Punk

You're wicked--
A master of the art of bending reality.
Maniacal--
An absolute and total curse upon humanity.
Look at yourself smile.
You're proud,
and why not?
The darkness engulfing you
is all that you've got.

You don't even understand yourself, punk.


This poem is to be read slightly tongue-in-cheek. It all popped into my head as I was staring at myself in the mirror with an insane grin on my face. Today was a really hard day, and like always, I began laughing hysterically once all the crying was over. I guess at how silly it all seemed in the grand scheme of things, I don't know.

I was inspired by this music video by one of my favorite artists. I warn you, it'll make you question your sanity:

My Death

Image by doug88888 via Flickr
I was thinking about it yesterday and scribbled out a poem. I typed it right into the blog post and didn't really think about editing, so I can at least promise you that it's probably monstrous. Also, I'm terrible at poetry. Gotta keep that in mind, too.

I am happy,
I am free,
I am in the grip of eternity.
Whether I feel flames, hear harps,
Or see miles and miles of endless dark,
Be comforted. I am glad I have left.

The sun will rise tomorrow,
even if I do not spin with the Earth.
Its rays will warm this valley,
even if I lie far beneath its dirt.
Your heart will beat, though mine has ceased.
Dream of me often. Keep me alive.

Frost: Revisted

 Image via Wikipedia

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near.

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and down flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

If you're like me, you've read The Road Less Traveled at least a hundred times a year between first grade and graduation, and are so sick of being introducted to it as if you've never read it before that you didn't want to hear the name, 'Robert Frost' again. After I read some of his other poems, I was disappointed in myself for not having read more of Frost. I was just so incredibly sick of that one poem by graduation, because everyone in grade school seems convinced that Robert Frost never wrote a single thing before or after The Road Less Traveled. 

Of course, I'm not saying that The Road Less Traveled isn't a wonderful poem---it is, and it's a sad thing that it's been picked apart so much in a school setting that most people don't even batt an eyelash when reading it nowadays. Archibald MacLeish would swoon. But I would like to give Frost a sort of revival in the eyes of young readers.

Some amazing Robert Frost poems that aren't The Road Less Traveled.

Acquainted With the Night

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Design

And here's a link to pretty much everything.

I still have to say that my favorite of his poems is Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. I can't really put my finger on why. 

Shoutout to Allen Ginsburg

Image via WikipediaJoseph Roux once said that, "Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes."

Allen Ginsburg showed us all that poetry is sometimes better when it strips down naked and says, "Hey! This ain't pretty, but it's how it is."

And you know what? Sometimes a thing is beautiful in its own way just for being what it is. 

Even Steve Buscemi, as much as I hate to say it.

My favorite Ginsburg poems:

Wild Orphan

A Supermarket in California

Song

An Eastern Ballad

Refrain

This unfinished poem will be the death of me.

I missed my post yesterday evening because I was at a funeral. Yikes. I've been meaning to post more often, but I don't want to turn this into one of those blogs made up of nothing but mundane posts about the author's life. Like, I dunno..."Today I ate some cereal I never tried before. I think I liked it. Not too sure. Peace, out."

I, out of desperation, choose to present you with this poem that I began an eternity ago. I warn you that I am a terrible poet, so please try to remember that I'm not trying to pass this off as Poet Laureate material like some writers who clearly aren't strong in poetry do.

****

Night descends like a blanket of lead.

Extinguish the stars. The light is dead.

Now is the time for the things that creep

to arise from their slumber and crawl out of the deep.

****

...and then that's all I got.  I've probably been working on that poem for six months now and that is always as far as I get. Still, it has a nice ring to it. I might throw it in a story as one of those songs that are overheard in the middle of a bar or something.

Though I have no idea what sort of bar would play a song like that, I'll have to admit.

Four Websites to Break the Tension of Writer's Block

Oh, good Lord. It's another blog post in the form of a list. Lord Xenu help us all.

