Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Stephen Downes
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Poetry is an interruption of silence.
Prose is the continuation of noise.
Poetry is a bird.
Prose is a potato.
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| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by PaKKiTo |
No copyright again today. We'll call this a "found poem." These are Billy Collins' words, spoken at the poetry reading I went to on Wednesday. Since his words/my found poem yesterday sparked some lively discussion, I thought I'd go ahead with another "found poem" that seems to have controversy (pun intended) at its heart.
What pair of metaphors would you propose for poetry and prose? (Obviously, Billy Collins is a leeetle biased towards poetry!!)
The roundup today is at Book Aunt. Happy Friday! Happy Poetry Month! Happy Spring! Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Happy!!!
I was thinking about this found poem a lot this morning. I see it is suppose to be an insult to prose, but a potato is one of those foods that keeps us alive. Or in the case of the Irish - the absence of them almost killed them. It is a starch and a veggie - the base of the food pyramid. Poetry is like a chocolate truffle. I love them both.
ReplyDeleteOh boy...this could be fighting words for sure. I'm not sure how I feel about the first pairing....but I think it makes me feel uncomfortable which might be just what he wanted. :)
ReplyDeleteI wrote that right down on the inside cover of "Sailing Alone Across the Room." Thank you. I'm very unlikely to ever hear him speak.
ReplyDeleteThat should have been Around the Room. I should never trust my memory. Or my vision--apparently--since I was staring right at the book.
ReplyDeleteInteresting controversy. I will have to think on this. I like that "poetry is and interruption of silence." Not sure about the prose.
ReplyDeleteI hope I get to hear Billy Collins speak sometime.
What a fun one! I wasn't sure about "prose is a potato" until I read Catherine's comment. I like her take on it. :) Then again, I'm a prose writer and not much of a poet. My first reaction was "Potato? POTATO??"
ReplyDeleteI love potatoes and I love poetry! More of both, please. And Billy Collins is amazing. For Mother's Day every year I read The Lanyard and laugh with knowing.
ReplyDelete