POET SPOTLIGHT SLYVIA PLATH

I AM SO HAPPY TO BE WRITING ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE POETS AND AUTHORS SYLVIA PLATH. I FIRST WOULD LIKE TO SAY, HER BEAUTY AND WONDER MIXED WITH HER WORDS GAVE AN IMPACT IN POETRY HISTORY THAT STILLS HOLDS TODAY AS BEING ONE OF THE GREATEST POETIC ICONS OF ALL TIME. HER GRACE WITH WORDS MADE THE READER HUNGRY FOR MORE. HER WORDS BROUGHT STORIES, IMAGES AND MOST OF ALL PASSION TO THE READER THAT WAS READING.

FROM THE SMALLEST POEM TO THE GREATEST POEM, EACH ONE HAD A SOMEWHAT CLASS TO IT THAT BROUGHT A VISION OF WHAT A WORD HEAVEN WOULD BE.

TO SEE THE WONDERFUL AMAZING TALENT OF PLATH IS TO LOOK BEYOND THE SADNESS AND THE TORMENT OF HER LIFE AND READ HER AMAZING POETRY BOOKS. THE BOOK ARIEL WHICH IS HER SECOND POETRY BOOK IS TO ME HER DEFINING MASTERPIECE. THE POEMS INSIDE THIS BOOK BRING THE PASSION, POWER AND HEART ACHE OF STRUGGLE AND SADNESS AND THE STRENGTH TO SURVIVE TO DETAIL FOR THE READER. THE POEMS LIKE DADDY AND LADY LAZARUS AND TULIPS AND LESBOS ARE ALL AMAZING PIECES OF POETRY HISTORY. INTERESTING TO NOTE IS PLATH GOT A PULITZER PRIZE IN 1982 FOR THE COLLECTED POEMS. SHE WAS THE FIRST DEAD POET TO GET THIS HONOR.

YES MRS. PLATH WAS A POET BUT SHE ALSO WAS A WRITER OF A SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL BOOK THE BELL JAR WHICH BASICALLY WAS ABOUT HER LIFE YET SHE DID NOT COME OUT AND SAY THAT TILL MUCH LATER, THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN UNDER A PSEUDONYM VICTORIA LUCAS.

SHE WAS BORN ON OCT. 27, 1932 IN JAMAICA PLAIN MASSACHUSETTS. TO SHOW HER POETRY BLOOD HER FIRST POEM WAS PUBLISHED WHEN SHE WAS AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 8 YEARS OLD. PLATH THROUGHOUT HER LIFE BECAME A SUICIDE JUNKIE IF YOU WISH TO CALL IT THAT. HER DEPRESSION AND OFTEN ODD BEHAVIOR LED HER TO TRY AND COMMIT SUICIDE MANY TIMES. IN HER JUNIOR YEAR SHE TRIED TO KILL HERSELF WITH AN OVERDOSE OF SLEEPING PILLS.

AFTER THIS ORDEAL SHE WAS PLACED IN A INSTITUTION AND WAS GIVEN ELECTRO SHOCK THERAPY. SHE SEEMED TO GET BETTER AND IN 1955 SHE GRADUATED WITH HONORS. THROUGHOUT HER COLLEGE SHE PUBLISHED MANY POEMS. ON JUNE 16 1956 SHE MARRIED THE ENGLISH POET TED HUGHES. SHE PUBLISHED HER FIRST COLLECTION OF POETRY THE COLOSSUS AFTER MOVING TO THE UNITED KINGDOM. SHE WOULD HAVE TWO CHILDREN WITH HUGHES AND ALSO SUFFERED ONE MISCARRIAGE WHICH IS APART OF HER LIFE THAT SHE REFLECTS UPON IN SOME OF HER POETRY. SADLY PLATH'S MARRIAGE TO HUGHES WAS MIXED WITH HIS AFFAIR TO ASSIA WEVILL AND THEY WENT THERE DIFFERENT WAYS IN 1962. THIS WOULD BRING ON HER DEEP DEPRESSION EVEN MORE. SADLY ON FEB. 11, 1963 SHE KILLED HERSELF BY STICKING HER HEAD INTO THE OVEN WHILE THE GAS WAS ON. THE STORY BEHIND HER DEATH HAS BECOME SOMEWHAT OF A MYSTERY AND ALSO AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY STORY. YOU SEE ASSIA WEVILL THE WOMAN THAT HUGHES CHEATED ON PLATH WITH ALSO WOULD KILL HERSELF ALMOST IN THE SAME MANNER. ON MARCH 23, 1969 SHE DRAGGED A MATTRESS INTO THE KITCHEN, LAID HER 4 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER ON THE MATTRESS, TURNED THE GAS ON, SHE CRUSHED UP SLEEPING PILLS AND MIXED IT IN WITH WHISKEY DRINKING IT AND FELL A SLEEP WITH HER DAUGHTER SHURA, BOTH DIED. IT WAS NEVER MENTIONED IN FACT IF SHURA WAS HUGHES DAUGHTER YET HE BELIEVED SHE WAS. HUGHES USED WOMEN VERY EASY LIKE A THROWN AWAY NAPKIN. HE WOULD USE HIS INFIDELITY LIKE IT WAS DOCTOR PRESCRIBED MEDICINE.

POEM SPOTLIGHT:

TULIPS BY SYLVIA PLATH

The tulips are too excitable, it is winter here.
Look how white everything is, how quiet, how snowed-in
I am learning peacefulness, lying by myself quietly
As the light lies on these white walls, this bed, these hands.
I am nobody; I have nothing to do with explosions.
I have given my name and my day-clothes up to the nurses
And my history to the anaesthetist and my body to surgeons.
They have propped my head between the pillow and the sheet-cuff
Like an eye between two white lids that will not shut.
Stupid pupil, it has to take everything in.
The nurses pass and pass, they are no trouble,
They pass the way gulls pass inland in their white caps,
Doing things with their hands, one just the same as another,
So it is impossible to tell how many there are.
My body is a pebble to them, they tend it as water
Tends to the pebbles it must run over, smoothing them gently.

They bring me numbness in their bright needles, they bring me sleep.

