I began a poetry class today with no wish to write poetry. Instead, I long to listen to poetry recitations. And read more than a few poems. And hope keeping company with poets will infect my prose in a good way.
While there, I learned my passionate-for-poetry professor desires that poetry once again be written in everyday language so that it will, once again, connect with everyday people. “Some call marijuana a gateway drug,” he said, “So I call Billy Collins a gateway poet.” All I can think of, sitting in my chair, is that his words smack of addiction rather than the mild infection I signed up for.
Yet my professor’s use of that word everyday — not once but twice — made me wonder if Billy Collins is not a pot-like poet at all, but more like a meat and potatoes poet. And if so, Billy and I will get alone just fine.
an everyday life 
When I was younger I wrote a lot of poetry. Over the years I have lost the passion for it. Just recently I’ve been thinking about trying to write poetry again. I’m jealous you’re taking a poetry class. That sounds like just what I need. I hope you share what you learn.
Humph. Honestly? Mr. Collins may be a poet laureate, but that one didn’t convince me he’s a poet. 😉
I know a few people who,
in writing or commenting online,
break their words up
into
little
bitty
lines
and then call it a
poem.
Phooey. There’s more to it than that. As soon as I figure out what it is, I’ll let you know! 😉
Haley,
My class is a wee four weeks long, so you’ve little need for jealousy.
I confess to having no expectations for learning, since I signed on more for joy and inspiration. But you know how the world of writing goes — one ends up at strange and unintended destinations, so perhaps learning will be part of the journey. I’ll let you know.
Janell
Linda,
Your one word lines made me smile.
I rather enjoyed Billy Collins recitation though — and look forward to other new experiences this class will offer over the next three weeks.
As a side course, I confess to reading Mary Oliver’s, A Poetry Handbook — A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry.
But again, I’ve no interest in the writing part. Am I saying that too much to be convincing?
Janell
I just listened again, and although his reading is very good, I still feel as though I’m listening to prose rather than poetry.
In any event, I really came by to bring you this. The comments are as important as the post, and they need to be read together. I’ve gained so much from reading Redtree Times – listening to people chit-chat about where and when and how they’re going to write when they get around to writing is one thing. Following the daily life and work of a producing artist is something else. It makes me want to work. 😉
I did order Ciardi’s book and have been dipping into it here and there. I really recommend it.
And here is a wonderful interview with Ciardi. I could read it a hundred times.
Linda,
Thanks for taking time to share these two sites with me. I enjoyed them both — but today, for whatever reason, it was John Ciardi’s article that spoke most to me.
Without a wish to dissect out particular lines to preserve in my handwritten journal, I’ve instead printed out a hard copy to bookmark my current reading and in addition, bookmarked a digital copy to store in my writing resource file. The piece is a rich mine for meditation, just to slowly read until one feels a need to stop. And I plan to do this for the next week, after I’ve finished my own morning writing, just to see what happens.
But I can’t stop without also holding up to the light what I most appreciated about the blog post: the author’s admission that he could not sum up his life and work in a 15 second soundbite.
Poetry, at its best, must be the same way — because it’s a living thing, it too cannot be dissected and summed up in soundbites — without dying on the laboratory table. Which I guess was what was unwittingly happening in all my high school English classes, when I walked away glad that the poetry module was FINALLY over. It’s no coincidence that I always feel the same way after attending a funeral.
Glad you came back – and too, that you gave Billy Collins another hearing.
Janell
I came to your site following the “everyday poet” breadcrumb trail and am very pleased to find favorite authors featured and discussed. More than that, I was moved by your “Woe, the Signpost” blog. It echoes my similar emotions–although regarding poetry more than blogs. Finding your site is great encouragement, and I will spend awhile longer here. ~Jo
Jo,
The best part of life (and blogging) is how it connects us with people in unimaginable ways.
How our communal use of the word “everyday”, how my deciding one day to write about Billy Collins after my poetry class, and calling that post by a name so similar to your own site, that today, it showed up in a digital trail of blog crumbs to bring you here — that all these things had to happen for us to meet — well, it makes our meeting not seem so very everyday, after all.
I’m glad you found encouragement here, even in a post bearing such a dismal warning label. Please know that you, too, have encouraged me with your visit and comment.
Janell