One of the best things about kids is that often they think you're more than you really are. I know that's weird to say but it's true. I have two daughters one by birth one by marriage and they're both great and always amazed when they ask me questions like I might have the great answer or something like I have wisdom. What a sad thing for them to believe. Anyway, the other night one of them was texting me regarding some poetry. She shared a bit of poetry with me and I shared back a little bit of one of my favorite poets. I really don't have favorite poets all of them are great I hate to prefer one over another It's like being asked to evaluate one kid over another you love them both. But when she asked me last night who I liked I answered Lawrence Ferlinghetti the beat poet from the early days. When I answered B it was just like shooting from the hip. I knew I liked this guy, I've always liked this guy. This of course got me thinking 1. Why do I like this guy and 2. How the hell do I find this guy?
Like I said I'm not sure when I fell in love with Ferlinghetti. I can't imagine that I have a class in one of my English classes at University but it is a possibility. I love the fact that this cat was cool back in the 50s especially in the San Francisco region. There was a time when I thought SF was the coolest place on earth. I still do to a certain degree but like so many other things times have changed and the Frisco of the day is totally morphed away from what it was in the 60s. Ferlinghetti was cool. I liked his poetry one of my favorite pieces is from the volume Coney Island of the Mind Appoint a little treasure to carry around in your backpack the pullout at the end of day. It's certainly not Walden's Pond But the Coney is perfect in its own way. My favorite piece in Coney Island of the Mind A poem Which reflects My current thinking about the country right now. I was even blown away more so when she texted me that she found the volume on Amazon and had ordered it in. I'm totally excited for her. Like I said Ferlinghetti is no Frost, Poe or Coleridge but probably might be in 100 years. I genuinely think I like poetry. I like to write poetry when I get in the mood. The mood hasn't been around for a while and maybe has taken the last train to the coast with the other three guys. I wish I had the patience and may be the The skill to read poetry. I can never read the poetry like I think the writer wrote it. I like to find recorded versions of professional actors who read famous poets. They know so well how to read these guys were to break, what to emphasize when to stop when to breathe. Once I hear how the piece is supposed to be read then I can practice and maybe do as good a job. After all this time I'm still a novice when it comes to reading poetry. Perhaps, if we ever get over this Covid thing I should take a course/audit a course at the community college a down the street Street. I'm not sure how I would cope with that but it might be worth a shot.
1 comment:
I have never liked or maybe just never appreciated poetry. Maybe it is because I don't know how to read it or because when I do, I hear it in my voice instead of the voice of the author.
I recall an English class at BSU where we talked about the poetry of music lyrics. Conclusion, lyrics make very poor poetry. (you may have been in that class)
Kell
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