The first ever National Youth Poet Laureate is being groomed as the next Obama and intends to run for President in 2036 - plus Elon Yuri-pills the world
The tragic part isn’t the politics, it’s the terrible, terrible “poetry.” We have lost so much through our degrading modern educational system, and one of the greatest losses is the ability to read and appreciate great poetry. For those like me who were robbed of this by ignorant teachers, a great book to help you start liking poetry, and teaching your kids about it, is called Doorways to Poetry by Louis Untermeyer:
Let me share with you a little of my own work. Yes, I have applied for the MacArthur, the Rhodes. Was told I lacked "a diverse background" despite a lineage of French Acadian, Spanish, and Choctaw. So unfair. Here's one of my early pieces:
A randomized heroic couplet generator would make a more interesting read. And even the Davos bird singing lady was more interesting and pellucid, plus entertaining. But I am sure this poet will handle the national debt and defense with aplomb.
How to "climb" a hill by stringing together a long series of cliches, hitching that to the media machine. Eat grapes and watch the scenery as you are celebrated as a "poet," hauled up the mountain of accomplishment and fame.
So greatness in the modern age is the triumph of rank mediocrity, elevated artificially? They literally destroy everything they touch. A sea we must wade indeed. More like a cesspool of low expectations.
That isn’t a poem. It’s a whine. And a horrid one at that. And hypocritical as all democrats are. Wow. And doesn’t diversity have to include those of no color? Like unidentifiable races? White people? I guess only if you’re black do you fit in. They keep using that word. Diversity. I don’t think it means what they think it means.
I remember, more than anything, the robotic hand gestures of Gorman. If it were left alone as a one-time performance, it would be little more than an extra-event of the inauguration. But it did not stop there-the Super Bowl? Re-reads on popular talk shows? Pushing the poem as a brand?
Poetry does not do this. Poetry does not garner this much attention from the general population. I had a slight cringe when I heard Swift`s new album was called "The Tortured Poets Department". With Swift, we have yet another poet or "poet" who has been connected to the Super Bowl. Ironic. Poets do not pen poetry from a private jet, poets don't date quarterbacks, either. As much as I do not want to make hard and fast rules about what constitutes an artist or poet- I slightly mourn the old idea of what these terms meant, what they represented. But something already mentioned- those who are deeply moved, knowledgeable, appreciative and active in their pursuit of the arts won't fall for any of this. Amanda Gorman is a political stunt with a Gorman Vs. Goliath (racism, etc.) aspect. Only way it could work. When looking over her CV- it is clear that being a poet, simply, is not good enough. The awards- ugh.
As a dedicated artist who is also a straight white male- I would never, ever, throw my name in the hat of anything in hopes of being "chosen". The only option that makes sense is to keep the head down, work on the craft, and maybe this nonsense of marginalized voices will blow over one day.
She is praised by people who don’t read real poetry. Real poetry is no longer taught in K-12.
The West has a long tradition of poetry. Might be good to get to know it before gushing over such juvenile stuff.
She is a literal, breathing Google Gemini AI construct.
"Gemini, show me a picture of 'failing upwards' due to family wealth and connections."
Color of skin>>>talent in today's America, as far as the regime is concerned. And ESG will bring it worldwide.
Gorman is doing to poetry what Lysenko did to science.
Did anyone else notice that the first name of one of the poet laureates is Jellystone?
There is a certain dullness of the intellect that must be required to even accept this is as poetry, never mind exalt it.
The tragic part isn’t the politics, it’s the terrible, terrible “poetry.” We have lost so much through our degrading modern educational system, and one of the greatest losses is the ability to read and appreciate great poetry. For those like me who were robbed of this by ignorant teachers, a great book to help you start liking poetry, and teaching your kids about it, is called Doorways to Poetry by Louis Untermeyer:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0595006523/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=
He has a whole fun section at the end mocking bad poetry and explaining what makes it bad. He would have had a field day with ms Gorman…
This poem is truly awful - boring, banal, mediocre, hackneyed, supercilious - and mildly nauseating.
Elevating, indeed exalting this jumped-up, no-talent, little shit will eventually end badly for her.
