How to Express the Golden Gate Homesick Blues

A.K. Andrew,akandrew.com,a writers notebook ,Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point

We're coming to the end of National Poetry Month and I want to share a poem I wrote a few years ago in a poetry workshop. I was living in England at the time, feeling very homesick for San Francisco, as well as nostalgic for a time when I was more mobile than I am now.So this was the result - the first poem I'd written since I was a child, in fact. For this collection of emotions, I found the process of writing a poem very cathartic.The location is the waterfront near to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point. For those of you who remember the scene in Vertigo where Kim Novak falls in the water - that's where I'm talking about!

Fort Point

A.K. Andrew, Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge, akandrew.com,a writers notebook

Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge

Ghosts of blue-bellies dash between chill, meagre quartersRunning up concrete stepsRunning up the flag ofthe Red Brick FortAlone facing the Pacific OceanNow nestled beneath rumbling red girders of the Bridge.An Alliance of Gateway and Protector ofThe CityOur City.White foamy tentacles crash, splitRusting chain links,Goliath chainServing only to taunt, not protectA leap to the rocks or giant watery mouth inviting init’s enormity, its moving depth beckoning.Agonizing beauty surround once morePacific blasts tearing at hair and heartA white rogue wave rises uphitting crumbling brick, splashing medrenchingHer.Laughing stillwe cycle home on the bays blue edgewarmed by love, vigour,youth.

I found the process of writing a poem very cathartic

How do you feel about happy memories? Does it make you sad to think of them and wish that things were still the same, or do you feel fortunate to have had the good times to look back on? Perhaps you don't like to dwell on the past at all, but prefer to look forward rather than back.

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Oscar Wilde:120th Trial Anniversary in National #Poetry Month

Oscar Wilde in New York

April 3rd 2015 marks the 120th anniversary of the start of the trial of Oscar Wilde that went to court in 1895. Ironically it was Wilde himself that pushed for the court hearing, ignoring advice of friends, after the Marquess of Queensbury left her calling card with the note:"For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite" Wilde picked up the gauntlet and sadly paid dearly to clear his name. While imprisoned for 2yrs, his health deteriorated and he died a few years later in 1900.Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish author, playwright, but also a poet. As April is national Poetry Month, I thought it appropriate to look at his work. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.My favorite epigram is actually the one most quoted:

“We are all in gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” ~ Oscar Wilde

Trials of Oscar Wilde

English: Card of John Douglas, 9th Marquess of...

English: The Wilde Trial as recorded in The Il...

Oscar Wilde was renowned for his quick wit, which he maintained through much of the trial proceedings. Here is a small snippet from the trial:G--Your view, Mr. Wilde, is that the "shame" mentioned here is that shame which is a sense of modesty?W--That was the explanation given to me by the person who wrote it.  The sonnet seemed to me obscure.G--During 1893 and 1894 You were a good deal in the company of Lord Alfred Douglas?W--Oh, yes.G--Did he read that poem to you?W--Yes.G--You can, perhaps, understand that such verses as these would not be acceptable to the reader with an ordinarily balanced mind?W--I am not prepared to say.  It appears to me to be a question of taste, temperament and individuality.  I should say that one man's poetry is another man's poison! (Laughter.)

Wilde’s Poetry

By the Arno The oleander on the wallGrows crimson in the dawning light,Though the grey shadows of the nightLie yet on Florence like a pall.The dew is bright upon the hill,And bright the blossoms overhead,But ah! The grasshoppers have fled,The little Attic song is still.Only the leaves are gently stirredBy the soft breathing of the gale,And in the almond-scented valeThe lonely nightingale is hard.The day will make thee silent soon,O nightingale sing on for love!While yet upon the shadowy groveSplinter the arrows of the moon.Before across the silent lawnOn sea-green vest the morning steals,And to one’s frightened eyes revealsThe long white fingers of the dawn.Fast climbing up the eastern skyTo grasp and slay the shuddering night,All careless of my hearts delight,Or if the nightingale should die. By Oscar Wilde(First published in 1876 in the Dublin University Magazine.)It’s interesting to me that a man with such caustic wit, known for comedic plays, could also write such sensitive verse, which such delicate phrasing.What do you think of most when you remember Oscar Wilde? His trial, his novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey", his plays, his  epigrams or his poetry?

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PEN - Do You Have the Freedom to Write?

