Would Frost go viral?

If Robert Frost were alive today, would he have a blog? The guy was a marketing dream – folksy, approachable, famous in his lifetime, but not a snob in public. Most important, he was accessible. And what's more accessible in today's culture than having a blog?

Well, if you know me you know where this is going, but I want to back up for a moment and explain how this thought even crossed my mind. If you've been breathing in New Hampshire the past week, I'm sure you've seen every media outlet positively fall over themselves to bring you the “news” story about Granite State of Mind, the You Tube Jay-Z music video parody going viral. It's a funny video, made by a group of local film and video makers calling themselves the Super Secret Project.

What stood out for me, though, was that a whole verse of the song was Frost's “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.” If you don't know the poem, stop right now and either go read it, or turn to the News of the Weird. (What's wrong with you that you don't know that poem?) Anyway, recasting one of the most popular poems in the English language to a rap actually worked! This I think was due to both the film-makers obvious affection for the poem, but also because Frost's work is melodic. It lends itself to all types of reimaginings because it is so good – insightful, perfectly structured language.

So, I thought, if Frost stands up to a rap, and sounds good on You Tube, think of what he'd be able to do with today's technology. You really want my opinion? No way Frost would have a blog. To come to this conclusion I searched out the blogs of other current well known poets. Robert Pinsky. No blog. Billy Collins. Nope. Our own Donald Hall or Maxine Kumin. Zip. Now, Pinsky does have a web site for his Favorite Poem Project and Collins has a cool poetry/video site called Billy Collins Action Poetry. (Great name by the way.) But the real masters, the ones who depend on words, not wiz bang, don't need it.

So... blogs. I started looking, and reading. I Googled and Googled poetry blogs till my eyes hurt. I checked local stuff, international stuff. I read blogs by 12 year olds and 95 year olds. Blogs with poky dots and blogs with flowers. Blogs where the parents Haiku about their infants, and blogs where spinsters write eulogies to their cats. And now, my friends, I'm done with that. Here's a bold statement – of the millions and millions of poetry blogs out there, they all stink.
Prove me wrong. Write to me, here, at this paper. I'll leave my email at the bottom. Find me a good poetry blog. If you do, I will highlight it. I will sing its praises. I will take it out for tea and crumpets.

Here are the rules, based on my completely scientific and deeply insightful 30 minutes spent on line:

1. The blog must not reference unicorns, or any mystical creatures. Mythology is ok. Think the Iliad, not Clash of the Titans.
2. No vampires. Enough with the vampires.
3. No fan fiction – I'm talking to you Harry Potter. That goes for any universe starting with “Star.”
4. No blogs about how great the Cure is/was. You'd be amazed at how much poetry there is out there about bands.
5. Finally, no depression poetry until you have facial hair and/or a job.

Got it? Good. Now go find me a good poetry blog. My email is dszczesny@hippopress.com