Now I have lost myself I am sick of baggage ----

My patent leather overnight case like a black pillbox,
My husband and child smiling out of the family photo;
Their smiles catch onto my skin, little smiling hooks.
I have let things slip, a thirty-year-old cargo boat
Stubbornly hanging on to my name and address.
They have swabbed me clear of my loving associations.
Scared and bare on the green plastic-pillowed trolley
I watched my teaset, my bureaus of linen, my books
Sink out of sight, and the water went over my head.
I am a nun now, I have never been so pure.

I didn't want any flowers, I only wanted
To lie with my hands turned up and be utterly empty.
How free it is, you have no idea how free ----

The peacefulness is so big it dazes you,
And it asks nothing, a name tag, a few trinkets.
It is what the dead close on, finally; I imagine them
Shutting their mouths on it, like a Communion tablet.
The tulips are too red in the first place, they hurt me.
Even through the gift paper I could hear them breathe
Lightly, through their white swaddlings, like an awful baby.
Their redness talks to my wound, it corresponds.
They are subtle: they seem to float, though they weigh me down,
Upsetting me with their sudden tongues and their colour,
A dozen red lead sinkers round my neck.
Nobody watched me before, now I am watched.
The tulips turn to me, and the window behind me
Where once a day the light slowly widens and slowly thins,
And I see myself, flat, ridiculous, a cut-paper shadow
Between the eye of the sun and the eyes of the tulips,
And I hve no face, I have wanted to efface myself.
The vivid tulips eat my oxygen.

Before they came the air was calm enough,
Coming and going, breath by breath, without any fuss.
Then the tulips filled it up like a loud noise.
Now the air snags and eddies round them the way a river
Snags and eddies round a sunken rust-red engine.
They concentrate my attention, that was happy
Playing and resting without committing itself.
The walls, also, seem to be warming themselves.
The tulips should be behind bars like dangerous animals;
They are opening like the mouth of some great African cat,
And I am aware of my heart: it opens and closes
Its bowl of red blooms out of sheer love of me.
The water I taste is warm and salt, like the sea,
And comes from a country far away as health.

MANY BELIEVE IT WAS THE BRAKE UP OF HUGHES THAT DESTROYED AND DROVE PLATH TO HER FINAL DEATH. HER DEEP DEPRESSION MIXED WITH LOOSING WHO SHE CONSIDERED HER SOUL MATE BROUGHT ON THAT DARKNESS ONCE AGAIN. UPON PLATH'S TOMBSTONE IT HAS TED HUGHES NAME IN BRONZE UPON IT, DUE TO THE FACT THAT MANY OF PLATH'S FANS AND LOVERS OF HER POETRY HAVE OFTEN CHISELED OUT HIS NAME IN THE STONE, SO THE CEMETERY REPLACED IT WITH BRONZE TO STOP THE VANDALISM.

TED HUGHES WOULD GO ON TO PUBLISH HIS WIFE'S JOURNALS. IN THE FORWARD OF THE 1982 HE MENTIONS THE REASON WHY HE DESTROYED THE LAST OF HER JOURNALS BECAUSE HE DID NOT WANT THE CHILDREN TO HAVE TO READ IT. MORE OR LESS IT WAS ABOUT THE WINTER OF 1962 UP UNTIL HER DEATH WHICH WOULD HAVE CONTAINED A LOT OF THE TRUTH OF THE RELATIONSHIP AND ALSO UP UNTIL HER DEATH. MANY FANS OF PLATH BELIEVE TED HUGHES WAS A WIFE ABUSER WHICH THE JOURNAL MIGHT HAVE DETAILED.

THE CONTROVERSY AFTER HER DEATH WAS THAT TED HUGHES CONTROLLED HER ESTATE AND POETRY EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SAID SHE WAS GOING THROUGH WITH DIVORCE. THE BOOK ARIEL WAS PUBLISHED IN 1965 AFTER HER DEATH, THE POEMS WHERE SAID TO BE RE-ARRANGED IN A DIFFERENT MANNER THEN HOW SHE HAD THEM IT IS ALSO SAID POEMS WHERE TAKEN OUT. THE MAIN POEMS THAT PLATH WROTE AGAINST HUGHES OR CRITICIZED HUGHES WHERE OFTEN SAID TO BE DESTROYED SUCH AS THE SO CALLED JOURNAL AND ALSO OTHER POETRY SHE HAD WRITTEN. THE MERE FACT OF CENSORSHIP OF HER THOUGHTS MAKES ME SAD AND MOST OF ALL BITTER BECAUSE THAT GOES AGAINST EVERYTHING A POET STANDS FOR. IN WRITTEN WORD, YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH AND PUSH THE TRUTH NO MATTER HOW BAD OR HORRIBLE IT IS, IT STILL IS THE TRUTH, IT STILL IS ART AND APART OF HISTORY.

TO THIS DAY IT CAN BE SAID IT'S A BATTLE BETWEEN POET LOVERS, PLATH'S FOLLOWERS AND HUGHES FOLLOWERS OFTEN ARE BITTER AT EACH OTHER. I FOR ONE LIKE BOTH OF THEM AND TO ME IT'S SAD THAT TWO GREAT POETS ARE TAINTED WITH THE TORMENT AND TURMOIL OF THE HISTORY OF THEM. A LOT OF THE TIME BOTH OF THEM ARE LOOKED AT IN THE MYSTERY AND GOSSIP ANGLE AND THERE NOT LOOKED AT IN THE BEAUTY OF THERE WORDS AND AMAZING SKILL AT POETRY.

SYLVIA 2003

PLOT: THE MOVIE SHOWCASES THE ROMANCE BETWEEN SYLVIA AND TED HUGHES. IT SHOWCASES THERE FIRST MEETING AT CAMBRIDGE AND IN A SAD NOTE BUT A TRUTHFUL NOTE IT LEADS ALL THE WAY TO THE SUICIDE.

RUNTIME: 110 MINS.

