NaPoMo QOTD This Poem IS America. And This Video Is Awesome.

"When I had no roof I made
Audacity my roof.When I had
No supper my eyes dined."
 - Samurai Song by Robert Pinsky* (PoLau '97-'00)

I love this poem because it's basically the American dream, but it sounds prettier. The idea that audacity can be my roof is such a lovely invitation to go out and create fearlessly. And let's be honest, who doesn't dine with their eyes on a daily basis? The whole poem is beautiful and Robert Pinsky is such an admirable poet. He served three terms, more than anyone else, and did more than any other PoLau as far as grassroots get-up-and-go type stuff. We're talking consistently holding a schedule of three readings a day all over the country. I would love to see what a PoLau with his drive and 2011's technology could do.

And now for something COMPLETELY different:

I was thinking about cool ways that poetry sneaks into our lives. Be it Robert Frost's poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening making an appearance in the grindhouse film "Death Proof" or learning rhymes to remember multiplication tables or seeing quotes on inspirational posters with pictures of wild animals and landscapes you'll never see.

This one is my favorite, though. Levi's Go Forth ad campaign is phenomenal. They captured the feeling of Walt Whitman's Pioneers! O Pioneers! and didn't try to undermine its power with ridiculousness. And, no lies, it totally made me go out and buy a pair of Levi's. They're super comfy. And they make me feel adventurous.



*From The Poets Laureate Anthology, published by W.W. Norton in association with the Library of Congress. Poem copyright Robert Pinsky.

Comments

Love the Pinksy quote. And I agree with you about that Levi's commercial. It's awesome.
Anonymous said…
Love it!