An Attempt

via Daily Prompt: Assay

Word count = 371 / Reading time = 1 minute, 30 seconds

Pardon the archaism as I assay to impress all you discerning Bloggers out there.

It occurs to me that many of us here in the blogosphere are prospectors, our posts the ore we assay, sifting countless samples daily to determine quality, to tease out the ingredients of good stories, photos, and poems, not simply to enjoy the work of others, but to learn  how to forge quality gems of our own.  I spend an hour or two several times a week browsing the wares of the few Bloggers I follow as well as what’s on display in the Community Pool and in response to the Daily Post and other writing prompts.  Of course there is much on offer that doesn’t interest me, is of poor quality or in bad taste, but I always find plenty of items of exceptional, polished quality.

My own offering today is a poem I wrote shortly after waking up inexplicably at 3:00 AM one morning following a graduate poetry writing seminar the previous afternoon in which we discussed language poems.  I let the odd hour stand as the title.  If you are of a certain age or your mind is of a peculiar bent, you may even be able to wrangle some meaning out of this, but mainly, it just sounds good when read aloud.

If you feel it needs further refining, be sure to let me know in the comments down below.

3 A.M.

I have not come to expect

except to accept and

expect gradations.

 

While great nations inspect, or

insects grade expectations,

for why not be exact?

 

Exact a toll or for

bloom the tell holes?

 

Not just exact science

but an exacting appliance.

Application of convenient

alliance in austere convents.

 

Ah, conventional’s dear, as opposed to

unconvinced beer:  trust me,

this is all science friction.

Enough fiction breeds sparks,

as does bad diction,

but neither so much as poor depiction.

 

So much as is too much

but is too much ever enough

and so much is too tough.

 

Because as much as is too much

is not as much as it must seem

and never as much as one touch.

 

And ever touch as one must.

And ever touch as one must.