Ars Poetica

 I love to learn and to be informed. What is most intriguing for me is to question all that I have learned  using what new information I have at my fingertips. This poem called "Ars Poetica" comes from a style of poetry that questions the art of poetry, hence the Latin term. The Ars Poetica form of poetry is used  to question the basis of something so normal and routine using words. So this is what I've done.

ARS POETICA

How careful should we be of how we speak?

With all of language’s unwritten rules, should we even consider careful?

The audacity of lesser a figure to tell "top-of-the-food chain" dwellers

how to express ourselves is funny. Don’t you think?

Do you think? And about what?

As writers do we think before we speak or should we think about thinking to speak at all?

The art of paying attention. Like most things, we function on auto pilot.

I know the way home, therefore I get there.

I know my name, so when I hear it I respond.

What if we paid attention and focused more on the art of being.

Have I taken the necessary breathes to keep me my lungs full?

Is this apple really red? Green?

Is the driver in front of me really aware that I’m behind them?

Are my mirrors properly angled? Defrosted?

Language had an odd bed fellow- consciousness.

We cannot know what we say unless we are conscious of what words

 are, and the spaces in between.  The meanings that are given to them

are there for a reason.  Only consciousness allows us to know language.

Whether or not we know it well is up to us.

I, Too by Langston Hughes

There are a few works of literature that apply to ALL people no matter of race, color or creed. The most powerful words you will ever hear, in my opinion, come from a genuine heart which lives in a place called sincerity. And this is one very sincere message that can tell of any personal struggle any human has come face to face with.  I, Too is one of those poems that lives on its powerful words and their  reverberating meaning. This is a work not to be taken casually. Enjoy!


I, TOO

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed -

I, too, am America.