On Declarative by Roy Beckemeyer
by Janice Northerns
Hi, this is Janice Northerns, coming to you from Wichita, Kansas, for Poets on the Plains.
I’d like to share with you today a delightful poem by Roy Beckemeyer, who is the author of five poetry collections. Roy is also a retired engineering executive and scientific journal editor.
Declarative
What if I declared my love to you
on a frigid morning in January?
I could stand, the sun at my back
beaming its impression of warmth:
yellow and red skitterings of light
peeking through branches.
We would have on earmuffs
and woolens. You might wear
your stocking cap. Your cheeks
would be Braeburn round, reddened.
My words would take on whole
new meanings, visual onomatopoeia;
you would see me in a new light.
The heart-ring shape of the word
“love” would spin out of my mouth
to become ice-rainbow. Your name
would float into bright air, the cold
draping each vowel and consonant
with crystal luminance.
My whole proposal might hang
in mid-air, linger long enough for you
to send a “Yes” out into the space
between us, the sibilance trailing off
like a contrail, barely tethered between
our teeth, the mingling of our breaths
sparking and scintillating, a flock
of miniscule white birds released
from a suddenly opened dovecote.
Declarative is used with permission.
You probably remember learning about the four types of sentences in elementary school, including the declarative, which is a statement of fact or information. And while this poem is clearly a declaration of love, the poet opens with the conditional “what if” in an interrogative sentence, a question: “What if I declared my love to you / on a frigid January morning?” Doing so invites us to play along as the author imagines his words are visible in the January air. The tone of this poem is both playful and flirtatious.
We can picture this outdoor scene on a cold winter morning as we read about earmuffs and woolens, a stocking cap, and the beloved’s red “Braeburn round” cheeks. And then the writer introduces a wonderful concept: “visual onomatopoeia.” Onomatopoeia is a word that suggests the sound it refers to, the buzz of a bee, for instance. So visual onomatopoeia would be words like look like their meaning, giving us a “heart-ring shape” for the word love.
In the poem, it is not only the words that are visible in the air between these two, but the emotions as well. When I taught creative writing, I used to warn my students that you can’t see abstractions such as love or happiness or fear. But in “Declarative,” especially in the last stanza, when we “see” the words exchanged as “the mingling of our breaths sparking and scintillating” we also see the affection this couple shares for each other, made visible as tiny birds. I love also how this poem heats up in the last stanza on such a cold day. Without using that word, the writer makes us feel (and see) the heat of their attraction.
You might wonder what inspired Beckemeyer to imagine his words of love made visible. This poem is an example of ekphrasis, a written response to a work of visual art. “Declarative” was inspired by an award-winning photograph of a red-wing blackbird singing on a cold morning by photographer Kathrin Swoboda. One attribute of an ekphrastic poem is that, while you should be able to appreciate its connection to the artwork if you see it, the poem should also be able to stand alone. “Declarative” appears without the photograph in the poet’s most recent book, The Currency of His Light, and it is a wonderful poem all on its own.
Kathrin Swoboda is a nature photographer recognized for her work in major publications and contests. She enjoys exploring the environment to capture images of animals in their habitat and revealing their nature story. Here work can be viewed and purchased at either https://www.novanaturephotography.com/ or https://www.instagram.com/novanature/?hl=en . Kathrin has generously given us permission to use it in this presentation.
This is Janice Northerns, here in Wichita, Kansas, wishing you love both visible and invisible, for Poets on the Plains.
POETS ON THE PLAINS HOST
Janice Northerns is the author of Some Electric Hum, winner of the Byron Caldwell Smith Book Award from the University of Kansas, the Kansas Authors Club Nelson Poetry Book Award, anda WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Poetry. The author grew up on a farm in Texas and holds degrees from Texas Tech University, where she received the Robert S. Newton Creative Writing Award. Her poetry has been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net prizes. After living in southwest Kansas for 25 years, she and her husband moved to Wichita in 2023. She is active in the local chapter of the Kansas Authors Club and presents workshops locally and at the state level. Learn more on her website: www.janicenortherns.com
FEATURED POET
Roy Beckemeyer of Wichita is a Past President of the Kansas Authors Club. A retired engineering executive and scientific journal editor, he has authored five books of poetry and co-edited several poetry anthologies. His latest book, The Currency of His Light (Turning Plow Press, 2023) was a 2024 poetry finalist for the Great Plains Book Awards. Previous books include Mouth Brimming Over (Blue Cedar Press, 2019), Stage Whispers (Meadowlark Books, 2018, winner of the 2019 Nelson Poetry Book Award), Amanuensis Angel (Spartan Press, 2018), and Music I Once Could Dance To (Coal City Press, 2014, a 2015 Kansas Notable Book).
