View Bill Moyers "Fooling with Words"
Take notes on poets and poems so that you can post a response to the video on this blog. Which poet/s were you interested in? What poems were particularly meaningful to you? Any insights about the nature of contemporary poetry---a particular perspective that poets take when writing about the world and our lives?
COMMENT WITH A BLOG POST of at least 200 words.
Read more Billy Collins.
Find 3 poems in the book that you can respond to with poems of your own--and write your poems!
Here's mine:
Traveling Through The Dark
Traveling through the dark I found a deer
dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.
It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:
that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.
By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car
and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;
she had stiffened already, almost cold.
I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.
My fingers touching her side brought me the reason--
her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,
alive, still, never to be born.
Beside that mountain road I hesitated.
The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;
under the hood purred the steady engine.
I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;
around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.
I thought hard for us all--my only swerving--,
then pushed her over the edge into the river.
dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.
It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:
that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.
By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car
and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;
she had stiffened already, almost cold.
I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.
My fingers touching her side brought me the reason--
her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,
alive, still, never to be born.
Beside that mountain road I hesitated.
The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;
under the hood purred the steady engine.
I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;
around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.
I thought hard for us all--my only swerving--,
then pushed her over the edge into the river.
William Stafford
Intrusion
for William Stafford
Traveling through the dark along the Seaway Trail,
we sense a family of deer, frozen at the edge
of the highway, staring back
at the headlights of our jeep--
their eyes wakeful, wary.
And so I must think of your poem,
of how the road we travel narrows and ends,
and why I, too, must question my swerving.
Later that evening back at home,
phantom deer appear. Dreamlike,
they lurk at the very edge of consciousness,
silently watching a procession of ghostly vehicles
hurtle through the wilderness.
They wait and watch, bewildered
by these hardened shells
encasing our fragile hearts.
Marcy Gamzon
Intrusion
for William Stafford
Traveling through the dark along the Seaway Trail,
we sense a family of deer, frozen at the edge
of the highway, staring back
at the headlights of our jeep--
their eyes wakeful, wary.
And so I must think of your poem,
of how the road we travel narrows and ends,
and why I, too, must question my swerving.
Later that evening back at home,
phantom deer appear. Dreamlike,
they lurk at the very edge of consciousness,
silently watching a procession of ghostly vehicles
hurtle through the wilderness.
They wait and watch, bewildered
by these hardened shells
encasing our fragile hearts.
Marcy Gamzon
Kayli Zeluff:
ReplyDeleteThe only poet that I enjoyed was Lucille Clifton. I think this is because I have read her work previously. She is also very funny and adds humor to her work without it being too heavy and distracting the attention away from the main purpose. I also like her because her poems are easier to understand than the others. She uses imagery and other poetic elements yet she doesn't over do it. Her poems also say so much although they're so short. One of the biggest things I like about her is her speaking voice. She has a different speaking voice than she does when she's reading her work. Unlike most of the other readers, she changes her tone and that tone helps the listener understand and relate to the poems that she's reading. You can tell the difference from when she was talking to the audience and when she started reading her work. I couldn't actually relate to her poems yet I enjoyed them none the less.
