This Friday (January 13, 2023) marks the start of our next class, The Poem Unhatched: how and why to read verse. Oakley Meredith, a published poet, will guide us through the realms of a personal love over the course of four weeks. A brief breakdown of the schedule is as follows:
Week 1: A Simple Look at Poetic Form [class will learn the basics of poetic metre & scansion along with an introduction to a few select forms]
Week 2: The Joy of Sound & Texture [class will uncover how sound alone, without rhythm, adds to the glory of verse]
Week 3: The Centrality of the Image [class will behold the primacy of imagistic language in poetry and indulge in an "image meditation" exercise]
Week 4: The Surprise of Language & Meaning [class will plummet to the very depths of what a poem can be and how it comes to be]
The following poem is an original written by Oakley, composed with the recent 100 Days of Dante in mind. The title translates, "Beatrice Faraway".
Beatrice Lontana
Our path, inevitable–
the sulfur sculpting steps
just before our footfalls
(muffled as they drown
shadow by shadow)
find tread.
Here, to walk
is to deepen the gash
and my guide
(when will I ascend?)
jostles us both
like leaves escaping limb.
At one point, in the forest
you were there–a painted bird
perched and provoked
(I had lost my steps)
that chirped and lashed
my protest into prayer.
I want to breathe
but not this air
grown fetid,
waxing towards smoke.
I want to see you,
somewhere awash in the smolder of your sphere.
But for now we amble down,
circle by circle.
Click here to sign up for the class and further specifics, or become a monthly member of The Loom and attend the class, followed by our professionally-led reading and discussion group starting up again Friday, February 17 with Brothers Karamazov.
Questions? Email Meghan Ochoa at, meghan.ochoa@axiomclassical.org .
Tutti li miei penser parlan d'Amore.
All of my thoughts now speak to me of love.
- Dante Aligheri