Tags
2015, Allen Ginsberg, buddleia, butterfly, Emily Dickinson, letting go, poetry, reading, Roger McGough, Sylvia Plath, William Carlos Williams, yellow
I have a habit of
discovering poets
and buying their
complete works
outright, but then
reading them like
a book is far too
rich, like a bowl of
yellow butter icing;
I worked my way
through Sylvia and
it damn near killed
me; I tried it with
Emily and it left me
all terse; Allen left
me lost on street
corners with my
genitals hanging out;
Roger left me on
the doorstep for
the milkman; it
wasn’t until I
returned to Old
Bull, all cantank-
erous with acc-
epted discipline,
that I found my
self flicking through
like butterflies on
buddleia, enjoying
myselves for the first
in a long long time
————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–
Allen Ginsberg wormhole: my life / of others
buddhleia wormhole: I’ve only just realised / after so many decades / that the smell of neglected land is lilac buddleia
letting go wormhole: prayer to my self
poetry wormhole: wriving
reading wormhole: the peculiar continuum of trains
Sylvia Plath wormhole: Black Rook / in Rainy Weather
William Carlos Williams wormhole: living mystery / murder theatre
yellow wormhole: gre[wh]y / has Daddy left us?
mlewisredford 
Wonderful!
I am much the same: buying a “Collected Poems” based on one poem I like. The first one I bought was Sylvia, back when I was about 19. I don’t think I bought another poetry book for a decade or more!
But, I have found that poetry, even more so than fiction, is meant to be read when you’re ready. You don’t necessarily know when you’re ready — you just happen to pick up the book again, and it carries you away.
I finally made it through Sylvia when I was in my early 40s, and it suddenly had meaning and resonance. I’m not claiming to understand it all, but I’m learning her language (I cannot say the same for Mr. Sylvia — I still can’t work my way through his works … )
Poetry doesn’t come to you … it is out there, waiting for you to arrive at it.
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… like the yin and the yang with a little bit of the other in the each … the message: play!
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Think of it like vitamins. One a day, of each variety. Too much of vit A will kill you. Other vits won’t, but the excess gets flushed, wasting your money.
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aha, a verse a day
keeps the pedant at bay
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I love it. I suppose Allen would be pleased too, at his effect. Maybe not Emily though. But yes, it’s rich stuff!
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… I tried to like her, I really did
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