The Knock
The house
that barely lit a lamp,
that barely lit a lamp,
pulled back
at a knock upon the door,
pulled back
the cold curtain
in a trembling pinch,
in time
to lean toward the pane,
but not a soul was there—
A few winters back when I originally posted this, a friendly "Anon" ventured a guess that it was about getting a comment when I thought no one was reading. That was half right, ironically it was about the occasional unexpected anonymous comments, although back then any comment was pretty startling. =) ..(I was writing mostly family posts, but only a few friends and family members knew what a blog was, and if they read, they commented by phone or email. They still prefer it that way. =)
[That, by the way, is not our house...]
Labels: anonymous, comments, reclusive writing
posted by .Tom Kapanka | 8:57 PM
14 Comments:
Your poem has me seeing an old woman bent over, hair in a bun, gnarled fingers. It is wickedly dark in her house, but she is not wicked, only frightened. I like this poem a lot.
I wish I could get more of my friends and family members to visit my blog. I included my blog address in my Christmas letter this year like I did last year. But I am not getting readers from these groups.
My brother is the only one who reads my blog posts faithfully. My wife reads them sparingly.
SQ,
The original draft mentioned an old man, but I chose to "personify" the house instead. I hadn't thought at the time that it would make it gender neutral. I"m glad I did that.
I know my mom reads everything here and my siblings read when they can. I print little books and collections for them a couple times a year. We're very close, they just don't leave fingerprints here very often.
JR,
I think it's cool that your "Bro Ron" reads and comments regularly at your site. I think our wives may have their own reasons for having mixed feelings about this pastime. :-) I like it when my wife reads, but she says she goes blank about writing comments.
More about that in the post to come.
Nice and evocative. I think anyone who's lived in a snowy area has had an experience or two like that.
If my parents were still living, they would read my blog. I'll have to write a piece someday about how my father waited till he was 75 before he tackled computers and AOL. He was like a fish in water with the computer as if he had done it all his life. My sister reads my blog when I let her know that I have written something that will interest her. I think she is shy about leaving comments.
One of my daughters manages to read my blog when I let her know that I have something new up. She has seven children though, so she doesn't have much time to write comments although she has written a few. My other daughter and my son lead busy lives with their work and their families. They are more likely to phone me on their commutes to and from work. My husband reads my blog when I ask him to. But he has never left a comment. He is really not that interested, sorry to say.
One of my friends would probably read my blog if she could. She gave her computer away though. Another friend of mine is a faithful reader. You have probably seen her name (Sharon) in my comments section. I have been trying to get her to start a blog of her own. But she is still not that comfortable using the computer.
A few of my other friends have expressed an interest in starting their own blogs, and I have offered to help them. I guess a blog of their own is not that high a priority for them though, because they have yet to take me up on my offer.
I think what I need to do is email my family and friends when I have something new at my blog. When I have done this in the past, they have been responsive. People get busy with their lives and forget. Out of sight, out of mind, too.
I have been considering compiling a small book of some of my writings for my family and a few close friends. That would make a nice gift at Christmas.
Paul,
Thanks for stopping by. I must admit when I saw the name Paul, I thought it was my brother Paul. He has left a comment once two years ago, but he doesn't have a blog. Then when I saw it was you I remembered you from SQ's Easter post and was even more pleased that you didn't let that stop you from coming by.
SQ,
I highly recommend the small run of "self published" booklets. What I'd do is make friends with your local copy house and talk to them BEFORE you compile. They'll tell you, for instance, the pros and cons of "Word" or "Publisher" programs. Once you decide on a format, just start cutting and pasting and loading photos, etc.
I usually run 25-30 copies of a booklet that trims down to about 5" by 8" (8 1/2 by 11 folded over, saddle stapled with a nice color cover, and trimmed down for clean edges). They do make great gifts and most readers enjoy a "book" that can be put out on the coffee table, etc. Be sure to leave and extra "fly leaf" for a note to your reader (and a copyright page--you never know =). You can do it.
"Paul said...
Nice and evocative. I think anyone who's lived in a snowy area has had an experience or two like that."
Yep...it's usually the UPS driver who will stand out there long enough to write the yellow sticky not telling you, you missed a delivery.
But an endearing little piece about spirituality and who's afear'd a what.
For a very reasonably priced self published chap book like Tom mentions I recommend you talk to Joe Ferrari at LeadFoot press. He will work with you to your satisfaction including giving you galley and proof copies before making his run. Just add a .com at the end and you'll find his website. $200.00 would get you about 25 copies.
I confess
it was me. LOL
Interesting poem.
Walking Man,
Thanks for the additional tip on self publishing. I've done mine on my own and they're not bad (once you get the hang of it). I used to do a lot of lay-out and copyfitting when I taught high school yearbook. It comes in handy.
Anon,
If it was you, you've been reading here a long time.
Dr. John,
Thanks for dropping by. I plan to link to a page of yours in the next post.
Wow...I love your blog! I'm sort of new to this blog thing and just created my own so nobody reads mine either. But it's so much fun and 'educational' to browse and find blogs that you enjoy and read daily. This will now be one of those for me. :O)
Tracy,
It's a worthwhile pastime with or without readers, but it's a richer experience when you get some brief feedback on your thoughts.
Thanks for stopping by. I still plan to post weekly for as long as there are knocks at the door.
At the risk of sounding like a moron...what and where is the three week discussion you mentioned? See? I told you I was new at this! haha
Started reading your 'why bloggers blog' and can't stop! :O) Great stuff here!
I'm laughing with you not at you!
You're not a moron. The three week "discussion" began with Part One (if you scroll down it should be at the bottom if not it's in the March in the archive). The problem with blogs is they tend to go backwards due to chronological posting so you have to start "at the back of the book" so to speak, but in this venue that means scrolling down, reading the post from top to bottom, then scrolling up one post and reading down again until you get to the end. =) See? It is confusing. Moron indeed!
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