of infinite potential. Read Panty Raid: www.cstone.net/~poems/whythfor.htm More about and by the poet: www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19540www.ciac.ca/magazine/archives/no_17/en/entrevue1.htmBuy Why Ships are She: www.fourwaybooks.com/books/ford/
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