Richard Wilbur is a poet well known for his wit, wordplay, numerous fine collections, and translations over the years. My favorite is a book called "Opposites" (1973) and his succeeding opposites books over the years. I think of them as classics. They have been in print for years, though can be hard to find in libraries. He illustrated his opposites books with deceptively simple line drawings that perfectly complement his words. I highly recommend checking them out.
He also wrote "The Pig in the Spigot" (2000), illustrations by J. Otto Siebold, which has the same clever wordplay that I like to emulate at times. One of my favorites:
"If you'd been on Mount Ararat, would you
Have smelled a rat? Of course. Not one, but two.
For Noah's ark, we're told, contained a pair
Of every creature when it landed there." (page 27)
In every poem there is a clever word within the word...and range in arrangement.
Somehow these worlds make wonderful word sense.
Denis Streeter 1/27/13
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