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Title:       Response
Date:        2026-04-17
Link:        https://spool-five.com/poetry/2026_apr17_response/
Word Count:  126
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> For today’s challenge, write a poem in which you respond to a favourite
> poem by another poet.

A poem I've always loved is _Filling Station_ by Elizabeth Bishop.

So, so, so, Esso
Oil canisters from bright
Arid shores eastwards
And who keeps those doilys
intact
When sun-flashes from
underside of B52
Threaten swift
annihilation

A meandering sea-line
that connects Persian refinery
And Yankee filling station
That same cloth that grates
on father's underarm
made some Republican Guard uniform
And cuts at him too
In sweaty sun of lookout bunker

Absent-minded mother
hums tune from 40 years ago
Tends to crying baby
With formula,
Whose price is 30% inflated
since last week
And waters Eden's garden plants
Or oils them, maybe