Henry’s Over New York City With John Keats As Paul McCartney
The bacteria in his lungs, laundry, lumber,
the Mohawk construction workers, Wookie, wee,
Fanny had a skirt skated, Scranton,
Albany upstate earthquake motor many Moe.
He could take beauty and roll it, mold it, fold it,
in the pockets of his mind, coalmine, unwind,
she stood by his side today, tomorrow, Tomas,
language lizard volcano memory mention Millions.
John thought words grew out of lyrics, land, Lubbock,
guess he never saw sand, Shropshire, Sammy,
the mirror in his own face, fathom, flying,
foolhardy Chapman marbles garbled,
Empire State Building shaking, parrots, plumber, Paul.
John Keats walks across Abbey Road barefoot, run, ranch,
he’s the only Beatle, footfall, French kiss,
Byron Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft
wearing borrowed skin, shoulders, Siamese boulders,
so this is how that rumor about Paul’s death started, stranded, stumbled.
8 comments:
cool. i like. it's fun.
"John thought words grew out of lyrics, land, Lubbock,
guess he never saw sand, Shropshire, Sammy,
the mirror in his own face, fathom, flying,
foolhardy Chapman marbles garbled,
Empire State Building shaking, parrots, plumber, Paul.
John Keats walks across Abbey Road barefoot, run, ranch,
he’s the only Beatle, footfall, French kiss. . ."
You're too much.
Good thing I don't know you personally, I'd just be following you around going: "You're too much, Reyes! You're too much."
Just got home from work,it's 2:39am local time,thanks, everybody, for the nice comments.I appreciate it.
very ecclectic imagery, has a collage feel to it. Enjoyed.
Helm.
Hi RC
I kind of like this, can see the cleverness in it but also am a bit bothered by it. I think perhaps you are trying to do to much in it. McCartney and Keats don't fit naturally together so the poem comes across a bit of an anachronism and a jumble. Is the mention of "Chapman" supposed to be a reference to Mark David Chapman? As I say, there is much about this that I admire but parts that don't seem to fit. Maybe Keats and McCartney are too big and too individual to fit in the same poem together. I'd like to see you write a poem without having to rely on such cultural references, or a poem in which the allusions are better assimilated.
Best regards
Chris
Chris,thanks for your comments.Chapman is, of course,"On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer" and the poem itself is inspired by the poetry of Ann Marie Eldon.So yes Keats and McCartney have nothing to do with each other.The poem follows the principle that time is a wave not a particle so that characters and events can appear anywhere in time.
Hi RC
Yes but there's a danger in this that what you end up is simply a word soup and inauthentic. I'm not trying to be demeaning, just trying to weigh what you have. If you throw personalities in from different time periods and genres that's all very well but they have to somehow gell together. Don't mind me, I am speaking both as a historian and a poet.
Chris
Word soup is very common in today's poetry,so I don't see that as a problem.And,Chris,I do appreciate your comments.It's much better than no input at all.Just a little bit about how I write:Each poem is written in under ten minutes,give or take a couple of minutes.If it takes more than that it is not a poem,I'm talking about my poems only---I've written that way for 41 years,so this poem is done,no going back.But,I am very interested in seeing you rewrite to your standards and posting it to this string of comments.It might be fun.Thanks again,Chris.
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