The color gold.
A slender strand
of honeyed sunshine
quivers,

          stretches,

                            holds.

Perfect, Ken. Just beautiful. The simple language up top does not steal the show from the second half of the poem, but sets it up just right. Send it to her. Add a rose if you want a date! Tom

Lovely minimal. Skillfully penned.
take care~dale

Thank you Tom and Dale.


                          Ken

Did I not make a comment on this?  I thought I had . . . or maybe I just picked it and meant to comment after the move?  Regardless, loved this one, Ken.

lynn

Thanks, Lynn.

           Ken

Ken, allright!

Beautiful. And right where it belongs. Congratulations.

Ken, 

Your spacing choice for those last three words delivers the action of those words to the reader. Had they been all of a line, the effect wouldn't have been the same.

Nicely done.

Maggie

Tom, Lavonne, Maggie,

Thanks. This took me by surprise!

                      Ken

Just beautiful.   

Lynne

I have to say Ken, I had to google Renee Fleming. And even after I did, I can't get much from your poem other than a poetic description of  . . . something. Not to say poetic descriptions don't have their place of course.

And why the commas by the way? They really dampen the effect of the line breaks, for me.
 
Sorry to be negative, I'm sure there are masses waiting to disagree.

All of that aside, it's always good to see a different face on the front page, and Ken, regardless of my opinion of this particular poem, you definitely deserve the recognition, so good for you. Enjoy!

B.

Surely, you gest, b.

Maggie

Brian, perhaps inevitably, I'm with you on this one. Pretty and pretty slight would be my verdict.

Other than a second look at the way the first two lines of the piece are punctuated, aep, which I'm sure Ken will consider if and when he revises, I don't believe there is anything slight about a poet's observation of the least of things.

Maggie

I did find a problem in not knowing anything of the singer, and, though I appreciate how well expressed this is, I can't really connect.
In your poem Piero della Francesca, though I didn't know the painter or picture, there were hints in it that allowed me to create a painting of the genre in my head. I couldn't create the voice from this. This leaves me admiring the poem as a tribute, but unable to connect otherwise. I even had to google to find out what kind of a singer she is. Even 'soprano' in the title might have helped some. Therefore, for me, I repeat, for me, the poem has no depths to explore.  But, no doubt, for her fans it will have plenty.

milner

It's just struck me, that if I ignored the title I could apply it to a skylark. So in a way it has worked. I still think at least 'soprano' should be in the title.

milner

I'm with Mugs.

It's not the scope of the subject-matter but the treatment which I see as lacking any substance or resonance.
Strands are so often slender and "honeyed sunshine" is just a slight extension of the commonplace "liquid sunshine" and if I recall correctly is  itself part of a slogan for a breakfast cereal.  The connection between gold and sunshine is also wholly unoriginal. So I'm sorry but for me this is eminently forgettable.

Brian,

Renee Fleming's voice, unlike my poem,
is no little thing. You should listen to it.
The commas slow the reader as the voice,
with the voice, my choice.

                                        Ken

Still gorgeous for me.  Still sings.  I've never listened to, nor have I googled, nor have I any knowledge of Renee Fleming beyond what's appeared in this poem, and in the comment thread -- But, having read the poem initially, I wanted to hear the magic you'd found, Ken, in trying to pen her voice to paper.

I like all of the punctuation in this, from first perioid to last.

lynn

Wow. Holding is all we can ask for.

is this about spitting?

I need to add my warm thoughts at seeing this on the front page, Ken.  I weigh in on the side of pure enjoyment - even with no prior knowledge of the singer......these short images are not as easy to make as they seem and this one hit home for me.  xo M