Monday, October 29, 2007

More Horrible Than You Imagined: The Poetry of Jimmy Carter

We shall not offer you much of it. That would be cruel, and public sinners interested in expiating their crimes can recourse to Carter's books, poetical or prosaic, and administer as much tonic as will purge their minds of evil thoughts and replace them with blessed vacuity. The presidential poet (or should that be poetical president) has writing 7 books of verse, which can best be described as the musings of Dr. Seuss in a serious mood. Our personal favorite is "Of Possum and Fatback," but the following is undoubtedly his masterpiece. The payoff is in the last line (but don't read it till the end):


Considering the Void

When I behold the charm
of evening skies, their lulling endurance;
the patterns of stars with names
of bears and dogs, a swan, a virgin;
other planets that the Voyager showed
were like and so unlike our own,
with all their diverse moons,
bright discs, weird rings, and cratered faces;
comets with their streaming tails
bent by pressure from our sun;
the skyscape of our Milky Way
holding in its shimmering disc
an infinity of suns
(or say a thousand billion);
knowing there are holes of darkness
gulping mass and even light,
knowing that this galaxy of ours
is one of multitudes
in what we call the heavens,
it troubles me. It troubles me.



BTW, the Baptist evangelical's cosmic poem of uncertainty has been adopted by Atheists United as their "catechism." It goes to show you. It goes to show you.

***
This is one of our Jimmy Carter filler posts, which we insert when we are going to proceed from a light to a serious subject. Expect a very serious post forthcoming.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aw Manuel, that's why so many people become alcoholics....

John said...

What? He couldn't mention that UFO he claimed he saw? Perhaps he didn't mention it because he was abducted, and that's REALLY what troubles him, no? LOL.

Whatever, it's clear that his name sells this poetry and not his talent.

Vana said...

He does mention the UFO...lol...
diverse moons, bright discs and cratered faces..lol..he's obsessed with it, no wonder it troubles him!

Ms Calabaza said...

. . . I love these filler posts - You made this reclusive curmudgeon smile. Jimmah is such a maroooooooooon.

Anonymous said...

A cuban poetry blog
http://bajolaluzdemisangre.blogspot.com/
Poet and writer born in the District of Marianao, Havana, Cuba on September 9, 1969. He moved to the United States in 2003, and since 2006 has been living in Seattle, where he cultivates his dearest passion: writing. Author of the following books and anthologies: Poesía Ilustrada, (New York, 1992- USA); Antología de la Décima Cósmica de La Habana, (México D.F, 2003- México); Notaciones del inocente, (Moguer, Andalucía, 2003- Spain); Tierra de Secreta Transparencia, (Madrid, 2004- Spain), an anthology of poems by Cuban poet Serafina Nuñez; Bajo la luz de mi sangre / Under the light of my blood (Bilingual Edition, Victoria BC, 2009-Canada).

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