My Two Cents

My Two Cents … on Poetry!

by C. P. Lawrence

Poetry has always fascinated me, and yet, I admit, it is not something I understand or even do a lot. Yet, I still desire to “do” poetry, if that is a proper way to address it. I don’t think you write poetry; I think you “do” poetry as it is, for me, beyond writing. It is another realm, a different world, if you will.

The ancient Greeks—they are involved again—considered poetry as an art in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities. The Greek word (poieo) literally means “I make or create.” There are many forms of poetry and, to be honest, I don’t understand all of them or even know all of them. I admit that I have written some, but none of it is very good. This post is not to educate you on poetry. This post is just me thinking out loud about the role poetry plays in who we are as beings.

While I am no good a poetry, I do love certain poets and I love them because I like poetry. I love Frost, Keats, Shelly, Hughes, Blake, Longfellow and even some of Donne, who I rarely understand. What makes me love these poets? I love their poems, but I will stop there because I think it is that simple. I don’t want to get into analysis even though I would love to jump in with both feet. I can’t because I don’t understand poetry. I just know I like it.

I recently read an article about the ten greatest poems ever written. Now, understand, that this is one man’s list, but from my perspective, it is a solid list. The greatest poem for this man was written by Shakespeare, with which I can’t argue, but his second greatest poem was written by Donne, which I already admitted, I struggle to understand. Below, I have pasted Johne Donne’s poem, Death, Be No Proud, which is second on his list.

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

I readily admit that this poem does not make my list of top ten poems, but does that make it any less great? Poetry has, at its heart, creation. The poet is said to be one who creates and the poem is what the poet creates. This idea of creation is foundational to poetry, but what makes it different than any other thing done? I can create a rule at work or write an article for a magazine, but neither of those would be considered in the same light as poetry. They were created by me, but they are not poetry.

While Donne does not move me; Blake does. Below, you will find The Tiger by Blake. It was the first poem that I read and immediately liked and understood.

Tiger Tiger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears
And water’d heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tiger Tiger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

What about this poem spoke to me more than John Donne’s poem? I can’t really tell you, but I will tell you that whatever it was, it is part of what makes me a human being and not an animal. I don’t know a lot about poetry, but I do like it enough to dabble. I am content to dabble with my own poetry, even if it is just to pull them out every now and then, read them and remind myself of who I am and what moves me. This one aspects makes poetry unique from other forms of literature. I don’t pull out a policy and read it again and again. Why is poetry different?

I am not sure, but it is and for me this is enough. Something about poetry appeals to our human nature, and maybe, something about poetry adds to our human nature, if I can be so bold. I am not sure of much when it comes to poetry, but I am sure of this. The kind of poetry created and enjoyed will tell us about who we are as human beings and where we are as human beings. Orwell speaks of this very issue in his book, 1984. Remember, in 1984, poetry is a tool of totalitarian control and Ampleforth, who manipulated poetry for the good of those in control, is arrested for leaving “God” in a poem.

Poetry, which I struggle to understand, still fascinates me, and I still read it not because I understand it, but because I marvel at it as a product of creativity. May this desire never leave me or you. Until next time …

My Two Cents … on the election

by C. P. Lawrence

This is a new feature for this blog. I call it, “My Two Cents.” In this section, I will give my take on events that have taken place in our world. As is so often the case, most things are not what they seem to be at first. We live in a world that pushes us to react in our thinking and in our doing; we should avoid both. In this section, I hope to slow things down a bit and ask a few questions that force us to look at issues from a few different perspectives. Please keep in mind that this feature is only about my take on things, whether right or wrong, and nothing more. So, let’s jump right into this first post.

What just happened? I am sure many of you are shaking you head and asking yourself the same question. I think it is safe to say what did take place was not what anyone expected. I don’t pretend to be an expert, but here is my two cents on the election, which I am not even sure is worth that much.

This election cycle presented two flawed candidates with various issues, that much we know. The media and the Democrats (This election made it clear that they are on the same side.) did all that they could to ensure that this election was a referendum on the character of one of those candidates, Donald Trump. They used past tactics in some of the same ways. They called Mr. Trump names; they brought criminal charges against him; they dug up his past, spread vile fifth (some true and some not), slandered him, insulted his supporters, all with the goal always being the same … to destroy his reputation. For whatever reason, it did not work, but something else happened. The more they did, the more resolve he developed and the more people came to his side. It was quite astounding, if you ask me.

The other candidate entered the election with 107 days left in the election … not ideal. She was put into a difficult situation by her own party, which demanded some things from her that, in my opinion, she just did not have. She never campaigned in the primaries which meant that she never presented her platform. Campaigning in the primaries generally does two things for a candidate: it puts you in front of voters and it provides you valuable experience talking about your platform. She benefited from neither of those, and to make matters worse, she did not give one official press conference as the Democratic presidential candidate, which, in my opinion, was a huge mistake. By not holding a press conference, she never presented herself as presidential in any official capacity. Overcoming one of these issues would have been daunting; overcoming all of them in 107 days was almost impossible. She adopted an old campaign strategy, which I am sure was a party decision, mudslinging, thinking it would do the job. The media was glad to assist her, but the strategy failed and I think it actually made her situation worse.

So, what happened on election day? Why were so many so wrong?