RATED: R

STARRING: GWYNETH PALTROW AS SYLVIA PLATH, DANIEL CRAIG AS TED HUGHES, JARED HARRIS AS AL ALVAREZ, AMIRA CASAR AS ASSIA WEVILL.DIRECTOR: CHRISTINE JEFFS

RELEASE DATE: OCT. 17, 2007

MY REVIEW AND THOUGHTS:

FIRST OFF THE BEAUTY OF THE MOVIE IS WHAT SETS THE VIEWER THERE IN THAT TIME PERIOD. THE COSTUMES, CARS, STRUCTURES, ALL ADD THAT CLASSIC FEEL OF LONG AGO. GWYNETH PALTROW AND DANIEL GRAIG HAVE WONDERFUL CHEMISTRY TOGETHER. YOU BELIEVE THE ROLE AS YOU WATCH BOTH OF THEM TOGETHER. I THINK PALTROW BECOMES SYLVIA. SHE GRABS THE PART AND IT'S LIKE THE SOUL OF PLATH COMES FROM THE GRAVE AND ENTERS THE STAR TO GIVE HER THE KNOWLEDGE TO PLAY THE PART PERFECT. THE MOVIE SHOWCASES THE FIRST MEETING AND THE MASSIVE LOVE AFFAIR BETWEEN EACH OTHER. I THINK THE KEY POINT THE MOVIE PLAYS ON IS THE DEPRESSION THAT SYLVIA LIVED WITH. SHE WAS A WOMAN THAT HAD MANY DEMONS BATTLING INSIDE HER.

THE MOVIE IS AMAZINGLY FILMED WITH CINEMATOGRAPHY. IT HAS WONDERFUL BRIGHT COLORS AS THE AUTUMN LEAFS TURN AND THE SKY SEEMS TO BE DARK AND GREY. I THINK THAT IS A POINT THAT NEEDS TO BE PICKED UP ON. AT THE START YOU SEE THE GREAT SMILE ON SYLVIA AND THEN AS THE DEPRESSION COMES BACK THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE MOVIE TURNS TO A DEPRESSION TYPE SETTING. THE SKIES ARE GREY, THE CLOTHES SEEM TO BE DARK, THE BUILDINGS ARE DECAYED.

THE WINTER BLUES SET IN. THE MOVIE IS STYLED THAT WAY IN A SENSE OF AN ARTISTIC APPROACH OR MORE OR LESS LIVING POETRY. THERE IS A WONDERFUL POETIC MOMENT IN THE MOVIE. SYLVIA AND TED AND OTHERS ARE IN A ROOM READING POETRY. THE KEY IS TO SEE HOW FAST THE POETRY CAN BE READ. THE FEELINGS GIVEN TO THE PIECE. THIS MOMENT IS PERFECT FOR A POETRY BUFF IN SEEING THE PASSION AND SOUL GIVEN INTO THE PIECE THAT IS BEING READ. THAT PASSION SHOWN IN THIS PART EVEN THOUGH IT IS A MOVIE IS THE KIND OF INTENSE POETRY I LOVE. THE POETRY WHERE THE BODY WORKS WITH IT. THE ACTIONS AND THE EMBRACE OF EACH WORD IS THE KIND OF POETRY I MISS A LOT. THIS DAY AND AGE A LOT OF POETS TEND TO NOT WRITE FROM THE SOUL AND THAT IS SAD. SO MANY POETS WRITE FROM THE MIND AND TEXT BOOKS OR DICTIONARIES AND NOT THE HEART, THAT'S WHY, TRUE POETS, LOVERS OF WORDS ARE FEW THIS DAY AND AGE. SYLVIA WAS THAT KIND OF POET. SHE SPOKE FROM THE SOUL. SHE BECAME APART OF THE POETRY, SHE BLEED EACH WORD UPON THE PAPER FROM HER HEART AND SO DID MR. HUGHES.

THE MOVIE SHOWS THE STRUGGLE OF SUICIDE ATTEMPTS AND THE STRUGGLE TO BE THE GREAT POET THAT SHE WOULD BECOME. IT SEEMS THAT HER LIFE WAS AT A STAND STILL AFTER HER FATHER DIED. THE BITTERNESS OR THE ANGER OR DEPRESSION GOT HOLD OF HER. I ENJOY HOW THE MOVIE SHOWCASES THE STRUGGLE OF SYLVIA BECOMING HER OWN PERSON WHERE EVERYBODY AROUND HER SEEMED TO NOT PAY HER ATTENTION AS A POET AND SADLY IT WOULD TAKE HER DEATH BEFORE SHE BECAME WHO SHE WAS AN ICONIC POET. I HAVE OFTEN STATED THAT IT'S SAD AN ARTIST HAS TO BE DEAD BEFORE REALLY ANYBODY NOTICES THEM OR GIVES THEM GREAT PRAISE. I WISH WE WOULD STOP THAT THINKING AND ENJOY THE ARTIST WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE WITH US.

I THINK WHY SYLVIA IS SUCH A WONDERFUL PERSON IS THAT SHE STRUGGLED TO BE ABLE TO WRITE HER WORDS ON PAPER. SHE WAS A WIFE, A MOTHER, SOMEONE WHO TOOK CARE OF THE HOUSE HOLD, FROM DINNER, LAUNDRY AND CHILD CARE AND NEVER REALLY SEEMED TO HAVE THE TIME SHE WISHED TO FOR POETRY. SHE SEEMED TO NEVER HAVE THE TIME TO WRITE THE BEAUTY THAT WANTED TO COME OUT. THE MOVIE SHOWCASES THE PARANOIA OR GREAT JEALOUSY GROWING INSIDE SYLVIA AS SHE WOULD WATCH TED FLIRT WITH OTHER WOMAN OR GO TO THE EXTREMES IN TALKING OR HELPING OTHER WOMEN.

THERE IS A SHOT IN THE MOVIE WHERE TED AND SYLVIA HAVE THERE FRIENDS THE ONES RENTING THERE APARTMENT DAVID AND ASSIA FOR THE WEEKEND. ASSIA WOULD BE THE ONE MR. HUGHES HAS AN AFFAIR WITH THAT WOULD DESTROY THE RELATIONSHIP ALTHOUGH THAT STATEMENT IS A LITTLE OVER THE TOP BECAUSE I FEEL IN A PERSONAL VIEW POINT THAT THE RELATIONSHIP WAS DOOMED FROM THE START. THIS MOMENT IS POWERFUL BECAUSE YOU SEE THE SPARK OF JEALOUSY OR KNOWING THE TRUTH OF HER HUSBAND PAYING A LITTLE TO MUCH ATTENTION TO MRS. ASSIA. DAVID ASKS SYLVIA IF SHE HAS FOUND ANYTIME TO WRITE WITH BEING A MOTHER AND ALL. SYLVIA MAKES THE REMARK OH TED DOES THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS RIGHT, HE IS THE GOOD POET.

