Shaun Shane

Shaun Shane Poems

if only
our tongues
were made
of glass
...

i use to
love a
girl who
wore
...

take a daffodil
and pop
the flower
and hold it
...

everything he
says means
everything
thing to
...

girls are
dumb

i've said
...

i don't know
what i am

or who i am
...

love is like hold your breath
and let it out

something you can barely taste
...

i once made love
to a girl who seemed
to blow bubbles
of moonlight into
...

like a field of swords
all in a heap

is a lawn of
...

this is
the most
horrible
thing of all:
...

the feeling of love
is not love

it is only
...

if you could
take out
your eyes
and lay them
...

i am
dismayed
when i
hear people
...

i'm tired of thought
and things of thought
and tired of thinking too
...

all at last
and then too
fast
she set about
...

my lover's heart
is very tart
and her love so soured where
...

drowning in
a waterfall
you'd think
that i
...

want to
see how
attractive
you are
...

if you could
eat the blue
of a bluebell
what would
...

with fish
I swim
with fish
I do
...

Shaun Shane Biography

Shaun Shane (a pseudonym real name unknown) . There have been few men whose work is so well known and as highly acclaimed and yet whose personal life is as shrouded in mystery as that of Shaun Shane in the History of Poetry. Shane's career first began in the early 80's, publishing in small presses and doing famously standing room only readings while, it is rumored, he still was a Philosophy Major at Yale. When his work quickly came to the attention of the Literary Critic and host of the Public Radio Program, Poetry In Our Time, Harvey Alexander. Who, so struck with Shane's work, began to feature it prominently on his radio program. The iconic filmmaker John Waters a close friend of Alexander's, greatly impressed with Shane's work, as well, arranged a meeting between the two which was to become the beginning of a longstanding friendship, with Shane even acting in the lead role of a Black & White Movie directed by Waters entitled " Reckless Eyeballs" . But, Shane, to the great shock of his following, Alexander and Waters abandoned Public life in his late-twenties, disappearing without a trace. Though the reasons for his disappearance remain unclear, he has never addressed them, there are no records of his doing any readings or publishing for nearly two decades, when suddenly he made a reappearance in 2008. It is rumored that he had become terminally ill and his re-emergence was to reinforce the ethic of Pure Poetry or Truly Modernist Poetry (Which he felt, had been betrayed by the inept and poorly executed attempts at Post Modern verse by Contemporary 'so-called Poets ' and the Pop and Pseudo Poetry of Poetry Slams) before his death. Of which, there is some speculation may have already occurred, being that no one has seen or heard from him since 2010. His reappearance was brief and took the form of publishing in independent and small presses as well as showing up in open mics mostly in New York City. (Though it is believed, if he is still alive, he lives on the West Coast, his latest appearances being around the L.A. and the San Francisco areas.) Only to mysteriously disappear again. He has released two collections: A Poem is Nothing and Intangible Certitude. Shane's work is so original and singular in style and theme that Alexander and others have cited that he has invented a new motif in contemporary English Poetry, finding in contemporary English the true meter, alliteration and beauty of modern speech like no other. Literary nothing is known of his personal life, which he has kept closely guarded. And is almost exclusively seen only reading in open mics which he once stated, he found the most authentic of venues for reading his work because it is devoid of any vestige of celebrity and hence the only thing that gets considered is the poem rather than the poet.(denouncing formal readings as cultivators of Idol worship.) Giving credence to the speculation by many, that his growing fame was the reason he gave up Poetry in the first place, citing his poem 'Fame' to substantiate their claim. fame like hearing the sound of someone de-skinning a baby alive unbearable and driving you to madness because he found fame inauthentic and false and contrary to the purposes for which he wrote poetry.)

The Best Poem Of Shaun Shane

04 Tongues Made Of Glass

if only
our tongues
were made
of glass

how much
more careful
we would be
when we
speak

Shaun Shane Comments

Sam Aleks 22 January 2012

some of the greatest work i have ever read.

335 38 Reply

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