Today’s poetry resource is a little discussion about poetry in bookstores. There are plenty of bookstores around with good poetry sections (two of my favorites are Bridge Street Books in Washington, DC and Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, Maine). But did you know that there are also a handful of bookstores that only sell poetry? Check out Boston’s Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop, and Seattle’s Open Books.
And now for our (optional) prompt, once more taken from our archives! Have you ever heard someone wonder what future archaeologists, whether human or from alien civilization, will make of us? Today, I’d like to challenge you to answer that question in poetic form, exploring a particular object or place from the point of view of some far-off, future scientist? The object or site of study could be anything from a “World’s Best Grandpa” coffee mug to a Pizza Hut, from a Pokemon poster to a cellphone.
'What is this? ' "Some sort of a toy it seems." 'And this?' "A ball, me thinks." 'What is that putrid smell?' "It's coming from there-is it a femur? See, in that crater-" 'Oh, their legs were longer, and their bodies, bigger than ours.' "And their heads were so small. compared to ours. They were pretty-looking. Don't you agree?" 'Dumb and pretty, me thinks. Or else they wouldn't end up, all dead! Must be that toy with a trigger and the ball there, made of lead.' 'Got too big for their boots, me thinks. "Does seem like that. Let's go. This place stinks!" 'It's the fermented stench of selfishness and greed in the air.' On miles and miles of scorched land As far as the eyes could see- lay bodies, mangled, and burnt! Distorted and maimed. And shards of metal glinting in the sun. 'Yup, let's go and document this down So, we don't end up like these clowns.'
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