So…I haven’t written a post in a while. It’s the end of the nine weeks for me, so I’ve fallen a bit behind on the blog. This week, I’m going to talk about poetry. I absolutely love poetry. My favorite poets are Frank O’Hara, Charles Bukowski, and Pablo Neruda. My favorite poem ever is “Having a Coke with You” by Frank O’Hara:
“Having a Coke with You
is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I’m with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles
and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them
I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it’s in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven’t gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn’t pick the rider as carefully
as the horse
it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it.”
Writing poetry is definitely a lot of fun, especially for people who like writing. It can help you feel better by getting all your feelings out. I encourage everyone to try writing poetry at least once. There aren’t really any guidelines to writing poetry. Well, ok, so maybe there are, but you don’t have to follow them. Your poetry should come from the way you feel. Just write it. Don’t hold yourself back by worrying about rules. Something else: poems DON’T have to rhyme. A lot of people seem to think this, but there are many poets (like in the poem above) who write free verse poems, which can be written in any way the poet wants. The best advice I can give to anyone who wants to write poetry is this: READ POEMS! The best way to become better at writing poems is to read the work of others. I hope I inspired some of you to try writing poetry. Good luck!