ONE THING THE MOVIE SHOWS IS HOW SYLVIA WOULD GET BACK AT TED, BY RIPPING OR BURNING UP HIS WORK. HE WOULD RIP HER HEART OUT BY SLEEPING AROUND AND SO SHE COULD RIP HIS HEART OUT BY RIPPING UP HIS POETRY. THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE MOVIE IS FLAWLESS, AT TIMES THE MUSIC SCORE IS VERY HAUNTING. YOU GET SYLVIA PLATH'S LIFE, THE UPS AND THE DOWNS, THE MOVIE SHOWCASES THE STAR THAT WOULD BE BORN.

THE MOVIE DOES NOT FEATURE EVERYTHING OF SYLVIA'S LIFE THAT WOULD TAKE A TRILOGY OF MOVIES TO SHOWCASE IT. WHAT THIS MOVIE DOES IS CAPTURE THE MOMENTS THAT TELL THE STORY IN COMPLETE DETAIL OF THE DEPRESSION AND THE STRUGGLE TO BE AN AMAZING POET. THIS MOVIE WORKS IN SO MANY WAYS. I LOVED IT.

PRAISE AND AWARDS:

WON THE 2005 AWARD FOR AWARD OF DISTINCTION AT THE AUSTRALIAN CINEMATOGRAPHERS SOCIETY.

THE WONDERFUL THING IS WE HAVE PLATH'S POETRY TO SHOWCASE HER AMAZING TALENT TO THE WRITTEN WORD. THE WORDS THAT SHOWCASED THE BEAUTY OF HER HEART AND SOUL OF WHAT SHE WANTED TO SAY. IT WAS ULTIMATELY HER LIFE STRUGGLES THAT DEVELOPED HER GREATEST POETRY. FROM HER SUICIDAL TENDENCIES TO HER DEEP DARK DEPRESSION, TO BEING A MOTHER, TO HAVING A MISCARRIAGE, TO HER HUSBAND WHO CHEATED ON HER, ALL HER RAGE AND ANGER AND BITTERNESS AND SADNESS WOULD WRAP THEMSELVES INTO HER POETRY.

I THINK THE SADDEST NOTION TO SYLVIA PLATH IS, IS THAT SHE WAS SICK. SHE HAD THE DEPRESSION BAD, AND DEEP AND IT CONTROLLED HER LIFE SADLY. SHE NEEDED PROFESSIONAL HELP WHICH SHE DID SEEK OUT OFTEN BUT NOT OFTEN ENOUGH. I DO BELIEVE THAT IF SHE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HELP, SHE MIGHT HAVE LIVED A LONG LIFE. SYLVIA PLATH GAVE IT HER ALL. IN GIVING IT ALL, IT WAS LIKE IT NEVER WAS ENOUGH.

I THINK WHAT THE WEIRDEST REALITY TO THE SITUATION IS, IT WAS THE HEARTACHE, THE DEPRESSION, THE AFFAIRS INSIDE THE RELATIONSHIP, THE TORMENT THAT REALLY GAVE SYLVIA HER VOICE. THESE HARD TIMES IN LIFE MADE HER OPEN UP HER BEAUTY OF WORDS AND LET THEM SPREAD, IN COMPLETE POETRY AS TRUE ART. SHE PUT ALL THE DISTURBING REALITIES INTO HER POETRY AND GAVE HER DEPRESSION AND PAIN A VOICE. SHE LET IT FLOW FROM HER SOUL, SHE LET IT FLOW FROM HER HEART WHICH WAS STAINED WITH THE DARKNESS AND THE DEPRESSION OF HER THOUGHTS. HER POETRY WAS OF WHO SHE WAS. IT WAS ALL THAT HEARTACHE FROM HER FATHERS DEATH TO THE REALITY OF TED HUGHES, THAT IS WHAT MADE HER BECOME THE GREAT POET SHE WAS AND STILL IS. IT WAS HER TEARS THAT WAS THE INK TO THE PEN. IT WAS THE TEARS THAT GUIDED HER FINGERS UPON THE TYPEWRITER. HER TEARS BECAME HER POETRY. HER POETRY BECAME HER TEARS.

I THINK SYLVIA PLATH LOVED HUGHES MORE THEN ANYTHING. THE BREAK UP OF HUGHES JUST ADDED TO THE DEEP DEPRESSION THAT HAD ALREADY BECAME A STABLE IN HER LIFE. THE READER READING PLATH'S POEMS COULD FEEL HER, UNDERSTAND HER, YOU BECOME APART OF HER AS YOU SCAN AND READ EACH WORD. HER POETRY IS ALIVE WHEN YOU READ IT. THAT'S WHAT MAKES SYLVIA PLATH'S POETRY STAND OUT. HER LIFE, HER HEART, HER SOUL, HER THOUGHTS ARE ALL CAPTURED IN HER POEMS.

SYLVIA PLATH WAS BEAUTIFUL, A GENIUS, A CREATIVE MIND, A MYSTERY, SHE HELD EVERYTHING THAT A POET COULD THINK OF INSIDE THE GENIUS OF HER MIND. SHE GAVE US MANY POEMS AND HER LEGEND INSIDE THE WORLD OF LITERATURE WILL ALWAYS REMAIN. I THINK THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT TED HUGHES AND SYLVIA PLATH IS THEY BOTH SUFFERED FROM DEMONS, BOTH OF THEM HAD THERE WRONGS AND BOTH OF THEM HAD THERE RIGHTS. JUST LIKE ALL OF US HAVE DEMONS WE FIGHT, SOME DEMONS ARE GREATER AND SOME DEMONS ARE LESSER. I DO BELIEVE TED HUGHES AND SYLVIA PLATH WHERE MEANT TO BE TOGETHER, FOR BOTH OF THEM WHERE DEEP WITH SOME SORT OF MONKEY ON THERE BACKS, NOT THE MONKEY OF DRUGS BUT THE MONKEY OF WANTING LOVE AND SOMETIMES THE ASPECT OF WANTING LOVE CAN BE TWISTED INTO DESIRE AND LUST AND JEALOUSY AND HEARTACHE. I BELIEVE SYLVIA PLATH LOVED TED HUGHES, I BELIEVE TED HUGHES LOVED SYLVIA PLATH EVEN THOUGH BOTH OF THEM WHERE MEANT TO BE TOGETHER, IT'S THAT WHOLE CONCEPT OF ROMEO AND JULIET, THAT THEY COULD NEVER BE TOGETHER BECAUSE THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING IN THE WAY.

