Stopping by Words on a Snowy Evening

I read the wonderful Blake Charlton’s blog yesterday and it reminded me of something I wrote back in 2003. Mr. Charlton wrote a poem entitled ‘The Second Book’ as homage (in his words "mash up") to W.B. Yeats’ poem ‘The Second Coming’.

Below is something similar that I wrote when I was sixteen-ish. A friend and I were emailing each other at some ungodly hour of the morning and rather than revising as we should have been we exchanged homage/parodies of well-known poems. My friend began with Poe’s ‘The Raven’ and I countered with my version of ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost.

Amazingly this piece has managed to survive each computer change since 2003 and the parody method has been a staple of my writing/playing-with-words ever since.

Whose words these are, I think I know. His ideas sourced from others though; He does not sense my writing here To follow phrases he did show.

My little laptop thinks it's queer To stop mid sentence, oops, oh dear Between the comma and full stop A truly awful pause, I fear.

She gives her Windows' bells a shake To ask if I am still awake. The only other sound's the noise That nearby aeroplanes must make.

My bed looks lovely, I need sleep. But I have homework to complete, And much to do before it's light, And much to do before it's light.

And the other one I wrote that night was a very odd version of ‘Weathers’ by Thomas Hardy!

Vick. vclinde@gmail.com www.vclinde.co.uk @vclinde