The Little Poet Who Couldn't Find a Genre

Warning: this might be the nerdiest thing I have ever written -Bella

Every year, the poet council has a party. The poets do not go, of course. They send their bodies of work.
Like any party with one's colleagues, certain groups form. ee cummings (or his body of work) has always dreaded this party, because he didn't have anybody to hang out with.

look at him. all alone up there...

The mean-girls style map of the lunchroom of the annual poet dinner

He tried to talk to different groups, but it never felt right. 
People do post me online quite a bit, thought ee cummings. But both of these women are still writing.
I do make some rather pithy statements. But these two are much more interested in that. 
Nope, no way.
I don't do *that* kind of confession. 
cummings didn't even try to join the Romantics. They were too busy drinking wine and dying of consumption. 

Not really. 
Well, the Freshman do read me in class. But I don't think I seem like Emily Dickinson. 
i can't go over there. they'll try to make me get on a stage!
The spoken word poets just chattered to each other about revolution and repetition.
ee cummings was sad. He just wanted to have someone to share wine and cheese with once a year, but it seemed like nobody was like him! And everybody said such awful things!
"it doesn't make any sense"

"is it visual art?"

"How vulgar!"

"How do you recite that!?"

But wait! who could that be, over in the corner, away from everyone else?


it's the modernists! They were talking about roses, and ledges, and shapes! They were using unconventional rhythm and rhyme! They were discussing the postwar environment of the US and Europe! They were being adventurous with subject material and metaphor!

The little poet (had finally found his genre. At least, for now. Is he truly a modernist? What defines modernism? Those are questions for another time. For now, these poets would enjoy their time together at the one gathering of their society a year. 



Comments

  1. La DiaphaneJanuary 28, 2018 at 1:28 PM

    This was so much fun to read! You did a great job connecting this prompt with things you are interested in and I think it works very well.

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  2. MajerusFebruary 1, 2018 at 9:17 AM

    Questions for another time indeed. This is great! I love the narrative you've created, and I enjoyed all the jokes.(I especially like "I don't do *that* kind of confession" and "the Romantics...were too busy drinking wine and dying of consumption"). You do a nice job exploring various poetry "boxes" and using cummings as an illustration both of relevant aspects of some of them, but also the reasons that no poet can be defined by one or two aspects of a certain "box" they might seem to fit it. I was happy when cummings found the modernists. I hope he's having scintillating conversation with them still (though he should probably avoid Pound...)

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  3. CCFebruary 6, 2018 at 11:59 AM

    This was an entertaining and effective approach to this prompt - I didn't have this in mind when you mentioned you wanted to include pictures. Your ability to tell a story and even include some humor shows how much you know about poetry, as well as how well read you are. It's also interesting that the "box" ee cummings eventually found himself in was full of poets who were operating outside of the box (of traditional poetry) and challenging those inside it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Krishna SubbiahFebruary 13, 2018 at 4:48 PM

    I really didn't envision this when you told us about your idea with boxes. The thing that I had envisioned wasn't anywhere near as creating or entertaining as this. I like how you show your knowledge of poetry and how it showed the way poets who don't fit into a specific mold. Great Job!

    ReplyDelete

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