ALWAYS SOMETHING PUSHING THEM AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. TO ME THAT IS WHY THE RELATIONSHIP AND THE REALITY OF SYLVIA PLATH AND TED HUGHES IS POETRY. THERE LIFE STORIES, THERE LIFE'S ACTIONS IS WHAT POETRY IS, THE UPS AND THE DOWNS OF POETRY.

POET SPOTLIGH: MIGUEL PINERO

A THIEF, A PIMP, A USER, A MUGGER, A ROBBER, A CON ARTIST, AN ABUSER OF WOMEN AND DRUGS AND SO MUCH MORE. WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN. SOMETIMES THE HORRORS IN LIFE ARE WHAT MAKE US, ARE WHAT GIVES US THE PASSION OF WORDS. AND SOMETIMES WHEN WE FIND THE PASSION AND GET THE FAME AND THE NOTICED BEAUTY, WE STILL ARE STUCK INSIDE THAT LIFE SO MUCH THAT EVEN THE CLAWS OF SATAN HIMSELF CAN'T GET US OUT.

TO START OFF, YOU NEED A LITTLE LESSON I SUPPOSE. MIGUEL PINERO IS WHO YOU WOULD CALL A NUYORICAN POET. NUYORICAN IS A TERM TO DESCRIBE NEW YORKERS AND PUERTO RICANS, IT'S BASICALLY PUTTING LIFESTYLE OF BEING AN AMERICAN NEW YORKER AND ALSO A PUERTO RICAN TOGETHER. THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE THE WORD IS THE NUYORICAN POETS CAFE WHERE SOME OF THE GREATEST POETS READ THERE WORK. IT'S A CAFE WHERE POETRY, MUSIC, HIP HOP, VIDEO, COMEDY, VISUAL ARTS AND THEATRE ALL COME TOGETHER TO MAKE ART IN MANY FORMS. THE CLUB WAS FOUNDED IN 1973 IN THE EAST VILLAGE OF THE APARTMENT OF WRITER, POET AND ALSO A PROFESSOR AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, MIGUEL ALGARIN. ALONG WITH MIGUEL PINERO AND BITTMAN BIMBO RIVAS AND LUCKY CIENFUEGOS THEY CREATED AN ICONIC CLUB THAT STILL HOLDS IT'S BEAUTY IN THE ART WORLD TODAY. THE CLUB WENT FROM THE APARTMENT IN 1975 TO AN IRISH PUB THE SUNSHINE CAFE ON EAST 6TH STREET. AS THE CLUB GREW IN 1980 THEY MOVED TO 236 EAST 3RD STREET WHERE THEY STILL REMAIN TODAY.

CO-FOUNDER ALGARIN STATED THE PERFECT COMMENT ABOUT THE PLACE SAYING:"We must listen to one another. We must respect one another's habits and we must share the truth and the integrity that the voice of the poet so generously provide."

YOU CAN VISIT THE WEBSITE FOR THE CLUB HERE:http://www.nuyorican.org/

WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID IS THIS CLUB IS ONE OF THE FOUNDING MOVEMENTS OF THE POETRY WORLD OR ART WORLD THERE I SAID IT AND A LOT OF PEOPLE WONT. THIS PLACE BROUGHT FORTH MANY WONDERFUL GREATS AND ALSO COUNTLESS HOURS OF PURE POETRY, AND AMAZING SLAM POETRY. THIS IS A MUST GO TO PLACE FOR ANY TRUE POETRY BUFF IN THERE LIFE. IT'S A MUST VISIT AND A MUST ADVENTURE INTO THE BIRTH AND TRUTH ON SOME AMAZING THOUGHT PROVOKING IN YOUR FACE POETRY. ONE SAD THING IS THE TERM NUYORICAN HAS BEEN USED AS A DEROGATORY TERM TO SOME BUT SOME ARE PROUD TO STATE THEY ARE A NUYORICAN, WHAT EVER THE CASE IT CANNOT BE DENIED THE WONDER AND BEAUTY AND PURE ART THAT THIS MOVEMENT HAS CREATED.

THE COFOUNDER OF THIS CAFE WAS MIGUEL PINERO EVEN THOUGH HE HAD NO MONEY, IT WAS JUST HIS PASSION AND HIS ART FOR WORDS THAT COFOUNDED THIS PLACE. HE WAS BORN DEC. 19TH 1946 AND SADLY PASSED AWAY TO THAT ETERNAL SLEEP ON JUNE 18TH 1988. HE WAS BORN IN GURABO PUERTO RICO AND AT THE AGE OF 4 HE CAME TO NEW YORK WITH HIS PARENTS. SADLY HIS FATHER LEFT THEM MAKING HIS MOTHER AND HIM MOVE INTO A BASEMENT AND LIVE. PINERO BEGAN A CRIMINAL LIFESTYLE IN MORE OR LESS TO SURVIVE. AT THE AGE OF 11 HE WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED FOR STEALING AND PLACED IN JUVENILE HALL. HE JOINED THE GANG KNOWN AS THE DRAGONS WHEN HE WAS 13 AND SOON HE WAS HUSTLING. BY THE AGE OF 20 HE WAS A DRUGGIE AND HAD A MASSIVE LONG CRIME RECORD TO SHOW EVERYONE. HIS LIFE SPIRALED DOWN HILL FOR THE LONGEST TIME AND IN TRUTH NEVER GOT OFF THAT SPIRAL. AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 25 HE WAS PLACED IN SING SING PRISON FOR ARMED ROBBERY WHERE HE WROTE ONE OF HIS PRIME MASTERPIECES. SHORT EYES WAS BASED ON HIS LIFE IN PRISON FROM EXPLAINING DEATH TO RAPE TO SURVIVING IN THE HELL OF THE PRISON LIFESTYLE. THERE AFTER GETTING OUT OF JAIL AND PUTTING IT TOGETHER FOR THE RIVERSIDE CHURCH IN MANHATTAN, THE PLAY WENT TO BROADWAY WINNING 6 TONY AWARDS. ALSO THE PLAY WON AN OBIE AWARD FOR BEST PLAY OF THE YEAR AND THE NEW YORK DRAMA CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD. THIS PLAY MADE PINERO THE FAME HE DESERVED FOR HIS TALENT. HE WAS A LITERARY MASTER AFTER THIS WRITTEN PLAY. SHORT EYES WAS PUBLISHED IN BOOK FORM AND ALSO IN 1977 IT WAS MADE INTO A MOVIE.

