Monday, April 11, 2011

The Poems



While dates vary state-to-state, our community recognizes this Thursday, April 14 as the 2011 Put a Poem in Your Pocket day.

In high school I brought a bag of poems to school ever PaPiYPd and distributed them to whoever wanted one. This is probably the coolest thing I have ever done. It's hard to print pages of poetry in college, so last year I distributed them to some people via facebook. I guess I will do it again; it takes a long time but it's very enjoyable, and besides, I don't have very many traditions.

One thing I wish I did was write poetry instead of just read it. I did this very frequently as a middle schooler but now I don't usually think of it. Hmm! Something I just remembered is that Rider Strong, who played Shawn on Boy Meets World, reportedly wrote poetry. I know this because around the time I was writing poetry, I was also videotaping Nick at Nite's eleven p.m. Boy Meets World screenings to watch the next afternoon and spending a lot of time on Boy Meets World fan sites. I am not sure I have ever been a "fan" of anything as much as Boy Meets World, which I have not seen 1 minute of in about five years. It's never on! Anyway, Rider Strong (if that really is your name), a google search for your poetry reveals this gem:

(it should be noted that in the time lapse between my typing the above colon and concluding my extensive search for Rider Strong poetry, a lot of things could have been accomplished. Anyway:)

Capitol Reef
When he came to the dense selection of nothing
He was counting on lucidity
An etching that would rise up from the drama of horizons
Like a call to arms from this urn of ancient oceans
But the silence had made the music
he had heard while driving there
resound like plastic drums within his skull
And the packed and jagged thoughts
He had so carefully prepared
Were just packed and jagged
As he sweated of the cliff with a journey for a journey
Looking at his feet, he knew at once the redbrown of redbrown dust
Could be nothing more than redbrown dust
And looking up, The rocks were dangerous in their density
How much did his eyes project
Before the sunlight filled them up-
Before his desperation, once affronted with the setting (as it arched in every way, arched to slip behind the bent horizon) overflowed?
Tears to reconcile the desert
He cried
As witness
When the landscape overrode (crushed and crackled from inside) the glass of his snow globe;
Left him murdering his daughter for the winds



....Well, he was probably trying his best. I mean what have I ever done that was so great? Get Geared up for 'Pocket Day Twenty-Eleven! And if you have a good one, throw it up right here!

9 comments:

  1. It must be said that some of my favorite poems were written by an anonymous author.

    We should watch BOY MEETS WORLD soon.

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  2. I love the idea of distributing poems. I, too, will put some kind of poem on my FB pages this Thursday.

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  3. I love Poem in your Pocket Day. Thanks to your Mom! She gets the kids at Fairview all pumped up for this day.

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  4. We're going to include signing the back of the poem before passing it on to the next reader this year. At the end of the day bringing it back to the owner. But not until April 28.
    jw

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  5. April 28. GREAT MOVE CHANGING THE DATE! I have been freaking about this. But now I feel revitalized, what with 20something's post, and Judy's comments, and Streib's affirmations. You know my fave poem to share with kids:

    Don't have fun.
    Get it done.

    They usually ask me if they can do both at the same time, and I frequently reply, It appears not.

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  6. Yeah Yeah! The 28th! I thought Nance said we were doing the 14th! 28th is good.

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  7. I'm switching to the 28th, too. Thank the Lord. This week is too insane because we have our stupid state tests. OMG. I hate these days.

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  8. I'm having a hard time getting my
    personhood getting to work.

    Nowhere Man
    Please listen
    you don't know
    what you're missin'.
    Nowhere Man
    The World is at your command.

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  9. I think I watched a Boy Meets World marathon once during a winter break from college. In my defense, I was watching with my younger sister. Of course, I totally loved it.

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