THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

"YOU MAKE EVERYTHING YOURS!

WE ALL DO IT!"

(Bob Dylan"s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech-from SPARKNOTES)

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

is as old as influences.Cave art was never original.

Time hides sources-so we praise Rumi not Shams

Plato,not Socrates.Black blues sold by white boys.

Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones.BUT acknowledgement is truth..

Reparations for violation of copyright.Restitution of Royalties.

Repair of plundering relationships.NAMING YOUR SOURCE.

Journalists hide informers for their survival.

But work is gold,and gold works.RESTORE THE BALANCE

If this poem was stolen from your consciousness,i apologize.

If a song is made from these words,i am happy.

If you choose to adapt these ideas,that is your right.

Collage,montage,influences are the stone soup of art

Add more of YOUR stones.START AN AVALANCHE!

Bob Dylan delivered what was described as an "eloquent" lecture this month as part of his Nobel prize requirements—but one writer says he may have approached the task like a high school student with an overdue project. Dylan discussed three favorite works from childhood and Andrea Pitzer at Slate suspects the Nobel Prize winner for literature may have cribbed much of the Moby Dick portion from SparkNotes. She says at least 20 of the 78 sentences involved strongly resemble SparkNotes passages and compares several of them side by side. Multiple phrases, including "Ahab's lust for vengeance," appear both in SparkNotes and Dylan's talk, but not in Moby Dick itself. He had to give the talk to collect $922,000 in prize money. "Some men who receive injuries are led to God, others are led to bitterness," a quote that one blogger thought Dylan had invented, appears to be based on SparkNotes. Pitzer suggests that Dylan donate some of the prize money to the SparkNotes writer, though others are more forgiving. University of Minnesota music professor Alex Lubet tells the Star-Tribune that Dylan's lecture shouldn't be treated like a classroom assignment. "His lecture is wild and strange," Lubet says. "It’s meant to be a post-modern work of art. Any kind of a collage technique is fair game." In a 2012 Rolling Stone interview, Dylan addressed claims he had lifted lyrics, saying that in songwriting, "You make everything yours. We all do it."