Donovan Welch, Poet Professor

Dr. Welch was my professor for Creative Writing. I would gladly sit at his feet for every class he could teach. He is a widely published Nebraska poet with wind sensabilities, wings and heart. He is also my friend, for which I am humbly grateful.

The soul of this man,

this poet, is fine vellum,

rich textured, dense,

sueded by time,

giving back warmth,

sharing kindness of touch

in small bits

of words on pages,

in the ears of his readers.

 

Make pouches,

seed bags of this poet.

Fling his words wide in the wind.

 

Some will fall

on stone, some among weeds, some

will come to good places,

flourish and spread his true sense.

 

Reviews

[JohnL]

Well done! I feel with this poem, the respect in which you hold the man. He is imparting precious seeds of wisdom and enabling his students/disciples to do likewise. And you have chosen to do it with some wonderful language: "fine vellum, rich textured, dense, sueded by time," portraying exactly what you intended about this gentle, wise, kindly man. You accept and describe his effect on life by adopting the parable of the sower, which emphasises that no-one can achieve everything they desire or intend because people are stony, people are weeds - but some people are indeed fertile ground. You have spoken clearly by using 2000 year old metaphor.
If I can find anything to alter, and I don't want to be petty, it is the line breaks in the final verse. This is how I would do it:

"Some will fall on stone,
some among weeds,
some will come to good places,
flourish,
and spread his true sense."

I think this emphasises more effectively the differing zones of effect, each having its own result. On the other hand, I have the sneaking feeling that you had a reason for your pattern which eludes just me.

Kind regards,

John

[JohnL]

This is a fine tribute, but surely you mean 'VELLUM' in line two. 'BELLUM' is Latin for war. Please let me know because I want to review the poem but need to be sure first.

JohnL