pull down to refresh

The post by @carlosfandango here reminded me that Kerouac was also a poet. I love the fluidity of his writing and the contrast between the active and engaging language and the serene subject matter, but once again regret attempting to format poetry in Markdown.
How to Meditate by Jack Kerouac       -lights out- fall, hands a-clasped, into instantaneous ecstasy like a shot of heroin or morphine, the gland inside of my brain discharging the good glad fluid (Holy Fluid) as i hap-down and hold all my body parts down to a deadstop trance-Healing all my sicknesses-erasing all-not even the shred of a "I-hope-you" or a Loony Balloon left in it, but the mind blank, serene, thoughtless. When a thought comes a-springing from afar with its held- forth figure of image, you spoof it out, you spuff it off, you fake it, and it fades, and thought never comes-and with joy you realize for the first time "thinking's just like not thinking- So I don't have to think   any   more"
I think words beginning with "a-" should make a come back, in this case "a-clasped"
reply
I'm in favor of this.
reply
A-seconding this
reply
Interesting, how this poet makes a poem about how to meditate, and I really liked it.
reply
Remember that the secret for a good poem in Markdown is to write everything in italics:
How to Meditate by Jack Kerouac -lights out- fall, hands a-clasped, into instantaneous ecstasy like a shot of heroin or morphine, the gland inside of my brain discharging the good glad fluid (Holy Fluid) as i hap-down and hold all my body parts down to a deadstop trance-Healing all my sicknesses-erasing all-not even the shred of a "I-hope-you" or a Loony Balloon left in it, but the mind blank, serene, thoughtless. When a thought comes a-springing from afar with its held- forth figure of image, you spoof it out, you spuff it off, you fake it, and it fades, and thought never comes-and with joy you realize for the first time "thinking's just like not thinking- So I don't have to think any more"
reply
I'm not a fan of italicizing poems because poets themselves often use italics within their poetry (see this example). I assume they they wanted their poems in plain fonts if that's how they formatted them.
The more complicated issue with poetry in Markdown is getting intents and spacing correct, since unlike italics, it's not something Markdown always handles gracefully.
reply
        Remember that                 You can always use                         Blank Spaces
reply
Great find. Thanks for sharing.
reply
deleted by author
reply
I'm a bit embarrassed that I did that deep dive back in the day (some 40 years ago), when I was way too young to really appreciate his poetry, and by the time I really became a reader of poetry, was splitting my focus between the Confessionals and the Romantics (no regrets about either, just wish I'd expanded my scope earlier). I really need to revisit more of his non-prose work.
reply
deleted by author
reply
Oh yeah, Howl remained on my radar then and now (just an outstanding poem), but definitely seemed to feel isolated instead of part of a movement.
reply