A Bachelors in English

An Ode to Our Educations

The beach now renders sand and stone,
Occasionally, the salty tide
Runs its hands as undertones
Along your frail and bitter sides
And, in seeping in what they confide,
Uncover fossils, unused bones!

While Albion produces waves
That swallow poets in their prime,
Some burning embers mark the graves
Where Keats and Byron spend their time
Developing some unread rhymes
That spit out phlegm amid the slaves.

For dollar-flying industries,
Provoking thoughts for unused time
Spent critiquing mysteries
Of Nature, only when sublime,
Speak louder than our musing mimes,
And subdue new Antigone's.

Dead now is Wordsworth, Burns, and Donne
Berryman, Whitman, and Spicer,
From their words, we'll spew up clones,
To organize their motives nicer;
"Putting trees in deli-slicers
Efficiently revives the tone."

And staring up into the sky
In perfect silence, while the learn'd
Lecturers propose idle why's,
Afraid of life's established burn,
You see a plane; and in return,
Realize we're bred to never fly.

Author's Note

There is an underlying theme here of technology vs literature, which is why so much focus is put on Romantic Poets. Above that, the final stanza mimics Walt Whitman's poem, "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"

Reviews

[Moflo]

Forgive me, Reviews, but I found your review to be highly nonconstructive. It appears to me that you have merely slathered as much negativity as you could within 2-3 sentences while, perhaps at best, skimming the above poem. You have made statements that serve as non sequiturs, but perhaps could have been found productive if you maybe cited an example of what you were saying rather than boisterously spewing insults. The easiest criticism is the negative one, and the fact that you jump from poem to poem offering the negative counter-perspective suggests nothing about your intellectual and much about your work ethic, or lack thereof. On top of your negativity, the fact that you have the audacity to say, in your profile, that you offer "real" reviews when you actually offer slander is rather comical. Have a good day.

[Kenneth The Poet]

Mike, I think you have taken classical poetry and applied it properly in this age of PS3 and CSI and HAARP. You have turned it on its ear, much like the film Bob Roberts turned Bob Dylan upside down. Keep it up sir.

[emmajoy]

Your poem is exceptional, it has meter, it has reference, it states your thoughts and inspires, it has a heart throbbing away as if life itself.

Poets are the world's greatest analysts, they see and understand far more than the 'average bear' purely by their inherent ability to see further than .. If the dead are emulated it's because their roots lead us into the most beautiful trees, something technology can't do because it works without a heart.

[Zoe Jay]

This is beautiful. The sounds and descriptions are full and flowing. Very well executed meter, I am no expert, but this is classic iambic pentameter I think.... very hard to do, and flawlessly done here. I'm impressed with this! The meter doesn't feel forced at all. I love the use of poets themselves as a metaphor here, a representation of beauty, originality, and craft, things which are no longer extant in our disposable, one-hit society. "Dollar-flying industries" is effective, punchy and original and is a centerpiece and a central theme of this poem for me. Beautiful, soulful, effective rhyming as well. This is classic and perfectly executed and shows a lot of talent, understanding of poetry, and discipline. A1!!

[Siddartha Beth Pierce]

Nicely spun my dear friend! I adore Wordsworth's 'We Are Seven' too - nice that you mention him and Donne as well - so melancholic - a true melody! A favorite - thanks!
Light,
Siddartha

[Joiedevivre]

For some reason it makes me think of the film, Dead Poets Society. Outstanding poem.

[Ruth]

Stunning love! Simply put - AMAZING!
I am in awe here.....disparate elements fused with such imagery, a vivid experience....surreal but grounding in some strange way! Astonishing piece! xx

[Linear]

I'll take your word for what you say, for I have no idea just how you come up with such word usage, perhaps education isn't wasted after all :O)

Supburb Michael Really outstanding, but then again most if not all your work is

[trainwreck]

Very good job! I was actually very, very impressed.

[Tina Kline]

A very clever poem reminding us that while we may learn we don't know everything and never will. We can guess and ponder and come to conclusions that often change. We, in the end, can only be what we were meant to be. This is what your wonderful poem spoke to me.

[Stammers]

This is your best post to date. God, I knew you were on the edge of something :)