Monday, November 12, 2007

Warming Up To Poetry


[All those poetry anthologies that are so bloody depressing]














They slither through moss and dissect broken hearts
Reality and dreams in a death camp apart.
Judgments so somber in rhyme and in verse
Ethereal visions that make me feel worse.

Minstrels and lyrics, alone on the sweeps
Duplicity enough to make court jesters weep
Warnings that in life, nothing will keep
Except the cold bed of eternal sleep.

“Poets, Come stir me but don’t leave me cold
Or I’ll kindle a fire in me word-burning stove.”

I’ll toss in the poetry. I will be that bold.
I’m had quite enough of the ‘moss and the mold’.


And in the warmth of the fire, content and demure
Here will I find a most poetic allure
Oh yes, burning poems into something obscure
Is an exhilarating tonic of indulgence and cure.
I dance to the crackle, pop-flicking, and whrrrr…
Of blackened pentameter and dactylics that purr.

6 comments:

joared said...

Delightful verse and I, too, am tired of the "moss and the mold."

Roberta S said...

Thanks for the comment, joared. Evidently you understand, it is not that I dislike poetry. But what I don't understand is why so much of it has to be so utterly depressing. And furthermore that is the stuff that is culled to go into every collection of what seems to be viewed by the Poem Gods as the most "worthwhile" poetry.

Joy Des Jardins said...

I couldn't agree with you more Roberta. I have a bent toward the more humorous and jovial poetry....always have. Not that I don't appreciate a good serious piece...I do. But...I'm not drawn to the dark and morose side of poetry nearly as much.

Roberta S said...

joy, agreed. It has always amazed me that even "Ring Around the Roses" is a child's verse that relates to the many struck down by the Bobonic Plague and "London Bridge is Falling Down" couldn't be a pleasant thing either.

And from there as I pursue the poetry books that were part of a University course I was taking (and eventually dropped), it only gets worse.

Anonymous said...

You've struck a chord here, Roberta. Try 'Soul Food - Poetry for Starved Minds' - http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/titlepage.asp?isbn=1852247665

Roberta S said...

Thanks for that note, Dick. I did go to the address you suggested and in a quick reading of the review I am convinced that this is the kind of poetry I'm looking for without having to read stuff drenched in prayers and thankgiving.

Sounds like the kind of poetry that could make a lovely Christmas gift as well. I plan to check it out.