Let me share with you a little of my own work. Yes, I have applied for the MacArthur, the Rhodes. Was told I lacked "a diverse background" despite a lineage of French Acadian, Spanish, and Choctaw. So unfair. Here's one of my early pieces:
incessant cawing from a crow out back
gorgeous black feline
lounging on the deck no idea
whose cat that is but
that is
definitely not a stray
“oh glorious, glorious fuckery today!!” yes
I am poet laureate, in both
deed, and dead
and, in fact, I say
A randomized heroic couplet generator would make a more interesting read. And even the Davos bird singing lady was more interesting and pellucid, plus entertaining. But I am sure this poet will handle the national debt and defense with aplomb.
Amanda Gorman vs Greta Thunberg in a no holds barred cage match. Winner takes all.
How to "climb" a hill by stringing together a long series of cliches, hitching that to the media machine. Eat grapes and watch the scenery as you are celebrated as a "poet," hauled up the mountain of accomplishment and fame.
So greatness in the modern age is the triumph of rank mediocrity, elevated artificially? They literally destroy everything they touch. A sea we must wade indeed. More like a cesspool of low expectations.
That isn’t a poem. It’s a whine. And a horrid one at that. And hypocritical as all democrats are. Wow. And doesn’t diversity have to include those of no color? Like unidentifiable races? White people? I guess only if you’re black do you fit in. They keep using that word. Diversity. I don’t think it means what they think it means.
The anointed Golden Child becomes the most malignant of all.
poet 😂
I remember, more than anything, the robotic hand gestures of Gorman. If it were left alone as a one-time performance, it would be little more than an extra-event of the inauguration. But it did not stop there-the Super Bowl? Re-reads on popular talk shows? Pushing the poem as a brand?
Poetry does not do this. Poetry does not garner this much attention from the general population. I had a slight cringe when I heard Swift`s new album was called "The Tortured Poets Department". With Swift, we have yet another poet or "poet" who has been connected to the Super Bowl. Ironic. Poets do not pen poetry from a private jet, poets don't date quarterbacks, either. As much as I do not want to make hard and fast rules about what constitutes an artist or poet- I slightly mourn the old idea of what these terms meant, what they represented. But something already mentioned- those who are deeply moved, knowledgeable, appreciative and active in their pursuit of the arts won't fall for any of this. Amanda Gorman is a political stunt with a Gorman Vs. Goliath (racism, etc.) aspect. Only way it could work. When looking over her CV- it is clear that being a poet, simply, is not good enough. The awards- ugh.
As a dedicated artist who is also a straight white male- I would never, ever, throw my name in the hat of anything in hopes of being "chosen". The only option that makes sense is to keep the head down, work on the craft, and maybe this nonsense of marginalized voices will blow over one day.
She writes Friday night poems.
The Need for Saturday Poetry
There are those who write Friday night poems,
manic, frantic poems of word grenades
that are thrown in your face
fiercely and emotionally
with no thought to consequence,
restraint, or the future.
“It is here, man,
it is in your face and your mamma’s face
and dig it, I don’t give a
[choose your favorite curse word]
see, man, it is my poem,
my poem that matters,
and only I matter
in this world’s creation, man,
understan’ what I’m sayin’...”
and the poet leaves the stage and spotlight
to screams and high fives
and another shot and beer
as institutional
as the poem was not.
There are those who write Sunday afternoon poetry,
wonders of iambic pentameter and tetrarch
and word constructions so dense and thick
that the early settlers to American,
had they faced the same forest of words,
never would have made it past
the white sands of the Eastern Seaboard
great pedantic wonders of words on page
and now on the Internet’s wall beckoning
but leaving the soul as cheated and empty
as stomachs fed on grass in a famine.
these poetry Pharisees and Seduces
leave the lectern and seminar
to the abject loneliness of the desk
with no window and soldier on,
cursing their superior’s orders
while religiously obeying them.
Others write Saturday poetry,
work and art poetry,
poetry that takes
the everyday and routine
and knows that, yes,
the baby must be fed,
but the baby has always to be fed
not only the sweet
and nutritious mothers’ milk,
but the poetry and song
and gentle mental caress
of the word well turned,
so that generations hence,
poetry is still sung to the baby
whose eyes dart back and forth
in half sleep and is touched
in the deepest corners of their minds
by words that connect them again
to the peace of the womb
and the ultimate peace of Heaven:
Like Emily Dickinson,
they scrub the floors
of the Halls of Poetry
just to raise their heads
occasionally
to hear the angels, sing.
Excellent.
Real poetry?
Even Shakespeare couldn't beat the lyrics from West Side Story
- Puerto Rico my heart’s devotion
Let it sink back in the ocean!