all in the family?

[annaswirls]

Do you relate to this poem?

Does poetry run through your family (like a streaker at a baseball game? like a stomach virus? like a dimple on the chin or freckles on the nose?)

In Praise of my Sister
by: Wislawa Szymborska

My sister does not write poems
and it's unlikely she'll suddenly start writing poems.
She takes after her mother, who did not write poems,
and after her father, who also did not write poems.
Under my sister's roof I feel safe:
nothing would move my sister's husband to write poems.
And though it sounds like a poem by Adam Macedonski,
none of my relatives is engaged in the writing of poems.

In my sister's desk there are no old poems
nor any new ones in her handbag.
And when my sister invites me to dinner,
I know she has no intention of reading me poems.
She makes superb soups without half trying,
and her coffee does not spill on manuscripts.

In many families no one writes poems,
but when the do, it's seldom just one person.
Sometimes poetry flows in cascades of generations,
which sets up fearsome eddies in family relations.

My sister cultivates a decent spoken prose,
her entire literary output is on vacation postcards
that promise the same thing every year:
that when she returns,
she'll tell us everything,
everything,
everything.

 

[Liar]

I dunno about poetry, but artistry in general runs through my family like a plague. My older sister paints, my younger sister shares my acting/playwriting/directing hobby, my brother is a cartoonist. He's only in his teens, but already has a syndicated comic strip.

My mom wrote some poems when she was younger. I don't know if she still does, but I don't think so. She was a copywriter and screenplay editor for 15 years. I think I inherited my interrest in words, as well as some of my verbal style from her.

Here's the only English poem I know of by her. (she wrote it in high school for a competition)


A Little Taste Of Utopia

There might be a place
where mountains tickle the belly of the blue sky
and swallows fly just as high as that
with the soaring hearts of mankind.

There might be a time
when the unbendable power of a pen
can kick the sword's sissy ass back into the sheath
and by power of words weld it stuck in there forever.

There might be a way
to stir a revolution or second renaissance,
revise and rewrite the old and holy scripts
and cause each and everyone to sit up straight,
to breathe deep and think original thoughts again.

There might be a chance,
just the tiniest fraction of hope to evolve
from simians to something more at last.

 

[normal jean]

when I was 12, I found a blue notebook where my mom had hidden her "special" poems. I remember reading about her thighs before she snatched teh book away and made me swear to never mention it to my dad.
After she died, my sister took possession of theblue book and I havent seen it since. She wrote, and read, tons and tons of books and instilled the love of word in my heart

I think her stuff was erotica before erotica was acceptable, ya know?

My middle sister use d to write, dont know bout now. Both my daughters are excellent musicians on more than one instrument each and my oldest also is a n awesome writer. I have encouraged her to tap the wells here but she is at that stage where she is still unwilling to accept helpful criticism.

I guess it does run in families, isnt that cool

 

[Angeline]

I was gonna say no, and then I started thinking about it. My mom and my sister both wrote poetry (and my sister short stories), but not that often. Like Liar, there are lots of artists in my family. One cousin has published a book of poems in translation, another was a copywriter/art director, one great uncle was a political cartoonist (for the Baltimore Sun-Times), another painted (and his daughter writes and publishes children's books).

My dad was an incredible storyteller. People would listen spellbound when he got going. And everyone in my family read and talked about what they read. We always had a houseful of books.

Best of all, both my kids are artistic. My son used to write (and he will again, I'm sure--he's really good). My daughter just started writing poetry and she draws. She has real talent, too. I think she could succeed as an artist.

So. Yes.

 

[Morwen]

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