The Importance of Word Power
For Stephen Proctor
on seeing his exhibitions of forms in glass
by Frances Horovitz.
Perfected whiteness
- a stellar littoral, bright
beyond bone or pearl.
Spiral chambers sing of
sea’s breath, the curve
and fall of flowers.
Cave within a cave
of quiet, thought becomes music;
litanies of light resolve
in gathering trance.
A whorl of shadow
trembles, brims.
Oh wave and silence,
breaking still
in shining arcs of air.
I've been reading Frances Horovitz's Collected Poems for the past week. Her poems hinge on a precise use of vocabulary that I've not encountered before, and the impact of the poem shown above depends on the reader having the word 'littoral' sequestered in their vocabulary. It's a nuanced adjective, 'relating to the shore of the sea or a lake'.
I read the poem once through without understanding what littoral meant, and it felt innocuous - it was only after seeking out the definition that the subsequent images emerging throughout the stanzas grew in definition and power. It’s a poem of considerable poise and grace - one I greatly admire.