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Showing posts with the label Jerry Siegel

Anatomy Class (by Jerry Siegel)

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(To My Freshmen, with Apologies to Northrop Frye) Ah. There it is: A still-living poem. Some critic or teacher must have Done this to it. Put it on the table, boys. Gently, now. Check for vitality, Analyze the theme, Examine its metaphors, Lay bare the quivering imagery And expose the throbbing Thought. Let’s see that history. Two hundred years old? No wonder it seems in Rough shape. As you can see, the relevance is clearly herniated. Diction? Grossly inefficient. Impossibly high allusion level. There! Between the varicose values. Just as I suspected! A great mass of dense meaning Complicated by a massively conscious rhythm. There’s nothing to be done about it. Hopeless – Not a chance of reconstructing this one Into useful lyrics Or a slogan. Close it up And send it off To the anthology. ____________________ (A found poem, written sometime in the mid-1970’s, by a young professor)

Hjalmar’s Saga (a poem by Jerry Siegel)

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Photo by Richard Bartz* Wikipedia ________________ “A forest bird never wants a cage.” – Henrik Ibsen __________________ Jerry, my husband, wrote this poem many years ago. “Hjalmar’s Saga” carries very special personal meaning for me, but it is also very accessible on a surface level, which is why I am sharing it on this blog. This is the poem’s first publication. __________________ Indeed, Henrik, you’ve made your point about Zoology. The male wild duck survives When in captivity, grows fat, appears Content, remains quite placid, resting in boxes Or on pillows. Paired with suitable tame stock He may, with proper fostering, be induced To nest, to mutter happy quacks, to father Ducklings captive from the shell. He will, Of course, not fly, but rather waddle, box To nest and back in endless circuits, like Some feathered friar, lost in thought. He never Knows passion, wit, or blue horizons – curls Restive, his family close, and sleeps m

Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment