Last Spring, I read “Vow to Poetry” by Anne Waldman. There is really nothing quite like this book. The book contains an interesting mix of information about poetry, writing, and world politics. The book also includes interviews. There is something so dynamic about the book. It ends up feeling more like a writing workshop, or a friend sharing experiences over a cup of coffee.
As a writer, I was drawn in by a chapter entitled, ” My Life as a List.” In the chapter, Waldman encourages readers to write a poem where they are “talking-to-the-sun.” Mayakovsky and O’Hara wrote poems where they talked to the sun. I haven’t written a poem in conversation with the sun yet, but I enjoyed reading the cited examples. In O’Hara’s poem, the sun tells him:
always embrace things, people earth
sky stars, as I do, freely and with
the appropriate sense of space
The sun’s words are as warm as its rays. If anyone is interested in writing a poem in conversation with the sun, post it as a reply. I would enjoy reading those.
Poetics Blog 