December 15, 2004

• ElectricPoetry: 1971

  For the past 38 years or so, I have “date stamped”, and even “time stamped” my poetry. Since I really started outputting poetry in 1971 in my senior year of high school, I have kept the entire output catalogued in order in my “poetry volumes” which sit on one of the many shelves in my media room like soldiers. When I began to transcribe the poetry to the internet on AllThingsMike in  1999 and through the original ElectricPoetry site in 2000, I began the arduous process of doing the same thing digitally. (BTW: turn off the “jukebox this week” feature prior to clicking on the EP link above, which features the original “ElectricPoetry tune” forever playing ad infinitum in perpetuity online (for as long as I can pay, that is.)  Also BTW: The links to the EP and ATM sites above are to the “older versions” of the sites. This was back in the days of the “Free internet” when Homestead (I pay them only $99.00 a year (last time I looked) hosted my evolving website.) The current sites are on my own server at allthingsmike.com) The original poetry pages, of which this is a sample, from the year 1971, (when I wrote 134 poems, the largest amount I ever wrote in a single year) group the poems by year. 1971 had 2 pages, I put three or four pages for the 80s. The 90s eventually had two pages, and of course I updated the current “internet poetry” on the site. In 2004, I began the present ElectricPoetry, with the intent of “publishing” my total output online as fast as I could. The site was pretty much built in a week, and has been growing steadily since. EP has what I consider to be a  meager 774 hit count for the year. (but to give the counter credit, it doesn’t count hitbacks or multiple hits in the same visit by the same visitor) One visitor wrote in a guestbook that they never found the poetry. Each Decade is given a page, with the years in that decade grouped at the top of the page. Each year takes the visitor the the list of the poems written during that year. Each poem title, (and everything I’ve ever written is listed on this site (in order, and date and time stamped) ) is a link if the poem is online, and the link takes you to the poem, like this one, “Premonition” from 1971. Each page listing a year’s worth of poems (for those years in which I wrote poetry) has a photo at the top showing what I looked like during the time I wrote the poems (when I have a digital photo, I’ll be updating this soon). This is a photo of me in my high school graduation robes from the 1971 page.   Now that I’ve supplied the requisite links, which take you to more poetry than you can imagine, I will post here on my Xanga some “Christmas Cards” from the same year, 1971, which are not featured on EP online yet. (I have posted them on the EP Group, for those of you who read this blog who are in the group and have read the poems before. (gulp)) And if you’re over at my place, you can open up the volumes and see the original hand lettered pen and ink poems. There are even more Christmas themed poems from later years I’ll feature in a future post, and of course I still have this year’s Christmas poem to write. Only nine more days by my watch here in California. Hope you enjoy.

  “Christmas Card I”
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri 1971 (18 years old)

  
  Snow is glittering on the ground
  Deers are happy, food they’ve found
  Children watch the tree brought round
  And Christmas is round the corner.

  Stars are shining brighter tonight
  Gleaming far with their heavenly light
  The world becomes such a pretty sight
  When Christmas is round the corner.

  …………………………………….

  “Christmas Card II”
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri 1971 (18 years old)

  
  The Lord looks down
  Upon His Creation
  The beautiful Child

  His eyes are shining
  Heart is joyful
  Hands are mild

  God is waiting
  His Son will grow
  To free the world

  ……………………………………..

  “Christmas Card III”
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri 1971 (18 years old)

  
  Radiance becomes unfolded
  On the day when Christ
  Became

  How the heralds sing their praises
  We shall do the
  Very same

  ……………………………………….
  “Christmas Card IV”
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri 1971 (18 years old)

  
  Christmas is white
  Snow fell on the mountains
  All through the night

  Christmas is green
  The house smells luscious
  When the tree’s brought in

  Christmas is blue
  The sky is brilliant
  Through and through

  Christmas is red
  Memories recounting glory
  Of the One who bled

  Christmas is love
  And we will worship
  Our God above
  

  The Banner at the top of this post will let you know on each future PoetryPost which year and at what age I am when writing the particular poem(s) featured, and if you need a quick jolt of ElectricPoetry at any time, remember, it was a pretty large website before I started this particular blog, ( the other ElectricPoetry blog now points to this one.) My vow, at the beginning of 2004, was to create a website form that would allow me to keep transcribing until I got each and every work of art online. This will be my “legacy” as it were. Whenever I “introduce” myself in a group or in any other form of webendeavor, I always invite people to “read me like a book” page by page. From the very beginning, I made sure I date and timestamped the work as it was being created. Now, reading two or three poems written on the same night, for instance, I can pretty much “set the wayback machine” in my emotional intellect to feel exactly as I did, and remember the past through the poems. If the poems themselves can help any human being on the planet to see a bit of him or herself reflected, then my purpose has been fulfilled. The intent has never been to “publish” my “Life in Words.” but by posting them, I am, in fact, self publishing them and giving them away for free. That’s why 774 hits seems paltry to me. People should be cross referencing that website like mad. (I know I do!) I’m not the least bit too full of myself ( a small devil just appeared above my right shoulder and whispered “remember what your Mother said about your delusions of grandeur”) but I think I have written some interesting poetry through the decades, and I’m still doing it. It always makes me smile to think that through the internet, poetry is becoming almost a therapy for a lot of people, who find that they can “release demons” long buried in their subconscious through the expunging of emotion through words. I’m probably half as crazy as I would be if I hadn’t written poetry. ( I have a theory that Stephen King would have been a serial killer if he hadn’t the talent to write. Think about it.) 

  MFN 12.15.04 8:14pm pst (finished editing 9:23 pm pst)

  • 11:16 pm
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