It’s Poetry in Motion

Yep. First line in “She Blinded Me with Science”, it’s poetry in motion. From Thomas Dolby’s first line mention of poetry, he changes the theme to science. Poetry gets a mere mention, just like in life. I graduated high school in 1970. For a boy to openly admit that he loves poetry, in 1970, was opening himself to ridicule, harassment, and bullying. He would most likely have been called gay (not that there is anything wrong with that). I didn’t need that negativity back then, so I never said it. I’m saying it now. I love poetry.

Not all poetry of course. Some of it is way over my head. What’s the first poem we probably all learned as children? “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.” Beautiful. In 8th grade we studied “Evangeline” by Longfellow. We all studied Shakespeare at some point. We use quotes and words from his sonnets all the time, five hundred years later. Robert Frost read poetry at Kennedy’s inauguration.

Who doesn’t know these lines? All from poems. “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage. Rage against the dying of the light”. “She walks in beauty, like the night”. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… and I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference”. “He was my North, my South, my East, and my West”. I could go on, but I think I made my point. We all love poetry, or at least parts of it.

My favorite working poet is Ted Kooser. He is a retired insurance executive from Nebraska. If you want to try some easy to understand, down to earth poetry, I recommend him. I don’t want to break any copyright laws, so I won’t share here. Or, you could read something by me! I had two poems published thirty years ago. One was about the Walnutport Canal and the other was about our cat, Benson. Yesterday, I entered a new one in a poetry contest. At the risk of being ridiculed, harassed, and bullied, here it is:

Her Burqa

“Pregnant drops of new rain fall onto her light brown burqa.

The rains spots make her shoulders look like wild bird eggs.

Soon, her burqa is dark brown as she trudges up the hill.

Her weight slows her, one foot after another, getting wetter still.”

Will that win me $4000? Most likely not. But did I have fun trying to write it? Absolutely.

The point I am trying to make is that you should pursue your passions, no matter what others think. This goes out, especially to those of you who are still young. If you are a girl and you love cars, shout it from the rooftops and go work on cars. If you are a boy, and you love flowers, show everyone the beauty you find there. The closed minds of others are their problems alone.

What’s that I hear in the distance? Church bells! Uh oh, poetry again: “The tintinnabulation of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells bells, bells”. Thank you for that, Edgar Allen Poe.