Vox Populi
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Chard deNiord: Patience Is The Tinder
for catching a word, a phrase,
an image, a music, a metaphor,
then writing it down to see
if just the mere act of writing
ignites something other
that burns to ashes which float
in a smoke that blinds at first,
then clears to a verse that reveals
something greater—other—
in the vast ironic distance
that’s also near and deafens you also
with a silence in which you hear
in the midst of the noise all around you
a voice that speaks inside the ear
inside your ear that depends
on silence for writing it down,
whatever it is, because it’s in
the smoke that floats inside you
from a fire in the world that burns
the words as soon as you transcribe them
on the ashes that have landed on paper
as a gift of the fire on which
your words live in an order
you can take no credit for.
Copyright 2025 Chard deNiord
Chard deNiord is the author of many books of poetry including In My Unknowing (University of Pittsburgh Press 2020) and Westminster West (Tupelo 2024). He serves as board member of the Sundog Poetry Center in Vermont, is the essay editor at Plume Poetry Journal, and lives in Westminster West, Vermont with his wife, Liz.
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Yes, that’s how it happens.
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Yes, that voice inside I’ve only realized at nearly 80 IS a voice inside, not a thought, but a voice. I love this poem’s sense of magic and its own repetition, like our work in writing. It is both magic and work.
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Yes, magic is the poet’s work, as the poem makes clear.
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terrific poem. I’ve been trying to write poems about what a poem is for years and you nailed it.
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What a good poem, Chard — hats off! And hello to you — it’s been such a long, long time… Good to read you in my favorite review ever!
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Thanks, Laure-Anne. Chard has been with VP since the beginning 11 years ago. I’m very grateful to him because his reputation has helped to establish the legitimacy of our efforts.
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Ahhhhhhh. Thank you!
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Truly a “gift of the fire” landed perfectly.
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Perfectly.
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yes and thank you…
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Bingo, Chard. And bravo!
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I love this poem. It captures the magic that happens when the muse speaks.
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Chard! That’s about as compelling an *ars poetica *as I have read in decades! Bravo!
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