Just back from a long day working, wondering which poems to put here. There are so many possible choices since I put aside my childish aversion to poetry ( I always favoured prose, or lyrics serving music). Now, some of my best friends are poets :) I arrived late to the poetry party, and Rumi, (in translated versions by Coleman Barks) was a gateway drug. So here's a couple of favourites,
We don't need wine to get drunk,
or instruments and singing to feel ecstatic.
No poets, no leaders, no songs,
yet we jump around totally wild.
No better love than love with no object,
no more satisfying work than work with no purpose.
If you could give up tricks and cleverness,
that would be the cleverest trick!
Roger McGough's 'First Day At School' was probably the first poem I ever memorised, and 'The Lesson' by Michael Rosen probably the second, when I was about 8 years old. We learned many psalms at Sunday School, (and goodness knows how many hundreds of Victorian hymn lyrics still clutter my skull, along with descant parts for most carols.) More recently, I have come across much excellent poetry in the Dark Mountain books, and have discovered some wonderful writers, but I am still a novice. So if you have a particular favourite, please share it with me.
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