People often tell me they cannot write poetry. They say they do not know how. They say they do not think that way…whatever “that way” is. These people are wrong. If you think you cannot write poetry, here is proof you definitely can.
The definition of poetry is also a prime candidate for subjective or personal interpretation. For example, my definition of poetry goes something like this:
Poetry is condensed language
Think about that for a second. Condensed language. Well, you speak in condensed language. You speak with verifiable sounds and rhythms.
You Speak in Poetry
Language itself is a condensed way of expressing larger ideas. So, one might say:
Poetry is to language as language is to reality.
Or something like that. With speech, you condense incredibly complex ideas into nuanced constructions that are often highly open to interpretation. You speak with poetry.
Poetry accomplishes the same things as language in general. Maybe even more so. That’s because…
Poetry is Storytelling
All language is storytelling. When people write, talk, sign, or wave, they’re telling a story. Poetry is no different. There’s a narrative, even when there isn’t.
So let’s put it together. Condensed language plus storytelling equals what? If you look closely, it equals everything.
When you tell someone you’re running to the store real quick to pick up some condoms and cigars, you’re actually telling a story using poetic language. Because you ARE a poet. We all are. Or maybe we’re all poems. Who knows.
When did you realize you were a poet? If you never realized it before. I hope this helps you to reach that conclusion. Write something, poet.
Ever since I wrote my post about the movie Repeaters some time ago, there has been a LOT of traffic to my site from people looking for the song at the end of the movie. Apparently, it was also featured on the show Shameless, which has led a lot of people to look for it as well.
The song at the end of Repeaters is called Breakneck Speed by the group Tokyo Police Club. TPC is a Canadian indie rock band and it looks like, little by little, the group has been making some noise.
Vowel change
I remember when our voices used to sound the same
Now we just translate
The song is from their album Champ. which is their 2nd studio album.
Tokyo Police Club’s video for Breakneck Speed from their new album Champ. Video edited by Mike Juneau. for more info go to: www.tokyopoliceclub.com www.momandpopmusic.com
It’s the first part of a planned 3-book series collectively titled Eternal Figments of Reality. It was available to download absolutely free here on the site, but after almost 2 years and over 2,000 downloads, I decided to remove the links. You can now purchase e-book versions from various retailers, as well as print versions.
However, since the individual poems are still on the site, you can use the link above to read them all for free.
Share one man’s journey through a world of poetic verse. Start the voyage with his humble beginnings. Continue down a path of introspection. Join him as he comes to the eventual realization that everything flows ever on. Explore through stanza after stanza of unrestrained free verse. Whether rhy…
Share one man’s journey through a world of poetic verse. Start the voyage with his humble beginnings. Continue down a path of introspection. Join him as he comes to the eventual realization that everything flows ever on. Explore through stanza after stanza of unrestrained free verse. Whether rhym…
A Scanner Darkly is a movie based on the novel of the same name, by Philip K. Dick. I have never read the novel (or anything by Philip for that matter), but being a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I know that this author’s name rings bells in the science fiction community (think Asimov, Bear, Clark, etc.).
I also know that many of his novels and/or short stories have gone on to make or inspire many popular movies such as Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report to name a few.
So I admit that I did enter into this movie with preconceived notions…I thought it was going to be good, like one of those overlooked movies that’s excellent but a lot of people haven’t seen, like Mirrormask (later I learned that this movie grossed about $5 million at the box office and won many film critics’ awards)
Well, I was wrong.
Based on a popular novel (that by all accounts is simply excellent), written by a popular novelist (circa 1960s-70s, but now a legend), and starring the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder among others; you would think that this movie would be, if not excellent, at least palatable. But what do you get?
Boredom.
That’s right; this may have been one of the most boring movies I have ever watched. I’m not throwing stones at the original work, the novel, because I have never read it, and by all accounts, it is a must read for any fan of the genre; you know, a real piece of literature. I could even see myself really enjoying the novel after watching this movie, but the movie itself just doesn’t work for me.
Why? Well, I’ll tell you.
The visual style. Richard Linklater, who wrote the movie’s screenplay and directed it, is not a new name. He’s written and/or directed such movies as Before Sunset, Bad News Bears (2005), and the School of Rock just to name a few. Well, he decided to use animation and a technique called interpolated rotoscoping (which is animating over live action).
Now, you have probably seen rotoscoping before but didn’t know what you were looking at. It’s used in those old Superman Cartoons, Snow White, and even Monster House. There’s nothing wrong with this technique in and of itself. Even in the examples I named, it seems organic and natural. But, in A Scanner Darkly it looks hyper-artificial. Sort of like a video game from the PS2 age.
Sometimes you can even tell when it phases from pure animation to the rotoscoping animation and it’s a little hurtful to the eye. This movie would have worked better either fully animated or live action, this in-between thing they did just annoys the hell out of your eyes. This style of filmmaking would have worked if there was more action but it seems wasted on a bunch of junkies sitting around talking about nothing.
Which brings us to…
The plot. The plot revolves around a narcotics agent, Fred (Keanu Reeves) doing a sting on a group of supposed drug traffickers. He lives in the same house as them, trying to figure which one of these junkies is the real threat. What do they do? Well, they get high on Substance D (a psychedelic drug that does more to your brain over time than the usual constant exposure to chemical toxins), and they act like fiends (trust me, I know how fiends act). But the twist is that Fred and his counterpart that lives in the house, Bob, are actually one and the same and neither he nor anybody else seems to be aware of this fact.
So is our narcotics agent an addict himself? That’s the question you are expected to ask yourself while watching, or staring, at this movie. I would like to give more details but I expect some of you would like to see this film despite what I say, so I don’t want to give out any spoilers. Feel free to get it the best way you know how and form your own opinion, the critics loved it and many other people did too.
All in all, I realized several things while watching this film that makes me want to read the book. The themes (duality of our own realities and psychological profiles and drugs in America as an ongoing endemic even into the future) are here in the film but don’t really come off the right way. I expect it’s all there in the actual book. It’s definitely not all here in this movie.
The story itself, based on Philips own struggle with drugs, is considered by some to be his darkest tale. I wonder what he would have thought of the film if he was alive.
A Scanner Darkly (1st draft, 20 Dec, 1997)
This unproduced interpretation of the Philip K Dick novel was eventually vetoed, in favour of Richard Linklater’s own adaptation. Kaufman’s draft is very faithful to the source material.
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4 Oct 2016
0 CommentsRealizing You Are a Poet
People often tell me they cannot write poetry. They say they do not know how. They say they do not think that way…whatever “that way” is. These people are wrong. If you think you cannot write poetry, here is proof you definitely can.
Poetry Is Not What You Think It Is
Poetry isn’t one thing. There’s a dictionary definition, of course, but that doesn’t encompass all of what poetry is.
The definition of poetry is also a prime candidate for subjective or personal interpretation. For example, my definition of poetry goes something like this:
Think about that for a second. Condensed language. Well, you speak in condensed language. You speak with verifiable sounds and rhythms.
You Speak in Poetry
Language itself is a condensed way of expressing larger ideas. So, one might say:
Or something like that. With speech, you condense incredibly complex ideas into nuanced constructions that are often highly open to interpretation. You speak with poetry.
Poetry accomplishes the same things as language in general. Maybe even more so. That’s because…
Poetry is Storytelling
All language is storytelling. When people write, talk, sign, or wave, they’re telling a story. Poetry is no different. There’s a narrative, even when there isn’t.
When you tell someone you’re running to the store real quick to pick up some condoms and cigars, you’re actually telling a story using poetic language. Because you ARE a poet. We all are. Or maybe we’re all poems. Who knows.
When did you realize you were a poet? If you never realized it before. I hope this helps you to reach that conclusion. Write something, poet.
More Random Thoughts by Silencio Barnes
More on Writing Poetry by Silencio Barnes
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