Poetry

Today's post is completely unrelated to medicine and UCSF. On the first day of a poetry creative writing class I took as an undergrad, the instructor asked if anyone could recite a poem. And although I have always found good poetry magically powerful, I never really committed a poem to heart. But one girl in the class was able to recite "Questions of Travel" by Elizabeth Bishop. That was breathtakingly impressive; it's a considerably long, complex, and beautiful poem. At that moment, I decided that I wanted to find and memorize a poem I really liked.

But what poem? I could take the traditional route and try a Shakespeare ("Sonnet 116" or "Sonnet 130"). There are parts of Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism that are absolutely fantastic ("True ease in writing comes from art, not chance..."). But lately, I've become enamored with more modern and contemporary poets.

Ever since I heard Billy Collins, a previous U.S. poet laureate, speak at Stanford, I have become obsessed with his poetry. One of my friends describes him as "conversational whimsical" (or something like that) in that he is incredibly accessible yet surprisingly complex, humorous, and magical. I recommend the poems "Flock" and "The Lanyard" and "Thesaurus" among many. But I think when I get around to it, I might try memorizing one of my other favorite poems, Yeats' "No Second Troy."

All poems mentioned here should be google-able. If you're looking for more poems, I really like the Poetry 180 series sponsored by the Library of Congress.