PINERO STARTED ACTING IN SMALL ROLES IN MOVIES. THE MOST FAMOUS MOVIE HE WAS IN WAS WITH PAUL NEWMAN IN FORT APACHE THE BRONX. IT WOULD BE THE FOUNDING OF THE NUYORICAN POETS CAFE THAT WOULD SEAL HIS NAME FOREVER.

THE PASSION AND POWER OF HIS WORDS FLOW INTO THE READER THAT IS READING OR LISTENING.

WHAT EVER YOU SAY ABOUT PINERO SOME HATE HIM AND SOME MAKE HIM OUT TO BE ONE OF THOSE MODERN DAY ANGELS. PINERO HAD A LIFE THAT SHOWCASED HIS WORDS. IT SEEMS TO BE EASY TO MAKE SOMEONE THAT WAS HATED BY A LOT OF THE PEOPLE THAT ALSO LOVED HIM INTO AN ICON. THIS DAY AND AGE FOR INSTANTANCE A ROCKER CAN BE A DRUGGIE WHO COMMITS SUICIDE AND THEN CAN BE MADE INTO A LEGEND. EVEN PAST MOVIE STARS OR MUSIC LEGENDS WHO IN LIFE MADE GREAT MUSIC AND ACTING AND AWESOME POETRY ENRICHED MUSIC AND SOUNDS WHO MORE OR LESS WHERE ABUSERS OF DRUGS AND PEOPLE YET THEY ARE MADE INTO ICONS AND HERO'S WHEN THEY CARRIED GUNS AND BEAT UP PEOPLE AND COMMITTED CRIMES. I RECENTLY CAME OVER A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE PINERO WHILE RESEARCHING. THE REVIEW BASICALLY JUST SCOLDED PINERO AS BEING NOTHING MORE THEN A CRIME LACED DRUG ADDICT THAT DESERVED TO DIE. YES PINERO WAS A DRUG LACED POET THAT COMMITTED MANY CRIMES BUT HE ALSO HAD A TALENT THAT FEW HAD. IF WE ARE GOING TO MAKE ICONS OUT OF GANGSTERS AND THUGS AND DRUG LACED SUICIDE ROCKERS THEN WHY CAN'T A POET BE CONSIDERED A LEGEND AND ICON. PINERO WAS SO MUCH MORE THEN DRUGS AND CRIME. THAT DOES NOT MEAN I AM PRAISING THAT LIFESTYLE, IT MEANS I AM PRAISING THE SOUL OF THE PERSON. I AM PRAISING THE TALENT INSIDE THAT FLOWED OUT FOR PEOPLE TO SEE AND READ AND UNDERSTAND.

SO MANY OF US CAN SIT AND JUDGE PEOPLE AND SAY THIS AND SAY THAT BUT YOU KNOW WHAT MOST US HAVE NEVER WALKED IN THE SHOES OF CERTAIN PEOPLE. I AM NOT MAKING AN EXCUSE FOR PINERO'S ACTIONS BUT SOMETIMES LIFE IS HARD AND SOMETIMES DEPRESSION AND THE HORRORS PLACED UPON PEOPLE CAN CONTROL. WE CALL DRINKING A DISEASE AND AN ADDICTION AND THAT'S FINE BUT I ALSO THINK THE WOES IN LIFE CAN BE A DISEASE, AN ADDICTION. SOMETIMES GETTING OVER THE PAST IS FAR WORSE THEN ANY DRINK COULD BE. I LOOK AT PINERO SO DEEP BECAUSE I CAN RELATE TO HIM. I COULD HAVE BEEN THAT PERSON IF I HAD NOT GOT HELP THE WAY I DID. I WAS RAPED AND ABUSED AS A CHILD AND DID MANY THINGS I AM NOT PROUD OF AND YES MY LIFE COULD HAVE SPIRALED DOWN HILL BECAUSE OF THOSE ACTIONS, I CAME CLOSE TO A LIFE OF CRIME. I CAME SO FAR AS TO MAKE SUICIDE MY BUDDY AND TO MAKE HATE MY THOUGHTS. I WAS A LUCKY ONE THAT GOT HELP, YET THAT DISEASE IS STILL THERE. I STILL HAVE THE DEPRESSION AND THE HORROR LACED NIGHTMARES AND REALLY BAD DAYS BUT I WAS LUCKY AND WAS ABLE TO WORK OUT MY WOES, BUT SADLY PINERO DID NOT. I THINK THE COMMENT THAT PEOPLE SAY THE MOST "WELL PINERO BECAME FAMOUS AND BLEW IT AWAY ON DRUGS AND SO ON" , THATS TRUE BUT I THINK FAME AND MONEY CANNOT CHANGE OR STOP THE PAST OR EVEN MAKE THE FUTURE BETTER. JUST LIKE AlCOHOL, MONEY IS A CRUTCH, CRIME IS ALSO, ALL OF THESE CAN BE AN ADDICTION.

POEM SPOTLIGHT:

THE LOWER EASTSIDE POEM

Just once before I die

I want to climb up on atenement sky

to dream my lungs out till

I cry

then scatter my ashes thru

the Lower East Side.

So let me sing my song tonight

let me feel out of sight

and let all eyes be dry

when they scatter my ashes thru

the Lower East Side.

From Houston to 14th Street

from Second Avenue to the mighty D

here the hustlers & suckers meet

the faggots & freaks will all get

high

on the ashes that have been scattered

thru the Lower East Side.

There's no other place for me to be

there's no other place that I can see

there's no other town around that

brings you up or keeps you down

no food little heat sweeps by

fancy cars & pimps' bars & juke saloons

& greasy spoons make my spirits fly

with my ashes scattered thru the

Lower East Side . . .

A thief, a junkie I've been

committed every known sin

Jews and Gentiles . . . Bums and Men

of style . . . run away child

police shooting wild . . .

mother's futile wails . . . pushers

making sales . . . dope wheelers

& cocaine dealers . . . smoking pot

streets are hot & feed off those who bleed to death . . .

all that's true

all that's true

all that is true

but this ain't no lie

when I ask that my ashes be scattered thru

the Lower East Side.

