Poetry is eternal graffiti in the heart of everyone.
A poem is a mirror walking down a strange street full of visual delight.
Poetry is the shook foil of the imagination; it should shine out and half blind you.
It is the sun streaming down in the meshes of the morning.
It is white nights and mouths of desire.
It is a tree with live leaves made from log piles of words.
A poem should arise to ecstasy somewhere between speech and song.
~ Excerpt of Americus, Book I by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Brussels, July 2006
This post was inspired by Christine who recently had a poem and picture that I really enjoyed. I found this Ferlinghetti poem plus a wonderful interview of the poet in the latest edition of Poets & Writers Magazine.
9 Comments
Oh wow, this is really cool. I’ve been writing a lot of poetry myself lately. Maybe I’ll post some of it after I polish it off. And after that I might even get the guts to submit it somewhere.
p.s. let me know of any good lit mags or anything that publish poetry from previously unnpublish writers.
Wasn’t that a fantastic interview? I’ve never read Ferlinghetti before and it got me to mooch a copy of Coney Island State of Mind.
Nik – Good for you! Do you have a copy of the latest Poet’s Market? If not, it’s a must if. I’ve submitted poems to university journals and have had success with those so you may want to try smaller venues like those. Also a good online place is All Things Girl. If I think of more stuff I’ll send you an email 🙂
Stefanie – It was. I loved his definition of a bohemian, the noncomformists who don’t live 9-5 jobs (or something like that). I thought, oh man, I’m a bohemian wannabe 🙂 I need to find one of his poetry books.
I like the picture. The most unseemingly interesting places turn out to be a work of art… great shot!
Oh Iliana…I love that first line: Poetry is eternal graffiti in the heart of everyone. Perfectly true, isn’t it? I’d say that goes double for books too. 🙂
Hope you’ve having a good weekend.
JCR – Thank you. I had such a great time in Belgium last year. It was hard to put the camera aside. I wanted to record everything.
Kisane – Oh I agree, it goes so well with books too! Hope you are having a great weekend too 🙂
I really like your choice of poem along with the photograph – they work so well together. I really enjoy finding stories and words in photographs.
The article was a good read. Lawrence Ferlinghetti is such an interesting person. Mark Eisner and he have a connection with the The Essential Neruda book. He wrote the preface and helped to publish it through his City Lights Bookstore.
http://www.citylights.com/pub/catalog/BCessential.html
Christine – Thank you for the link. I want that book!! 🙂