Poetry as insurgent art

I am signaling you through the flames.
The North Pole is not where it used to be.
Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.
Civilization self-destructs.
Nemesis is knocking at the door.
What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?
The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.
If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this means sounding apocalyptic.
If you would be a poet, write living newspapers. Be a reporter from outer space, filing dispatches to some supreme managing editor who believes in full disclosure and has a low tolerance for bullshit.
Through art, create order out of the chaos of living.
Question “God” and his buddies on earth.
Be subversive, constantly questioning reality and the status quo.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti “Poetry as Insurgent Art”
Aproveitando o facto de ontem se ter celebrado o Dia Mundial da Poesia, e de depois de amanhã (dia 24) Lawrence Ferlinghetti celebrar os seus 92 anos, queria perguntar qual a “importância” da poesia na vossa vida. Isto é, se são leitores habituais ou não, se sim quais os autores que mais “mexem” convosco e, para aqueles que por aqui param e também escrevem, o que vos influencia, literáriamente ou não, e vos leva a escrever.