The Spinning Sonnets of a Liar

[krymsonkyng]

To be a poet
lie as erotically as you can
while the world has its way with you
and hope the recompense is worth your time
and dignity.
Tell tales truer than life to strangers
stranger than fiction
frictionless transitions
into new traditions
on a road to perdition
paved in golden desire.
Chaucer's merry men.
(This is the way)
Frost's ice and fire.
(the world ends)
Faust's bargain bin.
(not with a bang)
Bukowski's daily sin.
(but a word.)
Pick your poison.
What's your pleasure?
Measure for measure
letter after
let
her
take your hand and heart in hand and start
to make art.
F*** imagery and forget rhythm.
How do you feel?
Don't tell me,
[Show]
tell someone
[me.]
who cares
(?).
Il Penseroso asked L'Allegra,
"Why do you want to be a poet?"
-"Because it feels good."
-"Because the chicks dig it."
-"Because life is beautiful."

[PrinceMyshkin]

What great rollicking energy runs through this!

(By the way, someone once asked Flannery O'Connor why she wrote:

"Because I'm good at it," she answered.)

[krymsonkyng]

What great rollicking energy runs through this!

(By the way, someone once asked Flannery O'Connor why she wrote:

"Because I'm good at it," she answered.)

Thank you for your comment PrinceMyshkin! Such pride! That's as good a reason as any. Maybe the best.

[Buh4Bee]

freakin' fantastic!

[lalalauren]

Wow, I really liked this!
...especially this part:



Measure for measure
letter after
let
her
take your hand and heart in hand and start
to make art.

Love it!

[Lumiere]

Well.
I know no other way to express my enthusiasm than to say:

OMG I F***ING LOVE THIS!!!!

:patriot::thumbs_up

"to be a poet, lie as erotically as you can" - how could I ever forget these words?

This whole thing is delicious. Write more. (please)

[qimissung]

I know, this is delicious, the first two lines are fantastic!

[krymsonkyng]

Jersea- Thank ya kindly.

lalalauren- That part was especially fun to write. I always enjoy trying to give turning points more umph, and I think this is one of my better ones.

Lumiere- Thank you. I fully intend to write more.

qimissung- Thank you.

[J.D. Sparks]

Well firstly, I must say that I really enjoyed this poem. I thought it was dense and fun and wonderful, for the most part.

I just have a few minor qualms. 1: The variation on the Eliot quote that's mixed in with another four lines or so doesn't seem to me to follow too well. I am wondering why you chose to break it up like that? I thought that your breaking-up in the latter part of the poem of "show/.../me" was more effective because you could read the lines in order and in their implied order and both seemed to flow well. 2: Ending on such a strong quote from elsewhere...just not my favourite way to end a poem. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't interrupt the the poem. It fits in nicely, but I suppose I want to be left with an impression of the poet I'm reading; not someone else.

But like I said, overall I thought it was really great.

[krymsonkyng]

I just have a few minor qualms. 1: The variation on the Eliot quote that's mixed in with another four lines or so doesn't seem to me to follow too well. I am wondering why you chose to break it up like that?

Glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate your critique! I was trying to bend the Eliot quote to the works I referenced prior to each parenthetical statement. "The way" being related to Chaucer's Canterbury bound pilgrims.
Frost's "Fire and Ice" is, on the surface, about the end of the world.
I put Faust with "Not with a bang" because of the nature of his bargain, and that in the story I remember hearing (unfortunately I haven't read or seen a translation of the original) was pretty packed with action, but also had an element of the intellectual.
Where things fall apart is with Bukowski and his poetry. Now I thought for a long while about leaving it as 'whimper' but ultimately decided I love Bukowski's style too much to dig at him in the way I did with the rest by evoking "The Hollow Men" further.

Switch gears to Shakespeare and you have the rest of the poem.

I'm at a difficult point in my life at the moment. I go to a military school, and am a year away from earning my commission as an officer in the air force. I've got my pilot slot so I'm not sure how far I should pursue my writing anymore. This is me trying to use my reading to justify (or refute?) that initial attitude in the double entendre on "lie". Take it how you will, but that's my own interpretation and reasoning.