Jean
(About 1968)
Dear Jean I write,
God knows I mean
Your skin so white.
Dear Jean I write,
God knows I mean
The sharing of an undivided breath.
Dear Jean I write
I mean (God knows)
Your accent
Which
I've never quite heard one like it before!
Dear Jean I write,
God is it drink?
Or lust for sex?
Or selfish things to think?
Dear Jean I write,
Dear precious, lovely you!
I cross my heart
This week this has been
True.
The thoughts of a young man are still relevant to this much older one now! I'd had girlfriends for lengthy periods while at school, but didn't have many at university. On the other hand, I was now more adult, on my own, and relationships were different. In this verse there is a mixture of free form, some rhyme, some rhythm, and some very deliberate breaking of rhythm. It still seems to me to be satisfactory and shows a style that I still recognise as relevant to me. I think most of this is there in the "T S Elliott" exercise.
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