Intellectual and Cultural Events Journal

The poem, "Benediction for the Savior of Orlando" really caught my attention. It explained how faith and religion is being replaced by games, stores, restaurants and amusement parks. Things that should be important to people, their relationship with God, is now being taken over by upcoming attractions and entertainment. In the poem, it says how children are making entertainment influence their lives, instead of having moral upbringings, and these attractions are what children are going to remember. Instead of turning to faith, they will turn to video games and such. It seemed that this was dangerous, since the children today are going to be the future, and in order to have a good future for the nation, children need to have strong and moral upbringings. They will lack the "wisdom" that they will need in the future. At the end of the poem, it shows how, instead of the word of God will be remembered as what is important, they will remember announcements from Chuckie Cheese's. This goes along with television and other forms of entertainment. Everyone's future lies in their hands, and for their security, they need to take care of the children for today and not influence them with bad ideas and think that the future can just be fun and games. Children need to have a strong background with God in their lives.

Campbell McGrath's poetry reading was simply wonderful. Generally, I love when students and people in general are exposed to poets who open up the entire world in a single poem. It is such a common misperception that poetry is a very pansy, listless activity, concerned with stroking a blank canvas of paper with emotion tinted sonnets. Of course, poetry does that sometimes, but not always. McGrath reminded me that it is a form of literature and, more than that, a form of perception and conversation. It was so refreshing to hear another poet tackling issues like pop culture and key limes.

The poems that I liked most were the ones from his rock'n'roll series. (Pax Automica?) They were real and very fleshy. Unlike his Florida poems, they were not light and airy. Sure, like the Xena poem, they were comical, but darkly so. It made me wonder what he was going through at that point in his life and what his childhood must have been like. Reminiscing can be an incredibly painstaking task.

His rock'n'roll poetry struck me the most because it reminded me of the style and voice of the poetry that I used to pen. The amount of energy that goes into the living, formulating, and materializing of a poem is insanely draining. I have no idea how poets that write with McGrath's energy, control, and passion derive and maintain their pace and still lead pseudo-normal lives.

I came to the poetry reading thinking that I was going to have to force myself to sit and listen to this guy ramble on about what a good poet he was, and how everyone should love poetry, but instead, he just shared a few poems, and by the first verse I found myself immersed in an ocean of thought . I immediately picked up on the rhythm and form of McGrath's poetry. In the first poem, "Orange", I was able to feel the waves washing over me, hear them crashing against the shore, and slip back into the sea. It was a wonderful experience for me. Next, I could taste the "hand gernade of flavor" as McGrath so elequently describes the title fruit in "Key Lime", and in "Because This Is Florida", I found myself both hating and loving this "state of confusion". One of the first thing that I noticed about this fast-talking Floridian was his wealth of knowledge on each and every subject about which he wrote. In "Ode To A Can of Beer", his subject is simple, but his analysis is very thorough, yet funny. His presentation and love for poetry has given me a new perspective on literature as an artform, not just lifeless lines that we are required to analyze, understand, and sometimes memorize. It even compelled me to purchase a copy of his book of prosepoetry "Road Atlas". Prose poetry is one of my favorite forms of poetry because of its stream of coscience style, and attention to detail and data, with no regard to the laws of grammer and mechanics. It was both a heart warming and an eye opening experience. I look forward to the next poetry reading in November.

There is definately something to be said for the similarities between art and literature, regarding the flow and structure of the piece. As Dr. Tatter said, when writing a paper, a thesis is required to hold the paper together. It is supported by subject matter that must flow logically from one topic to another within each paragraph. The same is true for painting. Each painting has a focal point and the piece flows together to create an image. Colors, designs, and motion are woven together as McGrath said. It was a very fascinating reading, and I always find it interesting to hear how different genres of creativity are interconnected.

I thouroughly enjoyed Campbell McGrath's poetry, but one thing that he said really struck me. He said, "Form can either be a straight jacket or it can be freeing." I never thought about poetry this way before. He varied his poetry, from prose to terza rhima, and it seemed like each style enhanced what he wanted to say. I only wish I could clearly remember a specific example. This statement reminded me of a friend from high school who would constantly remind me of how hard it was for him to write sonnets. I never could empathize with his problems, but I have the same issues in other places. For example, I could never understand why my piano teacher would ask me to do certain things. "Sit up straight, sit at the edge of the bench, curve those fingers, and cut those nails before you come see me again!" At the time, I was distraught. I couldn't believe all of the rules and restrictions. Now, however, these rules are freeing to me. I have more freedom of movement over the keyboard just like a person who internalizes certain forms may have more freedom in his writing.