Poetry is sort of a curious object for me. I enjoy reading poems. I love spoken word poetry, though I know it’s not for everyone. I love how poetry is about the joy of language, the purity of expression, etc. But I have an utter inability to write it. And often when I’m reading a poem I feel like I’m being confronted with some cryptogram that needs to be decoded, which is fun, sometimes, and then again sometimes not. It can begin to feel more like a math problem than a poem. And feeding my complex still: rarely do I feel so inspired to write fiction as when I am reading a poem.
Am I the only one that feels that way? That is: confused?
Anyway, in light of these thoughts, I thought I’d share some of my favorite poems.
“My Father’s Family” by Adam Falkner
I added this as a Featured Story way early on. One of my favorite parts during the video is towards the end, when you can hear an audience member say “My God,” like Adam Falkner is some indomitable force of nature.
ee cummings
It’s a poem. A classy, respected poem. About anal sex. And plus it does some cool things with language and breaking down words. There’s an interesting analysis about this poem over on HTMLGIANT.
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
Isn’t this technically a kid’s poem? Whatever. I actually first read the poem in college, when a friend from a creative writing class who was amused by my surrealist fiction walked into the classroom and handed me a print-out of the poem, saying, “I think you would really enjoy this.” And you know what, I did. It’s so whimsical and bizarre, and also completely insane.
William Shatner reads Palin’s Twitter Poetry
Is this cheating? Because since Palin didn’t mean to write poetry, it’s not really poetry? I don’t care. It’s such a good example of poetry inadvertently emerging in everyday life, and being able to find the beauty in everyday language.
What are your favorite poems?
[Image credit: toothpastefordinner.com]
