Monday, August 30, 2010

Old School Poetry Bussing


what? random monday post? well, not exactly. see, i'm going back to scohol.

thing is, our friend karen is driving the big yellow poetry bus today. the assignment is to write a poem about school or schooling. which i started to do - really - but then i got to thinking about those days. i started writing poems in high school, thanks to one remarkable english teacher and a lot of customer-free time in the silk plant gazebo in the basement of a sears store. and i thought about karen too, whose take on the poetry bus prompt often isn't head-on; she usually stretches the prompt in her own unique way. so, rather than writing a new poem about those days, i thought i'd post some poems i actually wrote back in those days - unaltered - complete with semi-legible handwriting. schoolbusses don't have seatbelts - what do i need one for?


(click images for larger, semi-legible versions)



finally, this post deserves its own special prime cuts - poetry bus edition.

Quiet Riot / Mental Health - early 80's hair band glam metal - the incarnation of cliché - and, like blacklight posters or an atari 2600, totally freaking epic in its absolute awfulness.

9 comments:

Karen said...

You have me honest-to-God belly laughing! Oh, I' love you virtually, and I'd have loved you in person! My kind of kid!!

Karen said...

...not to mention that I'm happy to have a glimpse of the budding poet.

signed...bkm said...

I was surprised (happily) to see you posted on a Monday Joaquin...fun reading your high school poetry...it is amazing how much we change in both personality and writing as we mature...bkm

K.Lawson Gilbert said...

You are a creative genius (bowing)- Loved reading these in your own handwriting - how cool.

Oh, you were a dark Poe poet in that first one. Loved it so much.

Nordic Dream was innovative and so original in word and content. Would have loved to have spent time with Larry the Walrus...he would have been just my type.

Funky Vaca - was just wild stuff. Creative plus!


The Lamp - You saw the world as poetry at a young age...this is brilliant for school age. Perfect Poetic title!!!! I'm with Karen - I would have loved to have had you in my English class.

Totalfeckineejit said...

I wish I had gone to scohol, it sounds much more fun like a viking drinking song ,or something.
Great idea to post your old school poems they are a lot better than mine, only partly because I didn't write any.Funky vacation is my fave, a wild ride!

* said...

Those poems are each unique, each one a snap shot of that time in your life, your thoughts, musings, etc. I love that you scanned them, they are in your own handwriting, which nowadays, is rare.

I have a box of hand written diaries I go through from time to time. They are insight into the person I was becoming, before I knew who she was. I post excerpts from them on my blog from time to time; this post reminds me, it may be time to do that again.


PS: I'm with you on the absolute awfulness of 80's hair band glam metal. One of my high school boyfriends was way into it (not me, I was a Cure/TFF, Smiths fan). Whenever I hear any of it now, it makes my stomach turn.

Julie said...

Awesomeness. This is just what I was saying about your unique vision. You are never ordinary, Joaquin. I mean that as the highest compliment. Ordinary creeps me out.

I love "Nordic Dream" and "The Lamp." I think "The Lamp" is my favorite, though they all rock. Actually, they are much better than some poems I've seen (or written) as an adult.

It's great to read those old words and see the poet you were back then and catch glimpses of the poet you have become.

P.S. - The Quiet Riot picture is a riot. I wasn't into them, but for another glimpse of a really bad 80's stereotype...I had flaming orange poodle hair, purple eyes, razor blade earrings, high heeled combat boots and ripped fish net stockings. Egad.

joaquin carvel said...

karen - yay! i really was working on a new one, but i don't think i could ever capture those days now quite like i did while they were happening. thank you - and i would have taken you (and k.) as classmates and as teachers!

bkm - thank you! it is fun to go back - they're sort of like journals for the attention-span deficient.

k. - genius?! i wouldn't go that far - but don't want to be rude, so i won't argue. :) but you're right - i can see the poe influence pretty clearly - and "funky vaca" was probably me trying to follow dylan's "subterranian homesick blues" - trying to find my legs, i guess. english class with you? i should have been so lucky!

to-jit (can i call you to-jit?) - yeah it does! a viking drinking song! thank you - it's fun to flip through them sometimes. well - it is for me - glad you enjoyed the ride too.

teressa - thank you. yes, i think i was trying on different hats - i think i still am, kind of, when it comes to poems, but i'm not sure that's a bad thing. glad you liked (and could read) the handwriting, too. i miss it. i should do it more. anyway - looking forward to a peek into your journals. these were as close as i got to that, but they sort of work the same way. (i was a fan of the cure & the smiths too - and bad metal and ska and local punk bands and rap - pretty indiscriminate when it comes to music, i guess.:))

julie - "Ordinary creeps me out" - ha! i take that as the highest compliment - thank you. but i think awesomeness is that picture of punk-rock julie! i never managed to pick up a style back in the day and wound up looking pretty dull. which still seems to be the case, unremarkably. :)

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