I think it started four years ago with the election of President Biden; many were suspicious, right or wrong, of the results. This suspicion carried over to the policies he put into place (At least we think it was Biden who put them into place.). When these policies did not work, and they did not, the suspicion grew. Four years later, as Americans voted, they did so while experiencing inflation with record high prices. They voted while watching a world that was growing increasingly more hostile, and they voted not really knowing who was running the country. The last four years have been very hard on most Americans, and anybody who says it has not is delusional. There is a growing sense that neither Republican nor Democrat appeared aware of how hard it has been. Most Americans view both parties in a negative light and that only grew in the last four years. Senators and Representatives alike were seen as power mongers, corrupt and out of touch with the struggles of most Americans. To his credit, Donald Trump, for some reason, did not miss this; instead, he used it. He listened and connect with the struggles of Americans and his remarks always seem to resonate with a majority of Americans, especially those struggling. He did not cater to the celebrities and elites and they despised him, and this did nothing but make him more popular with most Americans. Unfortunately, for Vice President Harris and the Democratic Party, this was a big miss for them.

Another important issue that impacted this election, in my opinion, was how out of touch the Democrats’ responses were. I believe both parties are out of touch with average Americans, but it was the Democrats who continued to look out of touch. For whatever reason, they did not respond to the struggles of Americans with real answers; the insulted, lectured and blamed others. It was always someone else’s fault. Instead of looking within, they looked out, made excuses and insulted those who supported and then voted for Mr. Trump. They compounded their issue by labeled Trump supporters and voters as uneducated (see the post on this topic) and ignorant. Even after the election, they continue to scold and call Trump voters names, but here is the problem with all of that. I believe there were many who voted for Mr. Trump this time around who voted with Democrats in the last election. So, while the Democratic Party was insulting all of these voters, they were actually insulting many who had been loyal to them in the past. 

The Democratic Party is another issue all its own. For many years, the party has been moving to extreme positions in agenda, message and belief. In this election, for the first time, there are clear indications that the Democratic Party has moved beyond the comfort level of many Americans, and even some Democrats. I was shocked to see prominent Democrats, some professional athletes and even some celebrities come out in support of Mr. Trump. This should scare the Democratic Party. These last four years, while many Americans have been struggling to make ends meet, the Democratic Party has continued to push extreme positions, asking struggling Americans to sacrifice yet again for a position or a policy that would seem to bring more hardship than help. Many Americans questioned these causes and expressed their frustration, but the Democratic Party’s response was to double down on them. That was a losing proposition that came to fruition on the 5th of November, but there were signs earlier of this growing unrest. The Democratic Party placed blame every where but where it belonged, with them. It was Biden; it was age; it was racism, but in the end, the people did what the party should have done and placed the blame squarely where it belongs … on them.

A third issue is one that I have already referenced, extremism. The Democratic party has been embracing extreme positions for years, but in this election, there were signs that it pushed itself so far left that it was now out of touch with most Americans. In my opinion, there were only three groups of people voting for the Democratic Party candidate this time around. The Democratic Party base, which are those who always vote Democrat no matter what, extreme liberals, as many of the agenda items and positions of the Democratic party are now extreme liberal positions and those who depended heavily on the government and need the government. Most of the Americans not falling into these three groups, in my opinion, voted for Donald Trump, despite the vilification of him. In Mr. Trump, they saw real answers to their needs and they also saw someone who would and could fight for their rights. I believe most Americans would rather a job than a handout, but all indications are that the Democratic Party believes the opposite.

One final issue is what I call the celebrity factor. I really feel this did the Democrats no favors. Many of the most vocal supporters of the Democratic party were celebrities, professional athletes and wealthy liberals. Some of the antics of these supporters in the last weeks and days were offensive and so out of touch with what most Americans had been dealing with on a daily basis that it offended many, even those who have voted for Democratic candidates in the past. Wealthy celebrities, professional athletes and liberals were seen through the very lens that the liberal left worked so hard to build for the right; they were seen as privileged, spoiled and out and of touch. I feel that their support actually hurt the party and hurt Vice President Harris. Her SNL appearance, in my opinion, was a huge factor in this race as It confirmed what many Americans had been thinking already and cemented the link between her and those living lives of luxury and privilege.

In the end, people voted practically and pragmatically. They voted with their pocket books and for their future. It is clear: the Democrats have some work to do if they are going to fix this. The Democrats lost this election not because most Americans are misogynistic or are racist, as some Democratic pundits are already saying. They did not lose this election because of uneducated, stupid or ignorant voters. They lost this election because they ran a lazy bad campaign. They lost this election because they are the now the party of the extreme left, embracing positions and policies that most Americans question. What is their next step? Well, I don’t think calling the millions of Americans who voted for Donald Trump racist bigots is a good first step, especially when they will have to win some of those voters back for the next election. This election was very personally to many and a message was sent. Did the Democrats, and for that matter, the Republicans, get the message? Time will tell.

I believe there needs to be two viable parties to keep a balance of power in this country. The Democratic Party is needed, but they need to find their way out of this malaise in order to be viable again. If they don’t, then in two years, they will fail again. The Republican Party has a mandate. Do they know what it is? If they fail to get some things done for the people then, in two years, they will fail as well. We live in interesting times.