Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Buffy Silverman for Roundup.
It was my honor to contribute again to David Harrison's "Poetry From Daily Life" column. This time I wrote about things I've learned about life from reading poems. Maybe you will recognize some of the lines I selected to share!
Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is (again!) in Picasso's voice. For some reason, he started talking about math...and poetry!
Does it make sense? Do the metaphors hold up? Does it have anything to do with the art?
Maybe, maybe not! And that's okay. So often I write what I most need to hear, so perhaps my subconscious is encouraging me to loosen up, follow the wild threads, let the poem be what it wants to be. Thanks so much for reading!
Picasso Speaks of Poetry
A poem is at least half geometry,
the rest is quantum physics.
If we are made of starstuff,
then a poem is a black hole.
For every flower I paint,
a galaxy crashes into a windowpane,
lost.
What kills a poem?
Algebra, calculus.
So stop counting.
Stop thinking.
Hurl yourself into a summer sky.
A poem is nothing
if not infinity.
Hello dear Irene, Picasso-Pusher. I hope he hears your Voice. And I heard your Voice, with delight, at David Harrison's newspaper column. Much goodness there & here. Happy lLakeside Weekend!
ReplyDelete"A poem is nothing if not infinity" makes me sigh with contentment and delight. Thanks for sharing it. (Your title makes me think of Langston Hughes' THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS.)
ReplyDeleteI admire the wackiness with the solid structure...the think, think, wonder, go! pattern. Off to read your column.
ReplyDeleteThat column is a treasure...what a nice collection of quotes.
DeletePicasso speaks just as I would expect, part logical and part ethereal. I do love the advice to stop thinking. Some of my best poems do not involve thinking.
ReplyDeleteGreat column! And tell Picasso thanks for the advice:
ReplyDelete"So stop counting.
Stop thinking."
(I got the same advice from a Dove chocolate wrapper recently, "Overthinking is prohibited for the next few moments." Is The Universe sending me a message? Probably. But I'm not overthinking it...)
Yep, pretty sure I needed to hear this today. I am working on a rhyming PB and I had to put it aside and send it to my critique group because I can't stop the counting part. :)
ReplyDeleteWise words from Picasso -- the overthinking message is highly appreciated! Love how you've embodied his persona. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful thoughts in your poem and article, Irene. "Hurl yourself into a summer sky" feels so right.
ReplyDeleteI love that you’ve addressed that which is in poetry that goes beyond what’s on the page. The magic of it. Xo
ReplyDeleteApplause all around! I loved the column, loved the quotes (I'm a huge fan of quotes, bring me ALL the quotes!) and loved this: "Because poetry is the playground where I have learned the most important things in my life." Oh, yes.
ReplyDeleteAnd Picasso telling me that poetry is quantum physics just made my Sunday. ❤️
"Hurl yourself into a summer sky" - Oh, I intend to! I love this so much.
ReplyDelete