For this month’s Pick a Poet Blog, I have decided to reflect on Kim Addonizio’s poem named “Lives of the Poets”. When first reading the poem, I realized that the stereotypes of poets really fit the description of what Addonizio was stating in this poem. This poem talks about how a poet might find any little thing to write about. They think of the possibility that even an inanimate object such as a, “...shovel. Can [be] [turned] into a poem[.]”
She then goes on to write about what she’s doing at the moment, to see if it would create a thesis that would be useful in writing something about. This shows how the life of a poet consists of their awareness towards their surroundings. Not many people would be able to just start writing about a shovel, or glass of milk, or a stovetop that is being used to cook at that moment.
The poem then takes a turn. She describes the side of poets that are used as the stereotype of them being “crazy”. It states that one of the poets has Alzheimer’s, the other is in a rehab facility, and I feel that she is trying to make a point about how maybe dedicating your life to being a writer takes a toll on your mental health at some point. This raises awareness to the real life of a poet in the most raw way, since she is one.
At the end of the poem, she talks about how all these ideas eventually tie back to love and companionship. How she still hasn’t found that love, but is continuously yearning for it and the feeling of loneliness that would disappear if she had it. That was interesting to me because it sort of proves the idea that we must go through life with someone, even if you consider yourself an independent being. No one truly likes to be alone for every second of every day.
That's a really interesting flow of ideas and thoughts. I can totally see how she addresses exactly what the stereotype of a poet looks like! A poem about poets is really interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that explanation of how poets can write about virtually anything, which has actually given me a new outlook on how to write my blogs. Perhaps I will assume the role and observance of a poet and write about what catches my eye in the moment.
ReplyDeleteI love the concept of making something really simple and meaningless like an inanimate object into a bigger idea that has a lot of depth and emotion
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