Today's poet

[freckle]

Hi everyone,

this is from the book of poems "Geography for the lost" by
Kapka Kassabova...her poems speak from different parts of the world but also of the many ways to be lost and disoriented....i quite liked the use of metaphor in this one....

I want to be a tourist

I imagine my life as a city
somewhere in the third world, or the second.
And I want to be a tourist
in the city of my life.

I want to stroll in shorts and baseball hat,
with laminated maps and dangling cameras.
I want to find things for the first time.
Look, they were put there just for me!

I want a room with musty curtains.
I want a view of rubbsih dumps and urchins.
I want food poisoning, the dust of traffic
in the mouth, the thrill of others' misery.

Let me be a tourist in the city of my life.
Give me over-priced coffee in the square,
let me visit briefly the mausoleum of the past
and photograph its mummy,

give me the open sewers, the stunted dreams,
the jubiliation of ruins, the lepers, the dogs,
give me signs in a funny language that I never
have to learn. Then take my money and let me go.

[Dick]

Two lovely poems there guys. Not quite sure how to take the last one, it needs reading again a few times I think.

No great chore though...

[Hes]

Two lovely poems there guys. Not quite sure how to take the last one, it needs reading again a few times I think.

No great chore though...

Good evening Dick, nice to see you again. Will be calling in and out this eve, here is another offering:

The Slithery

Crawling over the lake
not sinking not dissolving;

Climbing the Palymyrah tree
and descending
without spilling, without scattering;

Traversing an expanse
of thorny bushes
without getting hurt;

Plunging on a sharp pole
without being pierced;

Diving into ditches
scaling mounds
without bursting -

Travels
that eagle's shadow.

by lakkumikumaran gnanadiraviam (blooming heck...how do you promounce that?)

[Derby Tup]

Like the poem Hes and very impressed with poet's name. Indian? Sri Lankan?

[Hes]

Like the poem Hes and very impressed with poet's name. Indian? Sri Lankan?

Hi DT! He is from Tamil Nadu, India.

[Derby Tup]

Hi DT! He is from Tamil Nadu, India.

You made any progress on your India travelogues?

[Hes]

Hi everyone,

this is from the book of poems "Geography for the lost" by
Kapka Kassabova...her poems speak from different parts of the world but also of the many ways to be lost and disoriented....i quite liked the use of metaphor in this one....

I want to be a tourist

I imagine my life as a city
somewhere in the third world, or the second.
And I want to be a tourist
in the city of my life.

I want to stroll in shorts and baseball hat,
with laminated maps and dangling cameras.
I want to find things for the first time.
Look, they were put there just for me!

I want a room with musty curtains.
I want a view of rubbsih dumps and urchins.
I want food poisoning, the dust of traffic
in the mouth, the thrill of others' misery.

Let me be a tourist in the city of my life.
Give me over-priced coffee in the square,
let me visit briefly the mausoleum of the past
and photograph its mummy,

give me the open sewers, the stunted dreams,
the jubiliation of ruins, the lepers, the dogs,
give me signs in a funny language that I never
have to learn. Then take my money and let me go.

Wow...I really like this Freckle. As Dick says, it will take a few rereads and pondering to allow the metaphorical nature to totally sink in but the best art, in my opinion, is that which you come back to again and again and each time you do, you understand something new from it. (The last verse could be about my India trip!).

[Hes]

You made any progress on your India travelogues?

I'm half-way through typing up the haikus and I've uploaded all my photos to my portable hard drive (laptop couldn't cope). I'll finish typing up tonight and then start working on them. I would like to distil the ideas and capture the true essence of haiku and maybe write a few longer things. Lots of thoughts...let's hope my procrastinating tendencies don't get in the way too much!

[Derby Tup]

I'm half-way through typing up the haikus and I've uploaded all my photos to my portable hard drive (laptop couldn't cope). I'll finish typing up tonight and then start working on them. I would like to distil the ideas and capture the true essence of haiku and maybe write a few longer things. Lots of thoughts...let's hope my procrastinating tendencies don't get in the way too much!

I'm impressed If it'd have been me I'd still be unpacking and trying to remember where I left my passport for next time away

[freckle]

I'm half-way through typing up the haikus and I've uploaded all my photos to my portable hard drive (laptop couldn't cope). I'll finish typing up tonight and then start working on them. I would like to distil the ideas and capture the true essence of haiku and maybe write a few longer things. Lots of thoughts...let's hope my procrastinating tendencies don't get in the way too much!

This sounds really exciting Hes...can't wait to see the results