jeunesse

age 11
I looked at a Frost poem and thought
I can do this

and jotted down bouncy jingles

 

age 12
Jim told me that poems
need not rhyme

so I chopped vague prose into bite-sized fragments

 

age 13
I got totally wacky
with the onset of puberty

and coded my verboten desires

 

age 14
French class introduced me
to Arthur Rimbaud's prose poems

my mind as they say was blown

 

age 15
Mr Waldron suggested Seamus Heaney
who'd soon be reading his work at Boston College

I went and heard him and started writing sonnets

 

age 16
leafing through Dylan Thomas
in Words Worth Bookstore
I knew what I wanted to do





Poetry by Uncle Meridian The PoetBay support member heart!
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Written on 2022-04-29 at 12:15

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Griffonner The PoetBay support member heart!
Super! I love this. I wonder just how many people Dylan Thomas inspired to write?
(I come from the same green grass!)
2022-04-29


jim The PoetBay support member heart!
A wonderful time-piece. I suppose each of us, here, could jot down their influencers, and it would be an eclectic and fascinating list. Mine would begin with Frost as well, then wander into a very different realm, but that's as it should be.

You knew what you wanted to do, and you did it, and you are doing it. The journey continues. I'm curious what influences you today (W. H., still?)
2022-04-29



A good tour of recommended reading, Seamus Heaney broke my heart with his grit. and Dylan, he's another story
2022-04-29

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More Than This
by Uncle Meridian