Commonplace Book: Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Poetry As Insurgent Art

May 13, 2019 @ 12:47 pm | Filed under: ,

What times are these
When to write a poem about love
Is almost a crime
Because it contains
So many silences
About so many horrors….

(His reworking of Bertolt Brecht’s “What times are these when to talk about trees is almost a crime because it implies silence about so many horrors?”)

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Strive to change the world in such a way that there’s no further need to be a dissident.

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Don’t let it be said of you that sluggish imagination drowned out the slush of your heart.

***

Don’t hew stones. Dip into the sea for poetry, every poem a live fish.


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Comments

2 Reponses | Comments Feed
  1. Penny says:

    Thank you for sharing this, and that glorious photo!

    It is still cold here, so flowers have not quite made it. Luckily I have you to give me springtime hope…

  2. Kim Huitt says:

    Painfully beautiful poem. Lately I’ve been so pained by the horrors that I’ve decided to volunteer my time at an organization that I really believe in. People are amazing. And I hope we make can remind the world how amazing we all are.