Guy Conner's Blog, page 6
July 12, 2015
Found Poems
Found poems are poems created by taking words, phrases, and even whole passages from prosaic sources and reframing them as poetry. They are the poetic equivalent of the “scrapture” events that used to be held at the Sonoma County dump – exhibitions of sculptures made from discarded items.. I’d forgotten that I’d ever written a found poem, until I found the following from my college days:
Bulletin of the Garden Club of America
Hanging
Baskets of fibrous-rooted begonias.
Usually,
A hole for one...
July 11, 2015
Slouching Towards Oligarchy
In an earlier post, I said, without further explanation that we are slouching towards oligarchy in this country. I’d like to explain what I meant
Oligarchy is an ugly word; for that matter, it is an ugly concept, especially to a small “d” democrat like myself – rule by an elite. Slouching means to move in a lazy manner, and that is exactly the problem – we aren’t as a people, putting any energy into our relationship with our government. We glide through our lives, shoulders hunched, blind to...
July 10, 2015
To The Fair
Here I go again. I said herethat I didn’t write songs, and yet here is yet another verse turned into a song, this one from the early 70’s.
Intro:
My mother made me take you out
She said that you were very sad,
Because your mother and your dad
Had perished in a roundabout.
And so I met you at your place
And smiled at you and took your hand.
You didn’t smile, but I understand;
I saw the sorrow in your face.
Chorus 1:
Oh, do you remember when I took you to the Fair,
To the Fair?
And how we got...
July 9, 2015
On the Decline of Light Verse
As I have indicated here, I grew up in a household that loved verse. My mother was an actress, who appreciated recitations. My father was a college professor turned rocket scientist who loved to recite. I grew up with W S Gilbert, and Lewis Carroll and Ogden Nash. In those days, it was easy to find light verse to read, as well. National magazines like Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post would accept humorous verse for publication. But no more. By the time I decided to publish my boo...
July 3, 2015
Another Song
Recently, I posted this, which I said was the only true song I ever wrote. That’s no longer true. A refrain from a Dylan-inspired verse I wrote back in 1968 began to percolate in my brain, and it has just expanded into my second song.
Fortune Smiles on a Motherless Child
Intro(1):
Well, Life, it is fleeting,
And rain, it is sleeting,
And I have no where to go.
But still, I can ramble,
And with cards, I can gamble,
So I’m heading out on the road.
Chorus:
Fortune smiles on a motherless child,
...
July 2, 2015
Spontaneous Poetry
Sometimes, a verse just pours out of you. Often, when that happens, you feel compelled to revise and perfect it. But sometimes, a spontaneous poem is a record that seems as though it should last forever, just as it is.
In the summer of 1986, my late wife, Pat Wiggins, and I were on a brief vacation to the Pacific Northwest, when she suffered her third miscarriage in less than three years. The doctor at the clinic advised her to rest a while before leaving, and she fell briefly asleep. I wa...
June 30, 2015
A Topical Clerihew
I’ve been struggling lately to write the introductions to a set of more serious poems. I’ll get there, but meanwhile, a brief excursion. President Obama has been showing a hint of passion lately, but for most of his two terms in office, the following clerihew applied:
Barack Obama
Avoided drama.
When Republicans began to whine,
He replied with speeches anodyne.
The post A Topical Clerihew appeared first on Guy Conner.
June 26, 2015
Politics Isn’t a Dirty Word
As we prepare for the 2016 campaign season, it’s time for another of my brief essays. Consider the following conversation:
“Where’ll we go for dinner tonight?”
“I don’t know – where would you like to go?
“Maybe sushi…or pizza.”
“I don’t feel like pizza – let’s do sushi.”
“Ok.”
Sound familiar, even banal? How many times have you had a conversation like that? I know the answer – a lot.
Well, I’m here to tell you – that’s politics, the decision-making process associated with any form of governan...
June 11, 2015
Playing with Verse Forms
Jiggery-Pokery!
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Decided to whip out a sonnet or two.
The critics agreed that
His rhymes were impeccable,
Sadly, they added:
“The metre won’t do.”
Much of the satisfaction that I get from writing light verse comes from taking an established verse form and playing with it. For example, the double dactyl above replaces the single doubly-dactylic word (See here and here .) that usually constitutes the antepenultimate line of the verse with a doubly-dactylic phrase “His rhyme...
June 9, 2015
On the Music of Verse
I can neither sing, nor play a musical instrument. I am devoid of musical talent, just like the rest of my family. Now, it is true that my mother could play the piano, although since she was completely tone deaf, I’m not sure that counts. My sister briefly imagined that she could play the drums, and I’m quite sure that that doesn’t count. My father simply ignored all matters musical.
Despite my family background, I yearned for music and musicality. Then when I was about ten or so, I fell in...