So here I am, look at me

I stand proud as you can see

pleased to be from the Lower East

a street fighting man

a problem of this land

I am the Philosopher of the Criminal Mind

a dweller of prison time

a cancer of Rockefeller's ghettocide

this concrete tomb is my home

to belong to survive you gotta be strong

you can't be shy less without request

someone will scatter your ashes thru

the Lower East Side.

I don't wanna be buried in Puerto Rico

I don't wanna rest in long island cemetery

I wanna be near the stabbing shooting

gambling fighting & unnatural dying

& new birth crying

so please when I die . . .

don't take me far away

keep me near by

take my ashes and scatter them thru out

the Lower East Side . . .

by Miguel Pinero

THE POEM LOWER EAST SIDE IS A BEAUTIFUL POEM OF PINERO'S LOVE FOR WHO HE WAS AND WHERE HE CAME FROM. HE LOVED HIS HOME AND THE VERSE IN IT SAYS: TAKE MY ASHES AND SCATTER THEM THRU OUT THE LOWER EAST SIDE: AND THAT WAS THE TRUTH. AFTER PINERO DIED HIS ASHES WHERE TAKEN AND SPREAD ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE. MANY SAY WHEN YOU WALK THOSE STREETS YOUR WALKING WITH PINERO AND THAT'S TRUE.

PINERO2001
PLOT: THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT THE ONE AND ONLY LATINO ICON MIGUEL PINERO, THE POET, PLAYWRIGHT AND ALSO ACTOR.

RUNTIME: 103 MINS

RATED: R

STARRING: BENJAMIN BRATT AS MIGUEL PINERO, GIANCARLO ESPOSITO AS MIGUEL ALGARIN, TALISA SOTO AS SUGAR, NELSON VASQUEZ AS TITO GOYA, MICHAEL IRBY AS REINALDO POVOD.DIRECTED: LEON ICHASO

RELEASE DATE: APRIL 12, 2002

MY REVIEWS AND THOUGHTS:

NOW TO MOVE ONTO THE MOVIE AND SPEAK ABOUT THE WONDER AND QUALITY OF AN AMAZING FILM AND SHOWCASE OF PINERO'S LIFE. ONE THING MUST BE SAID IS IT WOULD TAKE ABOUT SIX TO EIGHT MOVIES AND EVEN MORE TO SHOWCASE ALL OF PINERO'S LIFE BUT I FEEL THE MOVIE DOES CAPTURE THE STRUGGLE AND BEAUTY AND HORROR THAT WAS PINERO.

THIS MOVIE CAPTURES SOME OF THE BEAUTY AND HORROR IN PINERO'S SHORT LIFE. HE WAS A POWERFUL ARTIST THAT FLOWED WITH THE GRACE AND BEAUTY THAT POETRY AND THE ART OF WORDS ARE ABOUT. THE MOVIE IS FILMED IN A VERY ARTISTIC WAY WHERE YOU FLASH IN AND OUT OF BLACK AND WHITE TO COLOR. CERTAIN SHOTS ARE IN BLACK AND WHITE GIVING IT THAT SURREAL NEWSCAST TEXTURE AND THEN YOU FLASH INTO COLOR GIVING IT THE APPEAL OF THE MOVIE REALITY. THE MOVIE SHOWCASES PINERO'S LIFE BY FLASHING IN AND OUT OF HISTORY. FROM CHILDHOOD WATCHING HIS FATHER LEAVE, TO HIM BEING RAPED AS A KID TO HIM PIMPING HIS YOUNG SMALL BOY BODY OUT TO MEN TO MAKE MONEY TO LIVE. YOU WATCH THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF PINERO FROM A YOUNG AGE WHERE IT SEEMED HE HAD NO HOPE AND ALL THE HOPE HE HAD WAS STEALING OR COMMITTING CRIMES TO SURVIVE. YOU GET TO SEE HIS YOUNG AGE, TO HIS COCAINE AGE AND TO HIS LAST DAYS.

THE MOVIE IS FLAWLESSLY NARRATED THROUGH OUT WHERE PINERO TELLS HIS STORY. WHAT'S VERY INTERESTING TO NOTE MOST OF THE IMAGES FILMED ARE IMAGES IN HIS STORIES. BECAUSE MORE OR LESS PINERO'S STORIES AND HIS REALITY ARE INSIDE HIS POEMS. HE MIGHT NOT HAVE MENTIONED HIS NAME IN CERTAIN PARTS BUT THE READER COULD SENSE THE PASSION AND HORROR OF HIS LIFE INSIDE THE WORDS.BENJAMIN BRATT PLAYS THIS PART PERFECT, HE IS PINERO AND PINERO IS HIM. YOU COULD SENSE THE SOUL OF PINERO IN HIS ROLE.

THIS MOVIE SHOWCASES THE WONDERFUL ARTISTIC VALUE THAT PINERO HAD. THE REALLY COOL THING ABOUT THIS MOVIE IS YOU GET THE POETRY THROUGHOUT. YOU GET THE MOMENTS WHERE BRATT STANDS UP IN THE CAFE OR ON TOP OF A BUILDING AND HE SPEAKS IT OUT, THE WHOLE POEM. I THINK WHAT IS SO SAD ABOUT PINERO'S LIFE AND THE MOVIE SHOWCASES THAT IS HE NEVER HAD A CHANCE AS A KID. WHEN HE WROTE SHORT EYES IN JAIL THE WORLD STARTED TO NOTICE YET THAT HORROR OF HIS PAST AND THAT FLAVOR FOR CRIME AND DRUGS WHERE SO DUG INTO HIM THAT IT SEEMED LIKE IT WAS TWO LATE. IN REALITY THE MONEY AND THE FAME ONLY DID HIM WORSE BECAUSE IT FED THE HORRORS AND IT DESTROYED HIM MORE.

PINERO'S SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH MEN AND WOMEN AND HIS LACK OF RELATIONSHIPS AND HIS TRIP INTO JAIL AND DRUGS AND HIS TORMENTED SOUL ARE SHOWCASED IN THE MOVIE. PINERO WAS ALWAYS TRYING TO BE SOMETHING AND YET HE WAS ALWAYS TRYING NOT TO BE SOMETHING. IT SEEMS THAT PINERO COULD NOT BE PINERO. FROM THE UPS AND THE DOWNS THE DOWNS BEING THE MORE, THE MOVIE EXPRESSES THE BATTLE RAGING INSIDE.

