Sunday, February 26, 2006

the mustard gas of sinister intelligent editors

were you run down by the drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality?
were you suffering Eastern sweats and Tangerian bone-grindings and migraines of China?
my only question, then, is what happened to the angel-headed hipsters lost in the machinery of night?

but this only leads to an overwhelming question (oh do not ask what is it): what of poetry?

the best minds of generations past are lost to most of our generation. why? what is it about words in verse that turn most of us off to enjoying and contemplating some of the most sophisticated ideas of the 20th century? we all know einstein, bernstein, and potok; however, few of us know ginsberg, eliot, or auden (myself included). these poets influence most of modern consciousness, but we place no credit at their feet.

i probably won't start reading modern poetry in an effort to understand the fabric of our modern society. but, it seems like those of us who understand parts of modern life should at least understand the part these poets play in providing literary background to all we do (movies, media, relationships, and understanding).

so, if you don't start reading modern poetry, at least start understanding the parts these poets play in modern life.

(if you took this post seriously then call me)

39 comments:

Natalie said...

Deltar, permission to speak

paul said...

speak natalie, speak. my permission is worth more than deltar's. and besides, we care not what he thinks.

paul said...

stevie: you sound so learn-ed as you spout ginsberg from your robot apartment.

just beware the saintly motocyclist my nyc hipster.

paul said...

petey: ahn hyun won a gold medal.

paul said...

can you worship moloch with your family and your soul intact? probably not the the way the hebrew or ginsberg did.

Stephen said...

speak natalie. speak.

Stephen said...

paul: i'm happy to see you read a little bit of ginsberg. true, you must beware the saintly motorcyclist.

if nothing else, this post has been worth it because you have explored ginsberg's harsh honesty. and i agree that moloch most likely has an adverse effect on families, especially those with children. now, will others follow suit?

Anonymous said...

speak natalie speak.

stevey_
to say that i will google ginberg and immediately start devling in modern poetical thought would be a lie, but that is not to say that i won't begin with keruoac and love his every disconnected and disjunct thought stream. so while i may not be there presently, that is not to admit that won't be there eventually, one great thinker/writer/poetician at a time. forgive my tardiness.

paul said...

ahn yung

Stephen said...

petey: i'm disappointed. kerouac without ginsberg is like lemon tea without honey. use your google prowess and grow your mind, if only for several minutes.

ahn yung, baby.

Stephen said...

hows this: i like byu basketball. they score lots of points. they made 100 points the other night. they are good. basketball good. poetry bad. watching basketball makes me want to work for sports pr. sports good. anything else bad.

Stephen said...

defend this: die a slow and painful death.

Anonymous said...

hmmm, i would just like to say that i prefer kerouac to ginsberg and ginsberg to eliot. i would also like to say that i prefer byu basketball to all three. so let us go then, you and i . . .

my problem with poetry is that i'm never really sure if i'm really grasping what they're (meaning the poets) trying to say. which begs the question, does a great poet convey meaning, or does a great poet force a reader to create meaning? i just don't know. thus, i'm more prone to go watch a byu basketball game or read meaningless and pointless columns on cbssportsline.com. ah the follies of youth.

Stephen said...

skinny: look up the definition of 'beg the question'. i expect more from your logic training.

but, i think you are right about poetry. a great poet, like any great modern artist, forces the reader to create meaning for whatever the medium is being presented (whether it is mullet man or moloch man). so, don't read eliot for meaning; rather, read him for the feeling and the meaning will come to you later. read kerouac for fun. and read ginsberg with caution (or you will end up in jail for obscenity and city lights).

Stephen said...

paul are you still alive?

petey: you haven't commented yet, but i have filled your web log full of comments. where is the reciprocation?

paul said...

what a sad life i leave. i'm gone for under 24 hours and my absense is conspicuous...

paul said...

byu basketball is great. byu basketball is good. why don't they ever perform in the post-season? austin is not danny.

i felt empty and uneasy while reading ginsberg. i got the feeling that ginsberg was perhaps expressing the consciousness of a generation of which i am not a part...except i listen to trent reznor sometimes.

how's that for meaning.

(in a whiney voice): petey, give me more comments

paul said...

but i'm in moab and you're not.

Stephen said...

trent reznor does not equal ginsberg. those guys at the karaoke bar with cut-off shirts and long hair equal trent reznor.

your life is so much better than mine: you have a wife, kids, responsibility (did i say better?), but most of all you are in moab and i'm going to work in the morning.

(ps welcome back to the dominion)

petey said...

i apologize. i've been a little pre-occupied in a Different Direction and haven't been able to sign off appropriately. but honestly, i have not much to say to top what i said before. i'm only at the beginning with keruoac, so can't really contribute to this debate with much tenacity.

natalie_
still waiting...

Jonny, Mel, Aaron said...

stevie, how do you make links from your blog to other blogs?

Stephen said...

petey: the delirious dominion is much better than any different direction.

petey: help jonny and mel out with this question.

petey said...

stephen_
Don't Doubt. maybe it is, but then maybe it's not. but it is a Difficult Decision.


jonny and mel_
first click on your blogger icon to take you to the dashboard. then click on blogger help half way down the column on the right side. at the bottom of the most popular (1-5) click on the link that says "more". then click on number 20 "how to do more with links?" and follow the cut and paste instructions. if those instructions don't make sense, let me know...

petey said...

jonny and mel_
i was assuming you wanted to link text in your posts to other websites. if you want to make a link list in the right column, click on the edit-me link underneath the google news and you can follow those instructions as well.

Stephen said...

i'm just glad the different direction is observing our derelict definitions and deafening dichotomies.

petey said...

Double Dose of our Delightful Dictations. who wouldn't want to Delve Deeper?

Natalie said...

Petey: be pacified I am going to speak. While i am not an annonie (anymore) I noticed there seems to be a strict code of silience for all those unknown. Please note that I am now a real person leaving a real name. I will comment on occasion.

As for modern poetry... where are the sonnets; maybe they just get written into Jewel songs, in which case I myself would prefer BYU basketball to modern poetry altogether.

paul said...

a better life is subjective. what end does comparison serve? your life is good my nyc hipster.

however, life is good in moab. maybe even better than in hawaii...

paul said...

responsibility, what that?

paul said...

just as a tree falling in the woods without anyone to hear it doesn't really fall. those who don't comment don't really exist.

petey said...

paul_
true men are neither seen nor heard

Natalie said...

And what of women?

petey said...

you gotta ask buster or ahn yang. if they can be seen or heard

paul said...

our fifth man of the blue man group is in waiting for guffman. probably one of the more funny cameos.

Stephen said...

i have returned. and judging from the fact that nobody has yet called me, i assume you didn't take this last post seriously. but what can you do?

Natalie: you pose a serious question, one grappled with through the ages. i know one r clark who has answered that question with a shrug, question mark, and furtive glances to womens' opposites.

paul: hi.

Natalie said...

Well then, lets be glad you only know ONE r clark

Stephen said...

or, lets be sad that i even know ONE.

paul said...

neo is the one.

Stephen said...

should have taken the red pill