We discussed the nature of madness in school today and if the definition was as uncomplicated as: thinking outside the square or finding blank walls interesting. How do we classify ‘mad’. Almost as tough as classifying a poet. One student noted that rationality indicated sanity, the sane had an awareness of consequences and held a clear definition of empathy. Then, being poets, the boys went to war on what ‘reality’ really meant. There was something surreal about us all jotting out dreams and transforming memories into poems for a school competition. One poem is being constructed from the point of view of a cat – what does a cat think of whem a torch is shone at it?
The weekend like all weekends has passed only to return soon. Yet, as my friend mentioned today, this week is pigeon week. Sunday will be fine skies for the poems to fly across. Tamryn has sourced a sourp sorcerer, rolls, champagne and a map of the south coast. Murray is practicing his pigeon race call. Andrew is playing with pigeon cam and I am practicing pigeon.
The school here is clean, empty of black boards thus dust free. There is an exhausting amount of pink and yellow-yolk pollen sprinkling itself free from the flowers. The sounds of high heels on tiles, metal filing cabinets opening and closing and lovely Jacqueline talking with me about Emily Dickinson.
I was asked about the differences between poems and short stories. I repeat only what I think I know and have found out through writing and reading both form -that definitions tell truths. The word prose comes from the Latin prosa, meaning straightforward, hence the term “prosaic,”.
Whereas Poetry (from the Greek “poiesis”, a “making” or “creating”) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns or lyrics.
(Oh, I am not certain about anything, except who I love)
