in the woods

I find by chance that someone has include my poem Vignette as an example in a writing exercise for students.

It has been attributed to me, and the poem is available online, so I don’t think there’s a big problem. I do, however, wish that they’d contacted me and told me they wanted to use it. After all, it’d be nice to be told they thought it was good. Equally, it’d be useful – though not as nice – to know if they were using it to demonstrate what /not/ to do.

I don’t seem to have posted it on the blog, so here it is:

Vignette

There are spies in the woods.

In the early morning I have seen
fine tripwires strung from tree to tree,

caught sight of silent messages
heliographed between rain-spattered leaves,

heard them signal to each other:
bird calls echoing through the mist.

 
 
EDIT (May 2014)
I was recently contacted by a teacher asking if she could use this piece with her high school freshman English class. Of course I said yes – I just like to be asked and given credit! Her follow up email included the line, “Thank you for sharing your work and making the world more beautiful.” Such words may not pay the rent but they are still rather nice.