The poet that really fascinated me was Kurtis Larkin, who read the poem about jump-roping while playing an instrument (I'm not sure we were told the name of the poem.) The way he read that poem while playing a steady tune on his instrument, occasionally breaking the flow of the poem with the singing of young girls jumping rope created a sort of atmosphere. The poem felt self-contained in that way. The poem itself was fantastic as well. He sets up the scene with the old men and the old women in and around the porch, the young boys somewhere else, and then the young girls jumping rope. When the older woman started jumping rope with the young girls, it didn't feel like she was jumping rope, but like she was dancing, as Larkin continued to play his instrument. The poem just felt like both music and poetry, in a way that I thought was beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI liked the poet Kurtis Larkin and Mark Doty because their poems seemed to be the most powerful. Also, Lucille Clifton's poems were enjoyable and quick to the point, as well as being moving. Mark Doty uses ample imagery throughout his poems, which is why they are so powerful. Kurtis Larkin's poem was so powerful because he used the instrument and the subject of an old lady being told she couldn't do something by kids and then the lady beating the kids at jump rope. Doty also writes about things many people can relate to, which is another reason his poem's were powerful. Lucille Clifton had humor in her poems, such as the line where she says Adam often blames the woman. However, this poem was still very powerful because she circled the poem around that and made a profound statement to wrap it up.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed most of the poets that we saw on the video today but my favorite ones were Mark Doty and Coleman Barks. I think with Mark's poetry, it was more relatable because he used simple, every day activities and things like being with his dogs or listening to a choir. However, with the simplicity of some of his poems, there were also ones that were more intense and made you feel for him and what he'd gone through/whoever he was writing about had gone through. He had a Billy Collins style which I definitely enjoyed. I liked Coleman Barks because his style was way different than most of the poets that we have learned about and read. He made it fun with music and singing and I felt that it added a lot. His voice wasn't monotone and although he used a lot of metaphors, you could still clearly understand what the gist of the poem was. It was a cute poem at that and I really enjoyed it. I think the two both take simplicity and put a twist to it to make it interesting. Whether is be the use of humor, or music, both really spoke to me and I enjoyed hearing them.
ReplyDeleteAll of the poems in the video were enjoyable, and it is difficult for me to find a favorite poet/poem. My favorite poems were the Kurtis Larkin poem which was performed with the instrument that I do not know the name of. I liked how he incorporated music into his poem. it livened things up, made the poem more interesting to listen to. Also enjoyable to me was the poem from the dog's point of view, "New Dog", by Mark Doty. Doty was a nice poet to me. His dog poem was intriguing because it was from a different perspective, and made me think about what my dog used to think about. Jane Hirshfield's "The Poet," was pleasant to the ears because it provided nice imagery, such as a closed door, or a lamp providing light to see. These components put the image of a semi-well lit room, door closed, silent, with a pad of paper and a pen on the lap of a writer. I could not pick a favorite, however these poems were delightful all the same.
ReplyDeleteNikki Ehmann
ReplyDeleteOne poet that stood out to me in particular was the first man, Kurtis Larkin. He utilized music while reading his poem, giving it rhythm and a very song like quality to it. I can’t say I’ve ever seen other poets perform their work accompanied by music. Additionally, it was a very interesting and peculiar instrument, almost like a type of guitar. The poem told the story of two little girls playing jump rope with their mother. Although it had music and rhythm and was very much like a song, it still maintained the character of the poem and it didn’t turn into one, aside from the part that recited what the girls actually sang while jumping rope. Mark Doty’s poems also made an impression on me. Each of his poems was very versatile and unique, varying in style and theme and tone. I thought it was impressive how he could so easily switch between personifying a dog to recounting the death of his partner. What I’ve gathered from this video is that contemporary writers use poetry to express feelings, and they always have a story to tell; whether it’s about a national tragedy or a leaf on the ground, a dead animal or a live one.
I liked the Lucille Clifton poem "Adam Thinking." I liked that she introduced her poem with an anecdote about her experiences in church as a child. I thought that Mark Doty's poem "New Dog" was powerful. He framed the poem in an interesting way- revealing his greif through telling a story about getting a new dog. The poem was especially powerful because he added bits of humor, like when he described the dog "bounding and practically boundless, one brass concatenation of tongue and tail, unmediated energy, too big, wild, perfect." The moments of happiness, like this one, make the sadness he feels even more apparent. Another poem that I thought was interesting was Robert Pinsky’s “To Television.” I liked the allusion to Hermes:
ReplyDelete“Your patron in the pantheon would be Hermes. Raster dance, Quick one, little thief, escort Of the dying and comfort of the sick.” This makes me think of the television as a sort of mischievous but essentially benevolent comforter. Overall I thought the video was an interesting compilation of poets and their poems.
