I was just at the local tiny branch of the Seattle Library picking up some books I had on hold, and I happened to see a collection of audio recordings of poetry by Dorothy Parker, Ogden Nash, and Phyllis McGinley. I checked it out because I wanted to hear them read their own poetry.
So, I am not poetry literate at all, but after I started to read Mary Oliver last year, I realized poetry could be very cool. And after listening to these Dorothy Parker poems, which are both moving and hilarious, I just… I don’t know. I think she must’ve been a pretty badass woman. I wish I could have met her. (I think I have a new hero.) I can’t believe she was born in 1893. What a sassy, sassy lady!
Here are two poems I especially liked. The first reminds me a lot of Seattle; the second reminds me a lot of myself before I spent a small fortune on therapy.
Bohemia
Authors and actors and artists and such
Never know nothing, never know much.
Sculptors and singers and those of their kidney
Tell their affairs from Seattle to Sydney.
Playwrights and poets and such horses’ necks
Start off from anywhere, end up at sex.
Diarists, critics, and similar roe
Never say nothing, and never say no.
People Who Do Things exceed my endurance;
God, for a man that solicits insurance!
1928
Résumé
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
1926
5 Comments
dude, i never thought i’d be that entertained by rhyming couplets! also, i didn’t know you had a blog, so now i will comment on everything!
I was so excited to see all your comments today!
Did you know… it’s this crazy thing, you can write your OWN really entertaining rhyming couplets. I think you should do it, and then read them on your radio show, and then when you are a famous mathematician and I am [redacted], everyone will listen to the vintage recordings and be like WOW that was Dr. R before she became famous!
haha, i dunno. it’s been a looong time since i let anyone read anything vaguely poetic that i’ve written.
i wish your comments widget would email me when you respond to my comments, but it doesnt! drat.
That definitely sucks, especially for people who comments a lot. :D I need to do some Wordpress maintenance… maybe there is a plugin that handles comments better? I will see.
for now i will just compulsively check ^_^
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