3:15 Experiment Poem 8/18/06: words for the dodo
something about writing the date at 3:15am
makes you feel how fast the days go by
it’s not the same as writing the date
on a check–too many distractions
perhaps it is the malodorous whiff
of the passage of time itself
experienced by marking time
night after night in the
quiet breath of 3:15am
on the one hand opportunity
for grace for words not your own
to spill forth & trouble the page
on the other the terrible temptation
to turn off the alarm & turn over
each night an opportunity gained & lost
each night an opportunity briefly weighed
as light goes on
as pen touches down
as date is recorded
as seconds tick by
as cool night air flows in &
transforms into breath & words
that may or may not
make it to the page
be birthed into the world
be remembered be shared
be driven into day
they belong only to that silent moment
eyes close head body hand pauses
poem takes flight
words do not always belong
to the Wright Brothers
but instead to the dodo
beautiful
important
extinct
This poem was written at 315am August 18, 2006 as part of the 3:15 Experiment started at Naropa in 1993 by Danika Dinsmore & Bernadette Mayer.
Join the 315 Experiment August 2008 here.
Don’t join the dodo!
PS I hope to get a you tube up on this one soon!
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Cool, that is a drifting swirly one and the ending image is perfect.
I have to say that all your 3:15 am poems have been wonderful and a journey through the sleeping mind. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
thanks, Paul, your comment makes me realize that the malodorous whiff floats both the Wright Brothers and the dodo! 315 mind at work…
thanks, Brian! I have to admit that I’ve been doing the experiment from 2001—7 years plus this year–I have written some 150-180 315s (I hesitate to call them all poems!) and can cherry pick the ones worth sharing!
Love that last little stanza
This is so good. The way you get that moment: “eyes close head body hand pauses.” I think everyone who writes knows that moment and you let everyone feel it with you here.