This is a comment by Phil on the post “A Modern Day Hero’s Journey Is What Today’s Boy Needs to Become a Man“.

“I was lucky enough to have an English teacher who nurtured my love of poetry, gave me the three James Tate, Wright and Dickey to read. Let me explore Bukowski and eecummings without censoring my voracious reading hunger. Actually hurling your body against another just like they did in Martins Ferry, Ohio, with its infamous whorehouse and poet, or reading poetry of war and manhood, allowed me to be both sensitive and steeled for tragedy.

“The journey to manhood is not a simple one and many distractions on the path can lead a boy astray. More men need to read great poetry and share it with their sons, Phillip Levine, Mark Strand, the James’ I mentioned would be a good start. The word ‘poetry’ is from the Greek word, poesis, meaning ‘a making’. A poem is merely ‘a made thing’ but it is made from words, a precisely built vessel of words to carry a thought from tongue to ear, a thought that just might make becoming a man easier to understand.” 

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