Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Observations

One thing that I think punk rock does so well, especially Celtic Punk, is to bring out the beauty in the less-than-pretty aspects of our world. The punk world lost a legend today, Phil Chevron of the first Celtic Punk band the Pogues passed away from cancer. This poem, if I can, I would like to dedicate to him and the music he left with us.

Song lyrics are from "Fork in the Road" by Brutally Frank.



Observations

It’s almost a cliché scene:
bright blue cloudless sky,
perfect green grass,
flowing water bouncing off rocks,
a girl laying on a bench,
notebook open, pen scrawling away.

What’s less cliché
are the sounds streaming through my headphones—
a 3-piece, fast paced punkabilly band screaming
Get me out of this fucking hell—
and the thoughts running through my head.

These thoughts are of the less pretty,
yet more intriguing sights,
on my way to this pristine park.
The plate with the stubbed out cigarette butt
abandoned in the alleyway behind a restaurant.
The seemingly hastily drawn face
on a peeling orange post
which I stopped and contemplated for 3 minutes.

Dancing water jets spew out of concrete
and draw me back to the here and now and
to the eternal question I face
as a poet, an artist, a human:
How do I rectify the beautiful and the not too pretty,
and fit them into one?

The white caps in the river, their power,
catch my attention,
they compliment the pounding drum beats,
marrying my auditory and my visual.
I’m reminded again that sometimes
I need to stop searching
and just observe,
and write down the experience.

13 comments:

  1. nice...i think sometimes we do just need to let go our own expectations and just le the words come as we experience them....the feelings...the sights...there is beauty in the dross as well....smiles.

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  2. Nice powerful images, meter, & stanzas in this piece, Kate. Def need to do the living, and what a pay-off that then we must/can take time to recapture, to reminese, to illuminate, illustrate, recall, create the poetics that boil within; makes me proud to be a poet; thanks.

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  3. Seeing the beauty in a plate with a stubbed out cigarette end is harder perhaps, but it is there - you have captured it here.

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  4. A beautiful capture of the experience - the visuals, the sounds, your thoughts in the here & now ~ Your question resonates with me as I sometimes fail to see the beauty around me ~ But poetry reminds me of the wonder of nature & new beginnings ~

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  5. Written with real poise and soulful observation Katie - I will be back for more sometime soon... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com

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  6. I do really like the idea of stopping the search & just observing. Sometimes what we are seeking is THERE right in front of our eyes! I enjoyed this poem, which made me reflect.

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  7. Such wonderful observations here... I was with you throughout this visual experience. Great job!
    -HA

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  8. "How do I rectify the beautiful and the not too pretty,
    and fit them into one?"
    I enjoyed your poem and the way you phrase your personal quest as a poet!

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  9. A cool journey here-- just observing pretty important - I also need the reminder. Thanks This is Manicddaily --k.

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  10. This is great... how you weave the words together with your poetry.. amazing job. You should try writing a glosa.. we did it a couple of months ago ... a great thing to do.. and so sad about the Pogues...

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  11. writing down the experience...what we feel and see how it comes is a good thing...sometimes we think too complicated..

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  12. That is the question we all have to contend with - and how we acknowledge or deny parts of existence informs our ethical choices as writers. I'm sorry for your and the music world's loss.

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