More Handwritten Poetry

When I don't know what else to write at the end of the day, I'll copy down a favorite poem in my journal. It's far better than most of the drivel I put in there, so it dresses up the place a bit. I heard this one on The Writer's Almanac podcast while driving around the other day, and I was instantly transported back to age 12. I'm surprised my feet still reached the pedals of my car...



Does anyone else care to share a poem? My library's pretty thin, so I'm always looking for more avenues to travel.

ok, so it's not poetry, but it's ABOUT poetry. Funny this thread would show up tonight.

Every couple years I like to go back and re-read / re-study Dante's Commedia. Every time I read it and listen to it, and listen to a Teaching Company class about it, I learn something new...I just can't get over how deep that thing is -- everything in there seems to have a gazillion meanings upon meanings. The guy was total genius.

Anyway, this time through it, just tonight, I decided to map it out a bit, as it is rather complex. Figured I start with a draft of where they went in Inferno, first (think I'm in Canto 15 or so right now), then tighten it up later. Will do Purgatorio and Paradiso after. Certainly wrote it for my own good (learned some more just by outlining the map!), but if you can follow along, have fun...

I found myself sketching it out with my Lamy Safari, 1.1 nib, loaded with Noodler's Nightshade...camera didn't want to cooperate.









and no, I only heard about Dan Brown's new book after the start of my most recent go-round at the Poem. Not sure if I'll read that book...Inferno is only 1/3 of the Commedia and you lose so much of the big picture if you don't do the whole shebang. Don't like it when people just focus on the Inferno due to the ick-factor.

That's amazing. The map resembles the path down an FPAD rabbit hole. I was never required to read Dante in school, and I'm glad, as I'm sure I wouldn't have been ready for it back in those days (though I would have had considerably more time). I'll be sure to add it to my reading list.