Tautology
A Brief Introduction
I think I was trying to emulate one of the beats - Lawrence Ferlinghetti in fact. He was one of the earlier poets I discovered while an undergraduate and the only reason I came across him was because he was mentioned in the book No One Here Gets Out Alive which was about Jim Morrison.
Not quite compatible with a sub genre that probably has disappeared - or perhaps my tastes have matured. But it was an early piece that got a good review in the workshop and was an introduction to Creative Writing. My teacher was Nancy Johnson and she has written a book called Zoo and Cathedral. I think I'll review it here soon.
While I would like to think that my writing has improved, I miss being 19 and having a new world ahead of me and trying to find my voice.
(From my poetry 101 class - 1989)
little boy
dressed in
blue denim
white shirt
an grey high topped sneakers
found
down by the river
next to the levee
just past the wooden bridge.
it's not really a bridge though
-just a catwalk
looked like it had been made
by boy scouts
from troop 59
his body bore no wounds
there was no blood on him.
the old man had lived here for
twenty some years
he'd seen death by lightening before,
many times
enough to be an expert.
but it didn't look like
he had lightening marks on him either.
he just lay there
looking curious in his sleep.
don't know if he knew the difference
between catwalks and bridges.
they lifted him into the ambulance
and drove away towards the hospital
so they could cool him off in the morgue
with its metal cabinets
and clean well-lit hallways
I didn't tell the morgue men
about catwalks and bridges.
wasn't sure if they knew
about lightening death either.
