Leon Payne, Po Chu-i, 8-24-2010
This poem reflects the bittersweet life that was poet Byron Herbert Reece.
An echo in the wind,
A tear in the Earth,
Enchanted Valley rhythms,
Blessed poet’s birth.
Broken Byron’s silence,
Most have forgotten,
But kept still afresh,
On this old mouintain.
His words bleed blossoms,
That eyes hardly bear,
To get where he’s going,
You’ve had to of been there.
By the Hiawassee river banks,
In their bamboo thickets,
Down the grey slopes of Blood,
The Native man in it.
The coves, so green and cool,
Where waters rip and fall,
Lies Nature’s pedastool,
Welcoming to all.
He told of these things,
Oh so simple things,
How life inside them hangs,
By timeless, toothless fangs.
His home down trail,
From a croaking creek’s edge,
Small and plain in sight,
Perched on Heaven’s ledge.
His spirit lingers lost,
Toiling dirt and pain,
His soul a symbol of,
The life he lacked to gain.
A lover only once,
His heart could take no more,
A bullet to the head,
In his office on the floor.
A sadly written poem,
And grade stacks piled high,
Neatly reflect the atrist,
That was this guy.
Wow, Leon! I loved your poem. As I was working on my poem for the alternative creative assignment, it really interested me that the landscapes described in the Chinese poetry really reflected the ones we see every day in the North Georgia Mountains. I really like how you described those same mountainous landscapes with a local and modern twist. I especially appreciated the part about the infamous Bamboo Forest with the lines “In their bamboo thickets, /Down the grey slopes of Blood”. It really reinforced the idea that although the mountains and rivers the Chinese poets were referring to are a half a world away, you made it feel like we were all looking at the same landscapes.
This poem is very beautiful. I like how you made the poem about the life of a Byron Herbert Reece but you were still able to incorporate the natural aspect. You were able to take the idea of the beauty of nature and show it beautifully but end it sadly. The beautiful landscape is not only in the the areas of these Chinese poets but also in the North Ga Mountains. Its great that we see through your writing just how beautiful the land is around us. One of my favortie lines are “The coves, so green and cool,Where waters rip and fall,Lies Nature’s pedastool,Welcoming to all.” I feel like I can see the water ripping and fall on the rivers and beautiful green coves around it. Very nice Leon!
This poem is beautifully written. What I found most interesting was the connection you used with the poetry of the Chinese writers and our very own Byron Herbert Reece. The landscapes described by the Chinese writers matche closely to that landscape of our very own surroundings here in Young Harris. By reading the poerty in Hinton’s collection, nature is talked of so highly. Nature is somehting that people don’t think twice about. It is something that is always there. It is a simple thing. But its the simple things that can be very important, which is something you really pointed out that Byron felt strong about. I loved the line “He told of these things,Oh so simple things,How life inside them hangs,By timeless, toothless fangs.” The simpleness of nature is something that people tend to forget, but others will always remember. Beautiful job!