Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Poets and Poems: Leon Stokesbury and “You Are Here”


It’s unusual to find myself laughing out loud while reading a book of poetry, but that’s what I did with You Are Here: Poems New & Old by Leon Stokesbury.

Stokesbury doesn’t write comic poetry, but he manifests a sense of mischief and a willingness to poke fun at even some of the most serious of poems and poets, like Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Morte d’Arthur

Higgledy-piggledy
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Lost his pal Hallam to
Fever and flu.

“One-hundred thirty-one
Ultramemorial
Verses, and man, I still
Can’t bury you.”

In eight short lines, Stokesbury takes on two of Tennyson’s famous poems – “Morte d’Arthur” and “In Memoriam,” playing off the first name of Arthur Henry Hallam, the subject of “In Memoriam.”


To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

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