The Tuesday Platform: You are a Poet! (Poems in April ~ Day 16)

This is Not a Man, 1993–1994, oil and acrylic on canvas, 68 x 36 in, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]

I am signaling you through the flames.

The North Pole is not where it used to be.

Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.

Civilization self-destructs.

Nemesis is knocking at the door.

What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?

The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.

If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic.

You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you are Neruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words....

Poetry as Insurgent Art by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Copyright © 2007 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. All rights reserved.

Happy Tuesday! This is Anmol (alias HA) and I thought that it is prudent that we celebrate the poetics of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (who recently turned 100 on 24th March) when many of us are participating in the 30-day writing challenge this month. In his long career, he has been a poet, a translator, a painter, an activist, a publisher, an art critic, and a lot more (not forgetting him as one of the founders of the Beat movement). He has made the literary avenues and arts richer through his many contributions.

For The Tuesday Platform, add one link to a poem, old or new, in the linking widget down below. If you are participating in the writing challenge/seeking inspiration, here is an optional challenge for today (the 16th day — you are half way through. Yay!):

Write a poem titled, "Poetry as...," perhaps in the style of Ferlinghetti who speaks of poetry as an insurgent art while exhorting the poets to use their language and expression to save the world by answering/heeding all the challenges that we face today. Let your imagination soar and think of the many things that poetry can be. Here are some titles that I can think of (you can choose one of these as well) — Poetry as Poison, Poetry as World Annihilation, Poetry as a Criticism of Poets, Poetry as a Lonely Endeavour, et al.

After you have added your link, do not forget to visit others and share your thoughts with them on their linked verses. I wish you all a great week ahead.