A poet says extraordinary things straight up. These are the things so obvious that no one notices, or acknowledges them. These are the poems that speak of death on the battlefield, drawing the bodies with words that are maimed.
Poems make us look.
They make us grieve, make us stop fooling ourselves.
But a poet also says ordinary things in extraordinary ways, over shaved ice with a touch of absinthe. The poet sidles up to the subjects we think we know so well, and shows us what we have somehow missed, or overlooked. This is what it means to say it slant.
It is not a red rose on a summer day, it is both a rose and a symbol, maybe a reminder of that lipsticked-kiss on the back of the neck. A rose is a rose is a rose, except when it's not, except when it's more.
Poems make us feel, make us slip into someone else's skin for a moment, make us connect.
Or so it seems to me, today, when the sun is hot and high.
My name is Rae Hallstrom, and Ameriku is my art and my business and my brand.
Ameriku Ltd produces nature-oriented art prints, posters, greeting cards and other items, based on my original haiku and photography.
Ameriku® is the registered trademark of Ameriku Ltd. When you see the Ameriku trademark, you can be sure the work meets my high standards of quality.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
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