Features
Poet takes advantage of Valentine’s spirit to spread the word
Fonseca tries to dispel the myth of poems being ‘dull, academic’ with his selections
FAIRFIELD — What could be more fitting for the night before Valentine’s Day? Soft light from candles. Love poems. A crowd of people surrounded by books listening to a guy named Freddy.
Yes, you read that right.
Freddy Fonseca has a mission to prove poetry isn’t what most people believe it is. While he presents readings on a regular basis, Valentine’s Day is a natural opening. It’s perhaps the one time of year when people are willing to consider love poems as an art form as opposed to corny doggerel written by moonstruck teenagers.
“I present monthly poetry readings with other people,” Fonseca explained. “Poetry is considered dull, academic. What I do is make it interesting. I love the drama.”
That explains why Fonseca and two others took to the stage at Revelations in Fairfield on Friday night, reading poems from various ages and origins. The author mattered less to Fonseca in making the selection than the poem itself and the message it was capable of conveying.
Poetry wasn’t always the stepchild of popular literature. In fact, much of literature sprang from poetic origins. The oldest text known in Old English, Beowulf, is an epic poem. And the most common ancient work found in Greek ruins is the Odyssey, Homer’s epic.
Academics can give reasons for why poetry was so widespread and why it played such a clear and important role in memorializing national myths. But simplest explanation is also why people listen to music: It is pleasant to hear.
Early poetry was spoken, not read. Few people could read, so those who memorized and recited poems were valued entertainers.
And verse is one of the easiest ways to remember words. People get songs stuck in their heads, not passages from books.
Love poems have their own history. Sappho’s work is known millennia after she wrote. Shakespeare’s sonnets are almost as revered as his plays. Even the Bible includes some; go read the Song of Solomon.
So Fonseca’s presentations have a long history from which to draw. He’s not shy about saying so. Spanish poetry in the original has as strong a chance of making the program as anything by Walt Whitman or Emily Dickenson.
“The subject is love and desire. I select poems from all streams, all languages, from all times,” Fonseca said. “I just feel drawn to performing.”
Fonseca writes some poetry as well. He’s had a few individual poems published, but he has never collected them for a volume. Perhaps later.
For now there’s work to be done poetry to be performed.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
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