as he eats he eyes the world in his spoon — how might it end for this man this white carton this suffering ?
An erasure (with a few liberties) of Jane Kenyon’s poem Man Eating, from Let Evening Come, Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books, 2005, p. 128. (A marvellous collection from a fine poet gone too soon – if you’ve not read her poem ‘Having it out with melancholy‘ take a moment, it’s right here).
And for music this morning, some Indo-Baroque meets alt-folk minimalism from British string duo Balladeste — a collaboration between violinist Preetha Narayanan and cellist Tara Franks. Here’s their 2021 album Beyond Breath (Youtube).
Peter Frankis writes 
I’d not read Jane Kenyon before now. Thank you for pointing me in her direction. A fine erasure you’ve created, Peter.
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Thanks Misky, (as you say the artwork takes an inordinately long time)
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vanilla would be an apt title for your tanka. ‘Having it out with melancholy’ does show her devastating acquaintance with it. The stanza with the dog tears me up. The musical selection strikes a chord with me.
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what you found was also profound – the white carton/coffin – a man measuring out his life in yoghurt spoons (apologies to Eliot). I appreciated too the link to Kenyon’s melancholy – she knew it and knew how to say it without the maudlin clouds
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Thanks for these insightful comments (as ever) – I wonder if Jane was thinking Eliot watching the yoghurt eater.
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This is excellent.. that last line, sad as it is, fits perfectly. And the poems you mention are fantastic.. will definitely be reading more from Jane Kenyon…thanks!
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