THE MOVIE IS SAD, HEART WARMING, DEPRESSING, REALITY BASED AND EVEN A TEAR JERKER. THE MOVIE MAKES IT'S POINT. THIS FILM SHOWCASES A BEAUTIFUL MAN, A BEAUTIFUL WRITER AND A BEAUTIFUL PART OF HISTORY THAT SADLY WE LOST TO THE DEMONS HAUNTING HIM.

PRAISE AND AWARDS FOR THE MOVIE:

WON THE 2002 ALMA AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACTOR, OUTSTANDING MOTION PICTURE AND OUTSTANDING SCREENPLAY.

ALSO WAS NOMINATED FOR THE 2002 ALMA AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR AND OUTSTANDING SUPPOTING ACTRESS.

WON THE 2002 C.I.C.A.E. AWARD AT THE BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FOR PANORAMA.

WON THE 2002 CHAMIZAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL AWARD FOR BEST AMERICAN FILM.

WAS NOMINATED FOR 2001 GRAND PRIX DES AMERIQUES AT THE MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL.

WON THE 2001 SPECIAL RECOGNITION AT THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW USA

ONE THING THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID ABOUT PINERO'S STORIES OR POEMS IS THAT HIS WORDS FLOW WITH LIFE, YOU CAN FEEL THE PASSION OF HIS SOUL AND THE NIGHTMARES INSIDE HIS HEAD. PINERO HAD AWAY WITH WORDS THAT SEEMED TO GRAB THE READER, GRABBED YOU IN A GOOD WAY YET SMACKED YOU AROUND AND FORCED YOU TO LISTEN, YET AFTER YOU WHERE FORCED TO LISTEN YOU COULD RELATE TO IT, YOU FELT IT ALIVE INSIDE YOU, THAT'S THE WAY PINERO WROTE. THAT'S THE WAY POETRY SHOULD BE. A LOT OF MODERN DAY POETS I INCLUDED SHOULD LOOK TO PINERO AND TO SEE HIS REALITY BASED POETRY TO SEE THE FEEL OF THE WAY HIS STORIES FLOW. PINERO WAS A GENIUS AT WORDS, MIXING BEAUTIFUL AND SOMETIMES HORROR LACED IMAGES INSIDE HIS WORDS MAKING THE QUALITY OF HIS POETRY A FORCE THAT LINGERS TO THIS DAY.

I THINK WHAT IS SO INTERESTING ABOUT PINERO'S STORY IS, IT WAS THE HORRORS IN HIS LIFE THAT MADE HIM THE POET HE WAS. HE WROTE FROM HIS HEART AND MIND, THE HEART AND MIND THAT WENT THROUGH THE CHILDHOOD MIXED WITH RAPE, HUSTLING HIS BODY, TO CRIME, TO JAIL, TO ALWAYS BEING MISPLACED IN CULTURE. WITHOUT THESE HORRIBLE MARKS AND DEEP DEPRESSIONS UPON HIM, IT'S HARD TO SAY IF WE WOULD KNOW PINERO WITHOUT THEM. THE VERY HORRORS THAT HE LIVED BECAME HIS PASSION IN WORDS YET ALSO WAS WHAT DESTROYED AND KILLED HIM AT THE SAME TIME. IT SEEMS OFTEN THAT ALL THE GREAT LEGENDS OF SPOKEN WORD OR POWERFUL BEINGS IN THE ART WORLD END UP DESTROYING THEMSELVES OR THE ART IS SO RICH THAT IT TAKES YOUR LIFE AWAY. ALL THESE HORRORS ULTIMATELY DESTROYED HIM YET ALSO ULTIMATELY MADE HIM.

I THINK WHAT MAKES PINERO UNIQUE IS HE BECAME THE POEM, HIS WHOLE BODY FLOWED WITH HIS POEM. HE BLED THE LETTERS THAT WHERE THE WORDS THAT WROTE THE POEM. HIS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, HIS MOVEMENTS AND HIS ACTIONS ALL BECAME THE RICHNESS OF THE POEM. PINERO'S WORDS WILL RADIATE THROUGHOUT TIME. AS LONG AS THERE ARE POEM LOVERS, POETRY BUFFS, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PINERO'S POEMS.

I THINK WHAT IS SAD IN THE POETRY WORD PINERO IS OFTEN FORGOT ABOUT. HE IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED. HE TOOK HIS WORDS AND MADE THEM SOMETHING MORE THEN JUST WORDS ON A PAPER. I BELIEVE PINERO IS AN ORIGINATOR OF A DEEP SENSE AND LOVE AND PASSION OF THE WORDS THAT IS POETRY. THAT DEEP DARK FEELING A POET GETS WHEN READING OUT THE FORCE OF THE STORY. I THINK WHAT IS SO DEEP ABOUT PINERO'S POETRY IS HIS POEMS WHERE NOT ABOUT FLOWERS OR SUNSHINE, OR SIDEWALKS OF GOLD, BUTTERFLIES' OR BIRDS FLYING IN THE SKY OR SWEET PUPPY DOGS OR THE GOOD SIDE OF LIFE. PINERO'S POETRY WHERE THE DARK PARTS OF THE HEART, WAS THE INNER CAVES OF THE HIDDEN MIND. WHAT HE SAW HE WROTE, WHAT HE EXPERIENCED HE PUT INTO WORDS, PINERO BECAME HIS POETRY, THE WORDS FLOWED THROUGH HIS VEINS UPON THE PAPER. PINERO WAS NOT A HARVARD EDUCATED POET, PINERO LIVED THE STREET AND LIVED WHAT HE WROTE ABOUT, HE BECAME THE STREET, THE DRUNK, THE CRACK HEAD, THE TAR LACED VEINS, THE DIRTY NEEDLES IN THE GUTTER. HE WROTE HIS TRUTH AND NOT LIES. HIS POETRY FLOWED WITH REALITY. YOU COULD RELATE TO HIS STORIES AND POETRY. HIS POETRY WAS THE DARK SIDE OF LIFE AND THAT IS WHAT MAKES PINERO A TRUE LEGEND, AND A TRUE ICON OF POETRY.