Commonplace Book: Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Poetry As Insurgent Art

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.

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