poetry-the guts of me

I am not from the poet

mostly I am confused by their words

as they fly whimsically in and out of reality

I am from the dirt

straight forward raw, gut eating dirt

because it talks to me

"you cannot go home again"

"BULLSHIT", David Lee says

"I go home every day"

that's straight to me

no dancing around a metaphor

trying to find the smell of a rose

see, "a rose by any other name"

would be a turnip or an onion

but it wouldn't be a rose

but that is me

I cannot be what I am not

and I am not Rumi

I am polished by the dirt

that I have been thrown into

sculpted into a clod damn writer

                                                       gsbatty/July 2013

For most of my life I have thought of poetry as...to be honest...nothing...words written that could not be deciphered. But, as I began to write myself and tried to read and understand what poetry really is, I have begun to nurture a true love and understanding of poetry.

In my quest for the knowledge of poetry I subscribe to "The Writer's Almanac" (writersalmanac.org) where I get a daily poem and it is on audio if you choose. I highly recommend this site to anyone who would like to start their day with a great poem.

I also subscribe to (http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/). This blog is by Ivan Granger and his quest is to introduce readers to the poetry. It is here that I learned about Rumi and the Persian poets. It is truly a remarkable blog and I give it a five star rating.

One of my favorite poets is David Whyte (http://www.davidwhyte.com/). His poetry flows like the water of a beautiful stream and to listen to him recite poetry is pure heaven. If you have not heard David Whyte and his poetry, take a few moments to spend with him.  It will be well worth your time.

But, being from the dirt type of writer, my favorite poet is David Lee. David Lee is known as the pig poet.

http://pigpoet.com/Pig_Poet/Bits_of_Poetry.html

The following words from David Lee's site...

You can’t go home again

T.Wolfe

That’s shit

Bill Holm

Who sed that ?

Did somebody say that

or was it in one of them dam books you read ?

It don’t matter

it’s a pile of crap

I go home ever day

don’t matter where I am

I’m the prodigal son coming back

I don’t even need a Greyhound bus

I can go to my town right now

right here talking to you

because this

is everywhere

I’ve ever been

from “My Town” by David Lee

"I'm often quoted for saying, 'I write for people who think they don't like poetry.' While I may not have said that, I don't disagree with it"....David lee


David Lee was the poet who taught me that poetry is not merely words dancing around a metaphor. Poetry is life. It is about you and me and the poor little girl chained to a tree. It is about the dirt and sun and the sky we fly in.