Image via WikipediaIn case it hasn't made itself obvious by now, I can't think of a single thing to write lately. Isn't that just the most irritating feeling in the universe? Staring at that blinking cursor...chewing on your pen until you can taste ink...it's just infuriating. So, what's a writer to do?

Why, compose a blog post about writer's block, of course!

Or you could just whine to everyone you see regardless of whether or not they care. That's normally the route I choose, but it never really does much good. I've found that visiting the following websites can be a tremendous help, even if it's just to have a good and slightly inspirational laugh.

1. Language is a Virus - While most people have heard of this one, but I can never keep from mentioning it. The poetry generator always proves to be nothing short of hilarious. If anything, it will stop you from being so uptight about the fact that the stupid poem you've been working on for the past week just refuses to budge past the first quatrain. Sometimes just relaxing a bit can make all of the difference, after all. The site also offers quite a few inspirational articles, not to mention writing prompts that can force you out of your comfort zone. I've used a few in the past to compose some of my favorite of the poems I've written...you know...the ones addressed to the reader that most people find a bit creepy.
2. WeHeartIt.com - I love visual inspiration. If it strikes just the right chords, a picture really can be worth a thousand words, maybe even more. It doesn't work for everybody, however, as no two people write (or get inspired) in the same way. If you're one of those people who could just go to town on a manuscript after seeing a picture of a mountain or a beautiful work of art, this website is most certainly for you. 
3. Seventh Sanctum - Seventh Sanctum, much like Language is a Virus, is another well known website that's great for playing around and having a good laugh. While some of their generators prove to be more amusing that anything, I would definitely be lying if I said that it hasn't helped me to compose some serious works. You'd really be surprised at what a silly sounding randomly generated collection of words can stir up inside of you. In my opinion, such websites do a wonderful job of proving that inspiration will come to you if you could only allow yourself to forget that you were looking for it in the first place.
4. Random Book Title Generator - I'm just going to be completely honest with you here and say that this generator is only on the list because it's one of the funniest things I've come across on the Internet. I can't really say much else about it...you'll just have to see for yourself. As is the case with Seventh Sanctum, you never know when it will actually inspire you. For the most part, however, it's just a wonderful way to make yourself laugh when you've probably done nothing but bang your head against your computer screen for the preceding week.

Related articles

• Random Whimsy - Treating Writers Block (emilyandthelime.wordpress.com)
• The best way to Defeat Writers Block. (leccoworkshop.com)

Just Call me the Hyacinth Girl

Image via WikipediaOne of the most common criticisms my poetry receives is that I use too many metaphors and allusions. I like to keep it nice and vague, too, unless it's a special poem. The more other people can relate to the poem, the happier it makes me. I like people. People are awesome. LONG LIVE PEOPLE!....*ahem*....

But, anyway, on with how the above statement relates to today's post...

...if the idea is that ambiguity and metaphors make a poem bad, then take a gander at this one.

T.S. Eliot's Wasteland is my favorite poem, and arguably the best one ever written. For the first few years of the poem's existence, nobody had any idea what he was talking about.

Luckily, the page to which I've linked provides a handy little reading guide. It's a bit of a long read for a poem, but it is an epic after all. Reading this poem is like going on a journey, I love it!

Related articles

• Weekends with TS Eliot (whisperinggums.wordpress.com)

It pays to be a programmer.

Unfortunately, I am not one. That's why I've had to go through a cornucopia of blogging services in order to find one that didn't make me want to rip my hair out for one reason or the other.

I want to try to update this thing bi-weekly. I want every post to be nice, long, and meaningful, which makes it hard to get a post out every day. I suppose I'll be sticking some random snippets of stories I've been working on along with the occasional poem. I warn you, though, that my poetry is completely awful. You  may just lose your soul from reading it. I'm not even kidding. I feel that my prose is at least a little better, if not a lot better.

I went to Blogger because I've had a life-long love affair with Google.

If you think that's a metaphor, well then you just don't know how creepy I can be.