Bill! You may be the only true Renaissance man I know. Each of these newsletter posts are little gifts you are sending out into the world, and I’m so lucky to be one of the recipients! I loved the Billy Collins poem, which of course becomes more apt each day at age 64. I would like to request that you reprint the poem from high school. I wish I remembered it. People who didn’t grow up in small town North Dakota might not understand how radical a concept individuality was, at least back in the 70s. As someone who Instinctively railed against conformity, which made me a bit of an outcast, I am sure your poem must have resonated with me back then. Happy spring to you, Bill!
Aww, what nice thoughts Lisa! Thank you. Better Renaissance than Cave! I definitely put you in my nonconformist camp back then, but you were doing it with so much style.
I only remember a few lines of that first poem. It was circa 1977, after all. -- aw heck, let me try.
The Crowd
The thing to do
is be in with the crowd,
laugh when they're happy
cry when they're sad.
Use all their phrases
do as they do
but never let on
that you're still really you.
If you take this advice
in the crowd you'll go far
but you'll never know
who you really are.
postscript: now I am the guy with red ears. And I think I boffed the sad line.
Thank you, Bill. I replied to this over the weekend but apparently did so from a different email address so substack jettisoned my submission. This little poem packs so much truth into its lines - how were you so wise at 17? I'm saving this for my grandkids. Re the "sad" line: I can't think of a word that rhymes with "crowd" that would work there, but I bet you did.
Bill! You may be the only true Renaissance man I know. Each of these newsletter posts are little gifts you are sending out into the world, and I’m so lucky to be one of the recipients! I loved the Billy Collins poem, which of course becomes more apt each day at age 64. I would like to request that you reprint the poem from high school. I wish I remembered it. People who didn’t grow up in small town North Dakota might not understand how radical a concept individuality was, at least back in the 70s. As someone who Instinctively railed against conformity, which made me a bit of an outcast, I am sure your poem must have resonated with me back then. Happy spring to you, Bill!
Aww, what nice thoughts Lisa! Thank you. Better Renaissance than Cave! I definitely put you in my nonconformist camp back then, but you were doing it with so much style.
I only remember a few lines of that first poem. It was circa 1977, after all. -- aw heck, let me try.
The Crowd
The thing to do
is be in with the crowd,
laugh when they're happy
cry when they're sad.
Use all their phrases
do as they do
but never let on
that you're still really you.
If you take this advice
in the crowd you'll go far
but you'll never know
who you really are.
postscript: now I am the guy with red ears. And I think I boffed the sad line.
Thank you, Bill. I replied to this over the weekend but apparently did so from a different email address so substack jettisoned my submission. This little poem packs so much truth into its lines - how were you so wise at 17? I'm saving this for my grandkids. Re the "sad" line: I can't think of a word that rhymes with "crowd" that would work there, but I bet you did.