Monday, December 27, 2010

a hard clarity
in response to the question, why poetry

i come to poetry for some sanity
as i worked my way out of an illness
in my late teens

i entered into language
because i am primarily attracted to words
their sounds their appearances their sense/nonsense

poetry seemed the better fit
for my love of language
its condensaries & its engines of surprise & delight

then i began reading the bios of poets
like rimbaud and dylan thomas
which added another dimension of dynamism

the lives of the poets were cool
like the life of the fonze
thus i entered poetry

for the chicks for the fame & to get rich, beyotch!

5 Comments:

At 8:46 AM, Blogger Jim K. said...

Engines...yeah! I use that term
sometimes. The clockworks of
the phrases.

I think it helps thinking.
Something about making
your own "engine of thought"
after distilling it all down.
Then maybe the thought changes.
Thought---word---thought.

"for the chicks" reminds me
of Jonathan Richman's comment about
why he starting rockin.

 
At 12:18 PM, Blogger John B-R said...

Richard "Cool as the Fonze" Lopez ... hmmmmm ....

 
At 8:48 PM, Blogger Jim K. said...

heh..
more real, though, I hope.

 
At 11:04 PM, Blogger richard lopez said...

never as cool as the fonze, i'm afraid. the fonze is sui generis and a guiding light.

 
At 7:29 AM, Blogger Alan Baker said...

I love the line:

"its condensaries & its engines of surprise & delight"

 

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