Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Americus IDon Paulbyline‚ Jan. 20‚ 2005Loosely and musically--for we must both see and hear lyricism that has signs in it--semiotic lyricism--the form of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's latest, ambitious, and throw-in-banners-of--morning-headlines-from-the-1890s-onward-along-with whiffs-of-Bronxville-basepaths Big Poem about America unfolds. In part this book prompts pleased wonder. How remarkable that someone 86, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's age now, can write with the vibrant detail and lilting flow of many passages in Americus I. How wonderful that he remains aroused enough to try this kind of epic--and remains untrammeled enough to freely digress within it. How valuable that we get to hear and see through a poet's raised perceptions ways of life that are long-gone or going fast. How good it is that Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still singing and still swinging to hit home-run? |