2. Observation.

Then the Reaper said "The poet whose senses are attuned to all of the elements of the story can create the impression of participation. In a good narrative poem the narrator is a witness."

Sometimes action is witnessed when something missing is noticed too. This evening I saw that the bird feeder was less than half full. For the past two days while I’ve been at work much commotion has obviously been taking place. And taking seed. So I trudged through the snow this evening and filled their tall glass to the brim. Enjoy.

Listen! What is that sound? (Trilling sound.) That sound, ladies and gentlemen, is the call of Doc Savage and the signal for another thrill-charged fifteen minutes of drama. Wrong intro again, it’s actually quatrains 8 & 9 of “Jules Chauvin, Ferryman in Exile.”

He rushes in; the room becomes alive
with dancing boots and fingers playing fast
unbuttoning coat buttons. Then his hat
goes flying through unwelcoming despair

alighting on a barren tabletop
creating something like a still life where
an active emptiness had darkly reigned.
And all that Calvin can sort out is Jack.

Update: revised S8 (coat for his)