Apr 16, 2011

Stephen Crane, "In the Desert": Halloween in April







In the Desert by Stephen Crane : The Poetry Foundation [poem]



I'm not much of a memorizer, but Stephen Crane's "In the Desert" is so packed with dynamite (and so short) that I got it down, somewhere back there in youth. Sometimes I used it on first dates. I thought it made me sound deep. Over time, a pattern emerged: no one who heard it on a first date wanted to go out again. Women. Go figure.
at

11 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 16, 2011 at 11:17 AM

    I still would have gone out with you a second time -- if you were really, really cute.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Banjo52April 16, 2011 at 10:00 PM

    But what about deep? Johnny Deep? Nice guys and deep guys BOTH finish last? Cruel world.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pasadena AdjacentApril 17, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    I would have married you

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jean SpitzerApril 18, 2011 at 8:58 AM

    I love these photos.

    Saw a vulture up close last week.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Banjo52April 18, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Banjo52April 19, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    PA, atta girl.

    Jean, thanks. What a difference between vultures up close vs. in flight, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brenda's ArizonaApril 20, 2011 at 10:49 AM

    Creepy.
    I would have worried about you. I'd probably tell my mom you were weird, creepy. I'd be curious, but scared. Marry you? I'd be afraid you'd eat my heart out, too. Would you keep a notebook of all the hearts you have consumed?

    ReplyDelete
  8. PJApril 20, 2011 at 10:48 PM

    B52, gawon, you've always worn your heart on your sleeve.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Banjo52April 21, 2011 at 8:18 AM

    I'm gonna turn this into a dating blog!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Banjo52April 21, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    Brenda, way to go Gothic . . . Have you ever dated Stephen King?

    Paula, long time. Great to hear from you again.

    ReplyDelete
  11. BarbaroApril 21, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    Is it too late to comment on the poem? Cuz I got nuthin on dating you.

    Strikes me as something that would have been better if written by William Blake ("The Poison Tree"?). Free verse with slightly arch or archaic diction and in-your-face symbolism makes it seem oddly stiff and swell-chested.

    ReplyDelete