Poetry is suddenly a hot topic

[Doug Fattic]

I would like to ask Jorn aka j44ke the poet about his reaction to how poetry is suddenly a hot topic because of Amanda Gorman's stunning reading of her poem at Biden's inauguration.

[j44ke]

Several of the inaugurations have been great for poetry. When people get the opportunity to hear good poetry, most of them profess admiration. And really good poetry - even if the poem itself is depressing or sad - can be like an inoculation against the downward cast views of fear and suspicion and anxiety and allow people to look up for a moment and see what good things are around them - including other people - and feel a bit of relief. We forget to look up sometimes. Nice to be told to come see something we know is there but haven’t remembered to look at recently.

I’m all for it. And the generation this young poet is in have experienced more poetry from more different places as part of their a day to day experience than several generations before them. Her love of the musical “Hamilton” is just one. They seem to have fewer boundaries to accepting the written word as a valuable effort. I started as a painter because somehow I thought that was a more honorable art than poetry. I haven’t seen that confusion among younger writers. And they have greater access to the poetry of people with whom they have a shared background - most kids these days benefit from an increasingly diverse community of peers and find the reactions of adults to that community perplexing and sure signs of hypocrisy.

I think poetry is great. More more. Especially in public on a big stage at big events. Your heart beats in meter. Even if your poem isn’t metrical, the words still have that rhythm at their core. And if it is good, a poem cannot not be a most human expression.

[dashDustin]

A year and a half ago, I took Jorn's book with me to father in law's funeral. For many reasons, it wasn't a good trip. Got back home and realized I didn't have the book. Was really, really bummed. Figured I had left it in the church where I was last reading it. Fast forward, I trade my Volvo in back in December. Get a call from the dealer last week, "we found a book that has some of your tax information in it." Weird, I went through the car top to bottom. I go by the dealer to get my plates, and there's my signed book.

This has been a good few days for poetry.

[j44ke]

A year and a half ago, I took Jorn's book with me to father in law's funeral. For many reasons, it wasn't a good trip. Got back home and realized I didn't have the book. Was really, really bummed. Figured I had left it in the church where I was last reading it. Fast forward, I trade my Volvo in back in December. Get a call from the dealer last week, "we found a book that has some of your tax information in it." Weird, I went through the car top to bottom. I go by the dealer to get my plates, and there's my signed book.

This has been a good few days for poetry.

The homing device I put in every book is working!

[colker]

Poetry is the heart of ethics and philosophy. It has driven nations that ruled the west. Not too long ago samurai warriors would write poetry. My rule is: if it can be called poetry somehow, it´s good. If not it´s bad. From science to a cooking recipe... it needs to be poetic.

[DOOFUS]

I thought her poem was perfect for the event, and it's certainly done more to get people talking about poetry than some previous inaugural poems have. On the downside, a lot of grouchy "traditionalists" had issues with it and have tried to roast her poem on social media as being prosaic, and different MFA camps have taken each other to task on whether they have praised it enough -- a lot of shitfighting over turf that only exists in the minds of poets.

Her poem was vibrant, urgent, and it moved people. Works.

[Mabouya]

It will be interesting to see what she does for the Superbowl half-time show.

What a great success if it's received as enthusiastically as the inauguration effort.

[Mabouya]

Correction: She's going to be reciting a poem before the start of the game, not at half-time.

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/29/96203...-super-bowl-lv

"Her new poem will honor three Americans — Los Angeles educator Trimaine Davis, Florida nurse manager Suzie Dorner and Pittsburgh-based James Martin, a Marine veteran who volunteers with the Wounded Warrior Project and who has taken in local kids facing issues at home — for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. The three have also been named honorary captains for the Super Bowl by the NFL."