Poetry. Everyday.
I’m afraid, this isn’t a very good picture, but I’d like to draw your attention to the bicycle in front. It’s a bike full of poetry. The owner (who isn’t in the picture) is a poet who calls himself „Alltagsdichter“. „Alltag“ is the German word for „everyday life“ and „Dichter“ means poet. He puts his books on the bike and stops at marketplaces, malls and parks – anywhere, where the audience may take a closer look and buy a book. He started out with 1000 copies of his book, a newspaper article said about a year ago (http://www.abendblatt.de/kultur-live/article117388524/Der-Alltagsdichter-aus-Altona-trifft-den-heiteren-Ton.html). I see him quite often at the marketplace that you see on the picture, since I live near by. Usually, he stands next to his bike on which he also carries postcards around which he creates himself, with quotes from his poems, and talks to people. In a former life, he worked as a carpenter and studied art.
I think this is just a great idea. This way, poetry becomes a part of … well, yes! … everyday life and that is where it belongs. The words leave the inner circles of the few who write and read poetry and are spread among those who otherwise probably wouldn’t take notice.
I’m not sure if this would work for me, since I used to be a very shy person, unable to communicate about the normal this and that even with people whom I knew. There’s nothing much left of this person but nevertheless I don’t think I’d be able to promote my poetry this way … unfortunately, because I Iove bicycles and the various possibilities to carry whatsoever with them. But maybe some of you, and especially my American readers, would want to try this? In America I imagine, a bike full of poetry would attract even more attention than in Europe. Good luck, if you do so … and please let me know what happens.
alltagspanorama 