Jul 24, 2007

Just for Fun

Back to the July/August issue of Poetry magazine. "Blues for Oedipus" by X.J. Kennedy amuses me. The words chosen by the poet to run through the tragedy of Oedipus in two short stanzas, moving the reader quickly through the major conflicts. The words and phrases are short and bounce from line to line like a hip-hop song. "Oracle figured/You'd come a cropper,/Kingdom-killin/Mammyjammin/Poppa-bopper!//" The first stanza is the most fun, and it made me want to dance. The second stanza is more explicit about the events in the tragedy, but with the flare of a spoken-word poet. It reminds me of April poetry month events held in Bethesda, Md.

4 comments:

Anna said...

Oooh, another intriguing poem. I was never into that performance poetry, but from the lines you mention here, I see how interesting this one would be performed.

Serena said...

I just love it...this poet has two in the issue and I like them both, but decided to only talk about the first one.

Anna said...

I'll have to borrow that issue once I return the other two. (I still have them, right? LOL)

Serena said...

I don't remember which ones you have, but I should be done with this issue soon. I'm more than halfway through it. I have that free book from the American Society of Poets to read also. I guess I got a free book with my membership in addition to their poetry journal. WOOHOO