Poetry as Social Comment

On my other blog, I wrote about some fun poems, children's poems that can make you smile or laugh outright.  The following poem is a sad comment about the way culture and media can be an invidious influence on self-image.

Barbie Doll

This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.

She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.

Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.

Marge Piercy

Here is a link to an article Piercy wrote about a problem that still exists, the importance placed on body image, especially for women.  I'm glad Piercy also mentions the problem of aging (again, especially for women).   Piercy is correct, the problem is even worse today than it was when she wrote the poem.  People seem to have the freedom to say things online that perhaps they would not, otherwise.   It is difficult to understand  how fat old men feel no contradiction about making crude comments about a woman's body, whether "positive" or negative.  Not that women are excused, because women are equally judgmental in many cases.  Such a strange disconnect!

Piercy's article is a good one, but it is an angry one.  Barbie Doll is an angry poem.  And despairing.  Because things have actually gotten worse.  We are all susceptible--old, young, fat, thin, pretty, plain, male, female.  

Letters and Poetry

I'm always browsing topics I'm interested in, and lately, to no one's surprise, I'm fascinated by correspondence.  Letters written during wars, letters to strangers, letters from authors; they can be delightful and funny, wise and foolish, full of sorrow or joy.  

Recently, my browsing led to The Letter You Always Wanted to Write, published by The Guardian.  These are some "Wow" and thoughtful letters about topics that are extremely personal, but that will have resonance with almost anyone.  I wish I were so articulate in expressing gratitude or in honestly explaining my feelings, positive or negative.

And poetry.  I love poetry, but over the years, my reading and rereading of poems--that was a habit for most of my life--has declined.  I mean to remedy that.  My favorite poems are the ones I've read for decades, since I was a child, really, and reading my mother's poetry books, most of which were beyond my abilities.  No matter, I fell in love with poems.

My knowledge of more modern poets, those who have written mainly in this new century, is more limited, but that's OK.  There are volumes of poems by the poets I love, enough to keep me occupied.  

I know many of you love the poems of Mary Oliver, and I found this article that gives insight into her private life and is a kind of love letter to her partner of 40 years.  

 "Read poetry every day of your life. Poetry is good because if flexes muscles you don't often use enough. Poetry expands the senses and keeps them in prime condition. It keeps you aware of your nose, your eye, your ear, your tongue, your hand, and above all, poetry is compacted metaphor and simile. Ideas lie everywhere through the poetry books, yet how rarely have I heard teachers recommending them for browsing."
-Ray Bradbury

A timely reminder.

I've been enjoying myself lately, choosing poems to include with my letters and lines to include on postcards. 
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This morning, I received an email from author Howard Eisenberg, the author of the Guess Who series of poetry books for children.

Here is an example from Guess Who Zoo: 

(a little sample…)I sun myself upon the rocks
I wear no shoes. I need no socks.
The only school I ever see
Is a school of fish.
That’s lunch for me.

My furry skin’s so warm, it’s said
That I can make icebergs my bed
The circus puts me in its shows
To spin beach balls upon my nose.

Grownups applaud and children cheer
When I do back flips on my ear
For me though it is no big deal
It’s really easy for a __________.

The poems are enjoyable and fun for children and adults and would make great gifts.

Parents' Choice Award      

And from Adorable Scoundrels:

Mothers will certainly appreciate these short (and totally accurate) poems!

• Holding Pattern
  Why am I pushing this stroller
  Holding my toddler? Looking harried?
  I had no idea when I bought it
  She’d prefer to be carried.
• Emily Postscript
  Can’t find it in Miss Manners’ book
  But I’ve a hunch
  You should leave a very big tip
  When you take a toddler to lunch.
• Unholy Roller
  He will not use the potty.
  He is stubborn on this issue.
  But loves going to the bathroom
  To unroll the toilet tissue.

You can find out more about Howard here.  