I enjoyed Kurtis Lamkin's poem "Jump Mama" the most because it just made me want to sing along with him, "Kenny Kana Paula, be on time, cause school begins, at a quarter to nine..." . I loved how he incorporated that weird instrument called the Kora in his poem. It gave the poem a more upbeat tone. It didn't have any meaning to me because I felt like he was just talking about a regular day outside but I enjoyed it because it was a simple, cheery, positive poem. One poet I did find interesting was Mark Doty. I found him interesting because the way he applies Billy Collins technique to his poems by being humorous but also getting to a point or to the meaning. He also looks like a younger version of Mr.Downs and the Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky, looked like Mr. Delmonte.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the poems that were read in "Fooling with Words." New dog by Mark Doty was very descriptive and it was telling us the purpose of the dog. I also like the fact that it helped out the sick boy. BIlly Collins style of writing was used in a few of these poets writing. Some of the poems were sad, mad, funny or very inspirational. Lucille Clifton was one of the inspirational writers one of the poems i thought were an inspiration was "Eve Thinking" what i got from the writing was dont let nothing bring you down and if it does get back up. Mark Doty references to dogs made me want to get a dog and i like the love he has them. "The Envoy" by Jane Hirshfield was another inspiration this poem makes me feel more appreciating of emotions and that you can't help how you feel about certain situations.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading "The Poet" written by Jane Hirshfield because of the manner in which it was written. To describe it it is basically a poet, writing either about herself or a fictional character in which she created. Hirshfield exerts a considerable amount of effort into writing imagery into her poem. Also she adds specific anaphora into the poem in the way she says, "Let us imagine whether it is leather or canvas, vinyl or wicker. Let her have a chair, her shadeless lamp, the table. Let one or two she loves be in the next room. Let the door be closed, the sleeping ones healthy. Let her have time, and silence, enough paper to make mistakes and go on." I enjoyed reading this poem because of all the imagery and simplicity about it. Lucille Clifton adds many more subtle metaphors into her poem "adam thinking". Her allusion is to the story of creation from the bible which includes the first man, adam, and his wife, eve. Clifton makes less of an effort than Hirshfield to create images in which the reader can visualize. She rather leaves any interpretation of the scene to her reader's imagination.
ReplyDeleteOne of the poets I liked was Mark Doty. The poem I thought was very meaningful was New Dog. New Dog was very descriptive. It spoke of a relationship between man and dog. I loved how the dog was there to help the man feel better in his down days. Another poet I favored was Krutis Lamkin because he is a passionate person. I liked his poem The Million Man March because not only did they talk about being together as one but making a powerful stand. He uses the word we a lot and it shows unity.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Kurtis Lamkin's "Jump Mama" was just truly outstanding and light hearted and really engaging and... it was just amazing! It captured my attention the whole time. I never lost interest. His voice is very interesting; it draws you in. Well, at least I think so. I liked when he was impersonating the young woman walking around the corner. The voice he portrayed for her was very humorous. Also, the imagery he created was very nice. It was easy to follow and to digest. There wasn't a moment were I was lost or confused. I was just really taken aback by this piece; I truly did enjoy this one. As for the other Poets, I did enjoy Mark Doty's "New Dog". It was easy to follow along with and keep up, but it was sad. He did created a good sense of imagery for us, the audience though. The only thing I didn't like about him was his voice. His voice is very dull and slow and it just looses my attention. He actually sounds like the guy from the "Clear Eyes" commercials. Ben Stein, I believe is his name. Anyways, Doty's tone just wasn't to my liking. Other than that, his work wasn't all that bad. Maybe if I wasn't so turned down by his voice, I'd be more intrigued by his pomes. Moving on, Lucille Clifton is a very well spoken poet. I as well enjoyed her poems. To me, "Adam Thinking" and "Eve Thinking" were very cute poems. It's obvious that they are correlating poems. The idea of Adam and Eve is very satisfying to me for some odd reason. I'm not really sure why I liked these poems, but they just happen tot tap into my inner happiness. Hahaha! "Fooling with Words" was really cool video to watch. Thanks for letting us watch it, Ms. Gamzon! Oh, and from the side, Mark Doty looked like Mr. Downs!!! Hahaha!
ReplyDelete