{"id":171391,"date":"2021-10-12T10:58:23","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T14:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=171391"},"modified":"2024-10-27T16:03:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T20:03:40","slug":"commonplace-book-martian-impressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=171391","title":{"rendered":"Commonplace Book: A Martian’s first impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was reading an interview with Martin Amis, and he went on and on for about 2 minutes about a poem he really loved. He said it helped him look at the world fresh, and\/or try to find new ways to say\/describe things as a writer. The poem was a reminder to keep SHARP, to NEVER rely on the pat phrase, the cliche, to look on things as if for the first time<\/em>, especially when you’re writing. <\/p>\n

So naturally I sought out the poem, and I am so in love with it. <\/p>\n

“A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” (1979)<\/strong>
\nBy Craig Raine<\/em><\/p>\n

Caxtons are mechanical birds with many wings
\nand some are treasured for their markings \u2013<\/p>\n

they cause the eyes to melt
\nor the body to shriek without pain.<\/p>\n

I have never seen one fly, but
\nsometimes they perch on the hand.<\/p>\n

Mist is when the sky is tired of flight
\nand rests its soft machine on ground:<\/p>\n

then the world is dim and bookish
\nlike engravings under tissue paper.<\/p>\n

Rain is when the earth is television.
\nIt has the property of making colours darker.<\/p>\n

Model T is a room with the lock inside \u2013
\na key is turned to free the world<\/p>\n

for movement, so quick there is a film
\nto watch for anything missed.<\/p>\n

But time is tied to the wrist
\nor kept in a box, ticking with impatience.<\/p>\n

In homes, a haunted apparatus sleeps,
\nthat snores when you pick it up.<\/p>\n

If the ghost cries, they carry it
\nto their lips and soothe it to sleep<\/p>\n

with sounds. And yet, they wake it up
\ndeliberately, by tickling with a finger.<\/p>\n

Only the young are allowed to suffer
\nopenly. Adults go to a punishment room<\/p>\n

with water but nothing to eat.
\nThey lock the door and suffer the noises<\/p>\n

alone. No one is exempt
\nand everyone\u2019s pain has a different smell.<\/p>\n

At night, when all the colours die,
\nthey hide in pairs<\/p>\n

and read about themselves \u2013
\nin colour, with their eyelids shut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was reading an interview with Martin Amis, and he went on and on for about 2 minutes about a poem he really loved. He said it helped him look at the world fresh, and\/or try to find new ways … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=171391"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171395,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171391\/revisions\/171395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=171391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=171391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=171391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}