Learning from a literary life
I was I admit a poor student of literature. My teachers tried but I could never get the hook that would take me through to follow a story to the end. And even less so the story of the author. This afternoon I watched a documentary on a poet. One where I recognize the name and nothing else. And here’s the thing; if someone takes the time to make a documentary about you you probably have a story for the rest of us. I have no intention to take up writing poetry or deep prose but I am interested in the process. How does someone decide to make their life all about 10 lines on the page or 20 lines or 200 lines? How do you decide to tie your character and your way of thought to something that someone else will read? To be fair writing a blog does not count. I am heavily invested in a page only until it is finished. Sometimes a matter of minutes. Please, do not ask me to tell you what I wrote about yesterday or the day before because I frankly do not remember. To find that someone can take and write a poem and then go on tour for several years and recite that poem to countless others is not my experience. But I do learn from their life. Thank you to those who are willing to make a long movie about such things. Maybe I should ask my children to write a story about me. Or maybe not. They have busy lives and find other ways to lose an evening. But go ahead pick a name from the pantheon of authors and then take the time to do a bit of mild research. See if you can capture something of the spirit in what has been written. Or in what has been told about that person. There are so many.
