On Poetry: Mystic Dave and William Butler Yeats

On Poetry, Mystic Dave and W.B. Yeats

I had the good fortune a few months back of discovering the website and blog of a Salt Lake City, Utah-based 'mystical poet' and political commentator who goes by the name of "MysticDave".  Dave's blog/website is called: Mystical Poetry, Prose, and Political Viewpoints.

In Dave's own words, his blog is about:

"Mystical poetry and prose about spirituality, dreams,death, war, peace, politics, Earth, love, art etc. Spoken word poetry, 2012, music, and political videos included. Enjoy the trip!"

I've become quite the fan of Dave's site in recent weeks, as I've spent some time going through his various writings from over the years, and find myself increasingly impressed with each new piece I read.

I find Dave's poetry is exceptional, and his political writings definitely thought-provoking and well presented.  That said, his style I find even more fascinating, and eerily reminiscent of one of my favorite poets if all-time: William Butler Yeats.

About W.B. Yeats:

As an Irish citizen whose family hails from Co. Galway, where Yeats spent a good portion of his life and wrote some of his finest work, I have long had a fascination with the man and his amazing literary achievements - not to mention his ideas and viewpoints.  This is particularly true of those writings pertaining to mysticism and/or spirituality, Celtic mythology, politics and its role in society and musings on life in general.

The general philosophy that manages to incorporate all of these concepts and make it work I find even more amazing.

From Yeats' Wikipedia page:

Over the years, Yeats adopted many different ideological positions, including, in the words of the critic Michael Valdez Moses, "those of radical nationalist, classical liberal, reactionary conservative and millenarian nihilist".

Any philosophy that can incorporate everything described in Moses' description of Yeats' ideological positions with any degree of credibility is worthy of a deeper look all its own.

Yeats' Tomb in Drumcliffe Cemetery

I have twice visited Yeats' tomb, which is located in Drumcliffe Cemetery, in Co. Sligo, Republic of Ireland (photo below).

Back to Mystic Dave

In his own words, Mystic Dave is a "47 year old outdoors type who loves live music, hanging out in the great outdoors, spirituality, writing and reading poetry, learning all I can from this journey called life, and meeting interesting, open minded people along the way."

For a one-line autobiography, that's not too shabby.

The man is a phenomenal writer and poet, and it would not surprise me in the least if centuries from now, the world's finer liberal arts institutions mention Mystic Dave alongside names such as Robert Frost and W.B. Yeats.

In any case, I highly recommend checking out his site and having a look through some of Dave's poems.  I have been extremely impressed, and I don't think you will be disappointed either.

A Poem about Poets, Poetry and the Age of the Internet

From the perspective of a non-poet who has become a fan of an internet-age poet, I wrote the following in dedication to Mystic Dave.

I certainly do not possess Dave's poetic ability, so if you're expecting to be bowled over by the following, you may want to readjust your expectations before reading.

That said, I thought it would only be appropriate if I at least made an attempt at expressing my thoughts on the matter in an artistic form before wrapping up this post.  So without further adieu, I present to you the following:

On the Artists of Poetry

'Tis a shame and great many a pity
Taketh the world, sometimes more than a century
To fully appreciate the writings, so many
Of the countless great linguists - the fine artists of poetry

It is my sincere hope that all reading this post have found the read entertaining enough to make it all the way to this sentence, and I hope you all check out Dave's site, and that you find it as enjoyable and enlightening as I have.