Thursday, April 15, 2010

National Poetry Month: Robert Frost + The Outsiders

I'm honored to be part of Savvy Verse & Wit Blog Tour to celebrate National Poetry Month. Thanks to all of you who stopped in today. Some of you have been here before (thank you for your continued support) For others just landing here for the first time... welcome :)

Poetry is what first grabbed my creative attention as a child and has led me on my path to becoming a writer. One poem that really took hold was by Robert Frost.

I, and every other preteen in my world, was completely obsessed with The Outsiders when it came out in 1983. I had one friend that would rush home to rewatch it everyday after school. I was not that obsessed, but would occasionally tag along when lured by snacks. We actually talked out a life plan of moving to Tulsa, OK and becoming taxi drivers (she had really good snacks LOL). It's funny what a kid thinks is an exciting career. Quotes from the movie became our vocabulary for an embarrassing amount of time. "Stay Gold Pony Boy," is possibly the most remembered line. It was the last words spoken by Johnny before dying, but that fact alone did not sear that phrase into my mind. For me it was what he was referring to that has stayed with me ever since. Johnny had shared a poem with Pony Boy as they watched the sunrise while hiding from the police. The poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

It's one of Frost's shorter poems, but to me, one of the most powerful in message. Enjoy the beauty in life, it is short lived. This poem, seamlessly folded into a pop culture movie lead me to read more of Frost's poems and then other poets, and so forth. It grabbed hold of my young heart and pushed me down the path that I am still trying to find my footing on today.

I still love Robert Frost and play around with prose when the mood hits, although more for me that for anyone else. Writing has been a passion and past time for me since, but has just recently became a career possibility. In November of 2008 I had my first novel published, The Truth Lies in the Dark. I am working on many writing projects now and hope to see some of them made public soon.

To celebrate National Poetry Month I will be posting a different Robert Frost poem every week in April and of course, I'll be hopping over to many of the blog tour stops to read more poetry stories and celebrations.

Thanks,

Kristin : )

7 comments:

  1. I always enjoyed poems by Robert Frost. Thanks for reminding me how interesting his are to read.

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  2. I was a little bit {ahem} older than you when "The Outsiders" movie came out, but loved it then and love it now. Also love "Nothing Gold Can Stay" ~ up until just a few months ago, I didn't think I cared for most poetry. Don't know where my brain was! A lovely post, Twister! *Twisty hugs* Dani

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  3. Thanks for sharing this poem by Frost. I really enjoyed your post and thanks for linking up to Mr. Linky! Also thanks for participating.

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  4. Every time the trees begin to leaf out I say the first line of that poem to myself--nature's first green is gold--and then go look up the rest of the poem. By the time I'm old, I'll have it memorized!

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  5. Ah, yes. I loved "The Outsiders" when I was a kid. When the movie came out, I was in heaven watching the Brat Pack perform in it. :::Sigh:::

    I don't remember learning any poetry at all --unless it was Shakespeare -- in in my high school classes (not to say that they ignored teaching it; but it must not have been memorable for me). but, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" was probably my first intro to Robert Frost. His collected poems was one of the very first (if not the first) poetry books I ever bought for myself.

    I'll be checking back here again to see what other Frost poems you chose to feature!

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  6. Oh, I absolutely love this poem, too! I remember the first time I saw "The Outsiders" -- I think I was in middle school, years after it was released -- and that poignant scene with "Nothing Gold Can Stay." It's awesome the way poetry can get into our psyche and really take hold of us. Great story!

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  7. Agh! The Outsiders!! Oh, thank you, thank you for bringing that all back to me. :-P

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