GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Book of Haikus (1956-1966), Jack Kerouac, published 2003

Grain Elevators are tall trucks
 that let the road
approach them

I’ve always been a prose guy.
(More Pentateuch than Psalms.)

But I’ve always held the nag that I need to get into poetry (along with Jazz and Russian novels).

This is as good a start as any.

Short poems.
Straight to the point.
Haikus + Americana.

I’ve tried writing some myself, when I started this blog.

I bought this book around that time.
But buying and reading are different things.
So here I am, a decade later.

Not sure if I grok poetry any better.
That will be a matter of trying.
Again and again.

Reflected upsidedown
 in the sunset lake, pines,
Pointing to infinity

As for this book itself.
Jack successfully taps into the vividness of Haiku.

It’s a snapshot of mid-century America.
Unfortunately it’s also a snapshot of Jack’s unraveling.

I need to revisit this book in a few months.
Maybe I’ll better enjoy the art when I’ve become inured to his sad story.

Desk cluttered
 with mail—
My mind is quiet