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Poetry,thevery
messageoflife
Poetropes...
By Lee Roscoe
/ / A ball is bouncing ev-
/ \ erywhere/upon the
jL jLground/ up in the
air/and all the children..." is all
I remember of an ode to a red
India rubber ball written when I
was8.My firstpoem. Therhyme
appealed to me, the sense of try-
ingto capture theball'srhythms,
the idea that childrenall overthe
world could be bound together
by the love of playing with that
simple toy.Universalism.
Thefirst poemswerethoseread
tomebymyMumbeforeIlearned
to read. Then there were those in
Milne's Pooh books: "How cold
my toes tiddely pom," and those
suchastheJabberwockyinLewis
Carroll's worlds of Alice.
Therewaspoetry inthe Christ-
mas carols childhood friends
and I sang outside with the chill
of near snow swept out by the
warmth of opening doors. There
wasA Child's Gardenof Verses gift
from my parents and later other
anthologies. From Boston to
Brookline to Cambridge, there
were always bookshelves and
music, starting with the black
AtwaterKentinwhichIimagined
tiny menlived andplayed instru-
mentsasIdancedtoMozart with
mymotherafter learningtowalk.
The motion of Mozart, dancing
with my mum. Poetry.
We had to recite assigned
poems at my progressive school:
"LarsPorsenaof Clusiumby the
ninegodshe swore,thatthe great
house of Tarquin should suffer
wrongno more..."Therewasme
playing Iphigenia in "Iphigenia
at Aulis," in, could it be, fourth
grade? "Orestes oh my brother,
forindeedthouartnoother"—the
final lines in Euripides' play. In
class there was the heroic poetry
of the Mad, Odyssey and Virgil,
leading through their cantos, in-
cantations,imagerytolargerthan
life characters and deeds. There
wasStephenBenet'snovelinverse,
"John Brown's Body"— "Sally
Dupre, Sally Dupre, Eyes that
are neitherblack nor grey,/ Why
do you hauntmenight and day?"
Andtherewasthepoetryof the
ballet,of Balanchine,of musicon
the radio, still and always.It was
my mum again who found me a
favorite poem or two to read in
school in my pre-teen years, one
by Harold Monro, "Overheard
on a SaltMarsh," about a goblin
coveting a nymph's "green glass
beads"andthenRobinsonJeffers'
poem, "Hurt Hawks"-"nomore
to usetheskyforever,"whichstill
moves me (the lines so alike to
Chief Joseph's, "I shall fight no
moreforever"Iwouldlearnlater
when!
was through with school
and self-educating, a life-long
addiction).
For me, poetry was the very
message of life, the way we told
stories, the medium through
whichmusic, dance,dramatrans-
mitteditself,themediumthrough
which everything in life itself *,
could be translated into some-
thingcaptured.Unlikethewinds
which troubled me because they
could not be caught, chaotic,
angry;poetrywasthe antidoteto
chaos, the path to peace. Order.
So I started writing it, not as a
poet, but as diarist and I started
readingpoemsmore consciously.
Itwasmyagnostic'swayof pray-
ing to a beautiful universe when
I was indoors, even as the world
of earthwouldbecometherealm
of living spirit, outdoors. There
was word, and there was wind;
culture/nature.There werepoets
who mergedthetwo, such as Jef-
fers.Poetswhomergedlanguage
with music such as Mallarme,
Baudelaire, Rimbeau, Gwendo-
lyn Brooks and Hart Crane.
I fell in love with so many,
WallaceStevens,William Carlos
Williams,Ginsberg, evenas Ifell
inlovewith Errol Garner,Teddy
Wilson,Chopin,Ibsen,Tennessee
Williams. And onwards. Until:
As poetry "progressed" and
was deconstructed, I became
ambivalent,yea,evenhostiletoit.
Perhaps I am a cultural reac-
tionary. I step in different feet
than my dear predecessor, Joe,
whowasboundlesslysupportive,
inclusive, generous to all things
poet,saveperhapsforthosewhich
lacked a context of social con-
science (he once told me Amiri
Baraka had said in emphatically
impolite languagethat hewished
folks likeJoyceCarol Oates with
nothing to say would go away -
andJoeagreed).Imayantagonize
and provoke as I explore. But
then, science, democracy and
culture move forward in part by
debate, discussion and dissent.
So I'd like to end-my first col-
umn by asking you some ques-
tions for the next one.
In the realm of the subjective
whichiswhatartdoesto us, why
doesapoemorpoet dosomething
to you? What do they do? What
is poetry? What does it mean
to you? What do you like and
why do you like it? Or not? Are
poets born? Are they made by
MFAprograms?E.G.: Why do
you read poetry if you do? Or
not? Include please, age, gender,
town; whether you are a poet or
"civilian."
And thank you.
Contact Lee Roscoe through
editor@barnstablepatriot.com
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s
i
o
L.
Events
? BOOKS
? Book sale
July12:New and used books,CDs,
DVDs, audio books and games are on
sale,9a.m.to1p.m.to benefitWhelden
Memorial Library,2401Meetinghouse
Way,West Barnstable. 362-2262.
? At Titcomb's
July 12:Author Chip Bishop signs
his fascinating new book, Quentin &
Flora:A Roosevelt and a Vanderbilt in
Love during the Great War, 1to 2 p.m.
July 13: Michael Vieira, J. North
Conway and Jesse Dubuc celebrate
Wareham History Day during the
release of their new books, A Brief
History of Wareham: Gateway to Cape
Cod and Attack of the HMS Nimrod:
Wareham and the War of 1812
, from
2 to 3 p.m.
July 20: Gioia Dimock signs copies
of her new book, Images ofAmerica:
Bourne, 2 to 3 p.m.
All events at Titcomb's Bookshop,
432 Route 6A, East Sandwich. 508-
888-2331; www.titcombsbookshop.
com.
? Where the Sidewalk
Ends Bookstore
A summer full of book signing
events fills the bookstore and chil-
dren's annex at432 Main St.,Chatham.
Upcoming store signings & events:
July 12: Judy Lynn Johnson: Watch-
ing the Game: A Baseball Memoir,
2-4 p.m.; July 13: Third-generation
silhouette artist Erik Johnson cuts
freehand heirloom portraits,10a.m.to
2 p.m. Signups: http://sidewalkends.
eventbrite.com/. July 19: Daniella
Garran signs copies of Hello Mother,
Hello Father: Celebrating Summer
Camp, 2 to 4 p.m.
? Cotuit Library events
July 12: Book Sale on the library
lawn, 8 a.m. to noon; July14: "Fixing
Mealsto Fixing Heartbreaks,"talkwith
Dr. Kumara Sidhartha, 11 a.m.; July
15: "The Swordsmen," sword play
demonstration, 3 p.m. July 16: Story
time with Christina Laurie, author of
C is for Cape Cod, 4 p.m.
The library is at 871 Main St. 508-
428-8141.
? Wednesday Talks &
Tunes
Enjoy a weekly visitto the Hyannis
Public Library on Wednesdays at 6
p.m.(right before the band concert on
the green!) to hear local writers and
CONTINUED ON PAGEA&E:3