the poet's reality

ROUSSEAU’S INQUIRIES



     If a bird
Flew into the sea
How low could it go?

      Butterflies are
Caterpillars first.
Are they flowers third?

      Does the man,
As a baby, know
The path of nature?

      Would I rather
Live the nightmare, or
Die the dream?


1968

Poets wonder why they become poets because writing poetry is a vocation that offers few earthly rewards: little fame, little money, little power.  Part of the impulse is to divine truths about existence.  Part of the urge is a compulsion to write or tell.  Such spiritual causes are why poets are often known as seers or truth-tellers.
 
In 1988 I published Cadet Rousseau, a collection of poems about being a poet.  I based its persona on a character that I remembered from French nursery rhymes: Cadet Rousselle.  Cadet Rouselle is an eccentric who barely fits into society, much as the poet.  Subconsciously, I changed the name to Rousseau for both sound and sense, a reflection of the philospher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I especially like Rousseau's ideas on education, letting the child learn by exploring the world.  The childlike poet in "Rousseau's Inquires" asks almost childlike questions until the final two stanzas.
 
Below are some books and a poster of J-J. Rousseau.