Apologetic Poems: Poems Written Under Duress.
To begin, David Lir’s got himself a crazy sense of humor, the likes of which could cure cancer or bring world peace if only more people were aware of it. The masses run around like blind mice in mazes, missing the key turns that would bring them to freedom.
David Lir’s poetic style is a key turn.
I should be clear that not all the poetry is humorous. Every emotion imaginable can be found within Lir’s poetry. He isn’t limited at all in his scope.
Because there are nearly 2,000 pages* in Apologetic Poems: Poems Written Under Duress it may at first seem enormous, or thick, or immense, or dense, but don’t let that hold you back. To purchase a copy of David Lir’s book of poetry is not so overwhelming as you might think. I got caught up in that very feeling when I first started on Apologetic Poems: Poems Written Under Duress even though I was excited to read it. In fact, I quickly read 500 pages of the 2,000 before I realized I was reading wrong. Binging on poetry is like crossing your legs, immediately uncrossing them, and pretending you’ve meditated. I didn’t want to pretend I read the poems. I wanted to really read them, slowly, deliberately, even ponderously. I wanted to think about them, ruminate on them, even savor them.
So I did.
I started over, reading only about one a day, and the difference was incredible. The imagery was intense. The feelings within the poetry are sometimes focused and contagious, other times profound. On the poems in which I felt the meaning obscure, I had fun trying to mull over the possible meanings. That is what poetry is truly about, isn’t it? I may find one meaning in a poem, while another person could get their own meaning out of it. Poetry, like music, can affect different people in different ways. Each one of us in the audience can glean a meaning for ourselves. At times (and I have yet to do this, though I’m sure it’ll happen), we can get a new meaning from a re-read, like a re-listen.
You read a piece of work from a poetic artist, you get a sense of what it’s about. You read the same work again at another time and get a completely different feeling.
My favorites among David Lir’s work are many, however I have to mention some that I found amazing: Sorrows, Herself, Quietude, Words Were Tumbling, and Cough Off. Each of these led me to sense some particular emotion, a specific nuance. I’ll have to read them again to test the original meaning I thought each of them contained.
You can read it yourself by following the link here: Apologetic Poems: POEMS WRITTEN UNDER DURESS
*Note: The digital version has 2,000. The paperback has 300 pages.
Xenosthesia.com 