In celebration of World Poetry Day, I offer the following “syntactic echo” of the ineffably ingenious innovator of American Poetry, Walt Whitman. This poetic exercise was the brainchild of one Alessandra Lynch (i.e., I’m not entirely to blame…), instructor/facilitator of my spring 2021 Poetry Workshop in the Butler University MFA Program.
Of These and All
“And of these one and all I weave the song of myself” ~ Walt Whitman, Song of myself 15
The left flesh-melon harbors a pool of sweat, the right flesh-melon harbors a
pool of sweat,
The perimenopausal woman hot-flashes in the kitchen, the bemused son dons
wool slippers in the kitchen,
The second husband purchases electric socks for his perimenopausal wife and
the ex-husband dissociates further from his ex-wife;
And these stoke my hankerings for donuts, and I make do with home-baked
banana-nut muffins,
And such as it is to amass five decades of knowledge, minus where I last left my phone,
more or less I am in fact speaking on it,
And of these hot flashes, cantankerous joints, suddenly-uncloseable pants and all I
justify the lament of my middle-age…
STEPHANIE L. HARPER
SLHARPERPOETRY 
Love, love, love this!
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Ha! Thanks, Lynne! I just finished installment 2 of my epic battle with the formatting…
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Oh, you mean line spacing and indenting with the new WordPress? Or just the poem how you like it?
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Yes, the new WordPress editor is infuriating…
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Yes, I agree! However, they’re very helpful, even sent me a video, made specifically for me on the spot, on how to format my original poems so that they’d transcribe exactly, especially since I don’t like double-space. It had to do with hard and soft returns and it was all new to me. I can send it to you if that’s your issue. Anyway, I was perfectly happy with the original editor and for sure it takes longer now to post!
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Oh, yes, please send the video! I’d already been doing a weird html workaround to compensate for the “classic editor’s” stupid double-spacing …*wwhhhyyyyy?*… and now with the ridiculous, useless “blocks,” it’s been all the more of a convoluted wrestling match just to post a poem.
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Have emailed you the link, it’s a 4 minute movie. Let me know you got it alright and good luck!
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Got it! Thank you so much! ❤️
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Thoroughly enjoyed reading (and rereading) this one, Stephanie. I found Whitman’s #15 and read through that (my first and probably only time). While you could probably extend your portrait of modern woman going through change, I think you’ve captured the essence that THIS woman surely identifies with! And delightfully so. Fantastic inclusion of son’s presence, of fixation on food while bulging just a bit in the midsection, and of 2nd marriage realities! (Exes inevitably tag along into 2nd marriages in intangible ways!)
You’ve just kickstarted my day (yes, it’s almost noon, but I’m a slow starter some days) – thanks!
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I’m glad/sorry this one resonates with your experience, Jazz! 😂 The narrative didn’t require much in the way of imagination for me. 💓
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The electric socks! I need electric mittens … but with finger holes so I can use my keyboard … hands are ALWAYS cold, regardless of room temps and husband’s dismay! (I would not go backward even if possible.)
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I’ve got the electric gloves, too! 🤣
Unfortunately, there’s no device that would work for the nose (except a glass of wine, a.k.a. nose-warmer).
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Just justification for an evening glass of wine!
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🥂
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