Old Poem Saturday – Boy and Top – Paz

boyandtopOctavio Paz’s long poetic career spanned a number of literary movements – existentialism, modernism, Marxist – but I am particularly drawn to his surrealist and ekphrastic work. I think of this short little poem affectionately like a clown car – the more you study it, the more imagery that keeps coming out. Collage and composition by me. Have a great weekend!

11 comments

  1. Love the clown car metaphor, and that you carefully point out that you think about this “affectionately”. That’s a useful quantifier for those of us who are terrified of the very idea of clowns… I kind of wish we could substitute monkeys in this cultural reference. Like, an infinite number of monkeys coming out of the car. 🙂 Great collage too!

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    1. Thank you, Sunshine! I definitely thought about the metaphor and how clowns don’t mean the same thing to all people (I am mildly negative about them myself) – so I am glad that my modifier conveyed the sentiment and helped!

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    1. Thank you, Claudia! I am amazed at how much imagery Mr. Paz was able to squeeze into a mere 3 lines – it is definitely inspirational for what is possible with minimalist poetry.

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      1. Yes, that is just what I thought. I aspire to the same thing myself and I really am amazed by it when I see it in a poet’s work. I’m looking forward to reading more.

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  4. I am 14. I enter High School, Spanish as second foreign language, even though I requested German or French. Enters teacher. Gives us Octavio Paz to read in original. A bit later we are singing Gracias a la vida and songs from Verano azul, and reading Garcia Marquez and Pablo Neruda and Lorca. The only four years of using Spanish in my life. Good times. 🙂

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    1. I wish I had read Octavio Paz and other Spanish poets in Spanish class – maybe I would have stuck with it or retained more of it! Sadly, the only Spanish song I remember from high school Spanish is “La Bamba”!

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