English PEN is the founding centre of PEN International. This association of writers, campaigns for the promotion of free speech and literature around the world. It's slogan is "The freedom to write, the freedom to read." In the recent newsletter, the following caught my eye.Burmese poets perform in unique UK tourThis month English PEN supports the promotion of Bones Will Crow, the first anthology of contemporary Burmese poets published in the West. Edited and translated by ko ko thett and James Byrne. Published by Arc Publications.Bones Will Crow features the work of Burmese poets who have been in exile and in prison. The poems include global references from a culture in which foreign books and the Internet are regarded with suspicion and where censorship is an industry. The poets have been ingenious in their use of metaphor to escape surveillance and censorship, writing post-modern, avant-garde, performance and online poetries.I'm glad I don't have to rely on my brilliant use of metaphor to evade censorship! All joking aside, the fact is, many of us reading this blog take for granted the freedom we have in terms of what we write. Can you imagine what life would be like if you were afraid your writing posed a threat to your safety?  I don't always remember to value the freedom of being able to write whatever I want.Do You Have The Freedom To Write?That said, within the freedoms of western society, there are pitfalls. On a much lesser scale than fears of imprisonment or torture, individuals do not always feel free to express themselves. Homophobia, sexism, racial and religious intolerance all plays a part in people feeling threatened, unable to be who they are.Political oppression works on the same principles as bullying -  intimidation, fear, punishment and isolation. Bullying on on a grand scale you like.  But at a simpler level, bullying in the playground, while in a completely different league from national oppression,  is a horrible phenomenon, often with awful consequences. Most children don’t want to be seen as ‘other’. To avoid being associated with someone who is being picked on, some kids lower their tolerance levels and cave in to peer pressure. Which only increases the number of bullies, and makes the problem worse. This issue has been well highlighted in the TV musical comedy drama series  ‘Glee’.Being constantly pushed around  by a playground bully is a long way from being put in a Burmese prison. But it can have a devastating effect on the life of an individual. Victims of bullying often feel too scared to speak out, let alone put down their concerns in print.The Burmese poets whose work is in ‘Bones Will Crow', did what they could to avoid censorship.  I wonder if I'd have their courage to write, if I found myself living in a society actively preventing freedom of speech. Would I write about my oppression? Or would I want to write a simple story that might be an escape from the harshness of the situation.The issues in this post are separate, but related. What would you write if you found yourself living in an oppressive society? How important is it that people continue to write, no matter what? Do you know of any children who’ve been bullied and the effect it had on them? How well have they been able to write about what’s important to them? Connect with me on: -Twitter: @artyyahPinterest: http://pinterest.com/artyyah/Like my Facebook page : http://facebook.com/akandrewwriterFor regular updates of my blog: Subscribe Here  Related Information:http://www.englishpen.org/http://www.pen-international.org/http://www.englishpen.org/about-free-speech/PEN has published a free PEN Atlas e-book for PEN members and friends to enjoy! The e-book features ten literary dispatches from around the world, taken from their online series. Contributing authors include Yan Lianke, Diego Marani, Samar Yazbek & Dubravka Ugresic. You can download your free copy here.http://www.englishpen.org/poems-for-pussy-riot-ebook/ On October 10th one of the members of Pussy Riot had their sentence suspended. Leading up to the court case, PEN organized  Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot, an ebook international anthology. Click the link to download. 

Related articles

• Burma ends media censorship, with caveats

And it’s 1, 2, 3, What Are We Writing For? (orig. post Jan 20th)

And it’s 1, 2, 3, What Are We Writing For? I’ve been taking a poetry class with Catherine Smith (see Links page), called Pushing the Boundaries. I wanted to get to know one of the characters better in my new novel Under the Bed - she’s a 25 year-old poet in the East Village in 1969. A not very good poet, so I figured she wouldn’t be too hard for me to emulate. I’ve also been a bit poetry phobic so I thought it would kill two birds with one stone. I’ve loved learning the value of brevity, which can only be a good thing for a prose writer.This week we did a Ghazal, which comes from a musical tradition of Urdu poetry, going back to the 14th century. A ghazal is made up of several couplets, which traditionally would have been set to music, sung and performed. When sung, the music provides an interlude for the audience between each couplet allowing them to resonate. An important aspect of the couplet is that each should stand on its own as an aphorism. The couplets have been compared to a ‘stone from a necklace’, each with a value of its own. Once put together it’s part of a whole. I’ve included here the ghazal I wrote as “Izzie”. Ghazal:  When is a War not a War?By “Izzie” 1969 No poem or painting is finished without our eyes to see.We decide what it means. Dare to say what we see. Are the mix of hues and colors still on the canvaswhen they’re left in a darkened room, too dark to see? Have all the colors in the world disappeared whenthe sun is blazing white, so bright we cannot see? Where have the other colors run to, in a land where sun burnscrimson, earth and rivers reflect blood red for all to see? What is more real? What we think we see, what we’re toldto think, or what is shot in front of the whole world to see? TV images of the War up Close - visual bombardment more realthan any reality in the commonplace we live and see. Izzie’s paintings are finished by the viewer’s eyes. Can wefinish the War by what we dare to think and say and see?  The ghazal I’ve written asks more questions than I answer, which is symptomatic of the times (1969) and how a 25 yr. might have viewed them. By coincidence, after I’d written the ghazal, I came across a quote from Ursula K. Le Guin on twitter this week, which I thought was apropos:“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live … “ In the critique part of Catherine’s poetry class, I talked about the fact that the Vietnam War was really the first war recorded live on television. We also referenced the iconic satirical protest song ‘Fixing To Die’ by Country Joe McDonald *The refrain says it all: - And it’s 1,2,3, what are we fighting for,Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damnThe next stop is Vietnam,And it 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates,There ain’t no time to wonder whyWhoopee we’re all gonna die To most people in the UK ‘during the war’ refers to WWII. When I first went to live in San Francisco in the early 80s, when people talked about ‘the war’ everyone was referring to Vietnam. I think it’s hard for people in the UK to fully understand the enormity of the effect the Vietnam War had on an entire generation of Americans. So in the spirit of my ghazal, mixed with Country Joe’s humor,  I’m going to leave you with the question: What are we writing for? Click on Comments at the bottom of this post and let me know. * Here’s a link to Country Joe’s performance of ‘Fixing to Die’ at Woodstock, August 1969.Country Joe @ Woodstockhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBdeCxJmcAoCommentsJess

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:34:23

what are we writing for? To stay alive, to be alive, to be able to say all the things we can't speak aloud ourselves and to see how all these things look through other people's eyes.A.K.Andrew

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:02:07

Thanks for getting the ball rolling Jess. I have to agree with you, especially the part about seeing how things look through other people's eyes. To actually get inside their minds is pretty amazing. I think it helps us understand other peoples motivation too.Catherine Smith

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:48:54

I agree with both of you - and writing reminds me I want to keep asking questions.I want to find out what I belive, what is important to me. I don't always find the answers, but asking the questions still feels essential. Love your blog, Kathy! ;-)A.K.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:05:10

Thanks Catherine. And you're right The questions always take the lead.