On the Dark Path: An Anthology of Fairy Tale Poetry

On the Dark Path is very descriptive of the poems in this anthology.  Edited by Anita M. Barnard, most of the poems are quite dark and have a modern, psychological take on the tales.  


I found the little volume disappointing because of the lack of balance and the persistent negativity.  Perhaps I would have appreciated some of the darker poems if there had been a better balance.  Had they been mixed in with poems that were beautiful because of the language, that were whimsical, or that were humorous, reading the darker poems would not have become so onerous.  Might even have been more appreciated.

As it was, the poems began to sound affected, pretentious, kind of pompously psychological.  There were maybe 3 or 4 of the 50+ poems, that caught my imagination.

Several good quotes were placed before the first poem.  I really like the following quote.

Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.  -- G.K. Chesterton, as quoted in Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

The poems in the anthology, however, do not, for the most part, carry the same message. 

Here is one of the few poems that I liked:

Snow White's Dream

the light passing through the glass
seemed distorted     slightly skewed
she feigned sleep     eyes pinched
in prayer     flushed lips
relishing the single bite
still
in her bright box
she wished to be remembered
not for her beauty
nor her sweet manner
but for how she mastered 
her own escape

---Gail Comorant


And another that is dark, but thought provoking:

Hansel and Gretel

When mother read me
Hansel and Gretel I could not believe
even a witch would bake a child.

Even as we read
thousands of children
were tossed into ovens,
small shoes, shirts, 
dresses, pants,
stripped away, piled up
and the last toy 
to which small hands clung for comfort 
pried from reluctant 
fingers.

---Wilda Morris

Poetry/Fairy Tales.  2013.  85 pages.

Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy-Tale Voices with a Twist by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Grumbles from the Forest features poems by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, with lovely illustrations by Matt Mahurin.  

Fairy tales and poetry, a perfect mix.  Yolen and Dotlich give voice to the many inhabitants of fairy tales: prince or princess, fairy or witch, the gentle, the jealous, the greedy, to the major characters and to the minor characters whose opinions we rarely consider.

As an example, the following two are from the tale of Sleeping Beauty;  the first the lament of the wicked fairy, the second the (ahem) omniscient voice of reason:




Words of the Wicked Fairy

Beauty wakes!
My fun is through.
What's a wicked fairy to do?

I blame myself.
This didn't go well.
Big mistake.
Wrong spell.

I should have given her 
crooked ears,
a runny nose,
chapped lips.
Should've read 
that page on TIPS.

Spell's over.
Imagine this!
All because of a stupid kiss.

-Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Beauty Sleep

Wake up, princess, time to rise.
Open up your dreamy eyes.
Never mind the prince or kiss.
By no means were you raised for this.
Take the plot back from the witch.
Kick her spindle in the ditch!

-Jane Yolen


I liked that there were so many different voices imagined to tell the tales from unique points of view, but the quality of the poems varies.  Some of these poems are very good; some are less so;  all of the illustrations are beautiful.

While I wasn't as delighted with all of the poems as I'd hoped to be, I'll hold final judgement until after the grands give an opinion.  I'm not sure that the book quite knows its target audience.  

Another one for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

Fairy Tale/Poetry.  2013.   40 pages.

Fairy Tales and Poetry

In the past, I've sometimes connected National Poetry Month with the Once Upon a Time Challenge.  It is a way to celebrate both poetry and fairy tales. Beauty and the Beast: An Anniversary by Jane Yolen

It is winter now, and the roses are blooming again, their petals bright against the snow. My father died last April; my sisters no longer write, except at the turning of the year, content with their fine houses and their grandchildren. Beast and I putter in the gardens and walk slowly on the forest paths. He is graying around the muzzle and I have silver combs to match my hair. I have no regrets. None. Though sometimes I do wonder what sounds children might have made running across the marble halls, swinging from the birches over the roses in the snow. (via Endicott Studio) ----------------- I really like this one.  Of course, I think Jane Yolen always does a marvelous job with poetry, and I couldn't even begin to choose a favorite.