Favorite Poems

For some reason, I've been thinking about my favorite poems. Maybe it's because Kenzie's vocab is growing exponentially or that she is starting to show a love for words or what.

But I thought I'd list my top ten favorite poems. How can you list ten favorite poems? I don't know. But I'm going to try and see where it takes me. I'll list ten, but they will be in no particular order or rank.

Out, Out --

Robert Frost. This grows in sheer power every time I read it. What a mastery of language, personification, tone, and imagery.

And the whole poem hinges on that on word sentence - "So."

There might be a little bit of hope for the young boy prior to that, but after that it's all cold and harsh. Like reality.

Anyone who has ever lived on a farm - or known a farm family - can relate to this.

We moved to our farm in 1984. That meant a long morning bus ride through the countryside. One large family we picked up had a girl who was missing a finger. Two years behind me in school was a very good friend of mine (and the center on our football team) who had had his arm torn off by an auger when he was a child.

I think of those people whenever I read Frost's poem.

"The Day Zimmer Lost Religion"

Paul Zimmer. You have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the web page and the poem is on the right hand side.

I read this for a required presentation for my Oral Interpretation class in college. I argued with the professor over the meaning. The professor argued that the man, Zimmer, who also happens to be the author of the poem, loses his religion, meaning his faith in God.

I argued that he does lose his faith in religion, but he actually has his faith in Christ renewed - he just doesn't need it filtered through an orthodox religion.

Because he was the professor, I lost the argument. But I still think my interpretation holds up.

If you're Catholic, take a read. I never knew this kind of old school Catholicism where mass was still done in Latin and the private school still kind of drubbed the religion into you. But notice how the author capitalizes "He" in the last line, signifying that while he is done with the church, he is far from being done with Christ.

Woodchucks by Maxine Kumin

This poem hits like an atom bomb when you get to those last few lines. What an exploration of the darker side of human nature . . . and the thrill of murder.

Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump by David Bottoms

This goes perfectly with Kumin's poem. Human nature. That's what it's all about. And the best poems just seem to capture it so well. And then the very best club you over the head and leave you speechless. Just like this one.

The Rose Family by Robert Frost

I recited this to my wife when we were first dating. Because she is a rose. Leave it to Frost, the master of form and simplicity, to capture beauty in just 51 words. And what rhythm and meter.

dying is fine)but Death ee cummings

With a title like that, who else could it be? A former football coach introduced me to this poem. I thought of it when both my parents died. I think of this as Cummings' 'carpi diem' poem. Dying is fine because we are all dying, we just don't know when our time will run out. Thus, savor every minute. Death, though, is terrible. The afterlife. Did you obey the rules? Did you go upstairs or downstairs? Are there 99 virgins waiting? Are you reborn? Are you done and there's just nothing?

Forget all that foolishness, Cummings says, and enjoy your life . . . and quite worrying about death!


The Stump by Donal Hall

What adult still doesn't have that little kid inside themselves that can't relate to the glory and thrill of destruction? Hall uses such great images. I can see the chain saws' exhaust billowing in the air. And all those angry squirrels.

John Hall Wheelock

Earth

“A planet doesn’t explode of itself,” said dryly
The Martian astronomer, gazing off into the air --
“That they were able to do it is proof that highly
Intelligent beings must have been living there.”

This poem is very short, but it illustrates its point perfectly. And what irony. This reminds me of that old sci-fi story where two scientists/inventors are visiting. One of the scientists has a son who is mentally handicapped. That scientist also happens to be perfecting the ultimate weapon of mass destruction (if memory serves me correctly). The visiting scientist warns him that he should not carry through with the invention since humans are still too volatile to handle such power. The other scientist scoffs. So when he steps out of the room and returns, he finds a gun in the hand of his son. He is shocked that the other scientist would have left such a weapon in the hands of someone who could do so much harm. And the point is driven home to the reader.

Widow's Lament by Richard Brautigan

This reminds me of my grandmother. Again, a brilliant poem that captures human nature perfectly, this time the nature of 'pride.' And all in only 13 words.

The Little Man Who Wasn't There

I had the privilege of listening to my uncle, Jim Baril, deliver this poem on the first day of a literature class at Western State in Colorado. I have never forgotten it. Part of the attraction to the poem, though, was that Jim stated his mother, my grandmother, always recited this to him when he was a child.

Jim connected it to his long standing love of Dracula, which he did his PhD on. I could have listened to Jim talk all day.

But the poem, Jim only recited the first verse, creeps me out. As a kid, who hasn't imagined the monster or stranger at the top of the stairs? Especially when you are home all alone. Then you look and he's gone, but you know he really is still there. Hence, you wish and wish that he would go away - just like that monster under the bed or just inside your closet.

The Eagle Alfred Lord Tennyson.

I remember reading this in Dr. Drake's intro to lit class. I loved the language and the imagery and the rhythm and meter. Again, I'm in awe of what poets can achieve in just a few words.

Well, that's about it for now.

I know I left some of the heavies off the list, but I still love these still the same. Hope you check a couple out.