The Poet Porter

Abstract

In pursuit of maintaining passion for life, Bowen Ray Gardner has spent several decades dabbling in formal education before discovering he was a first-generation student and struggled with working class realities and perspectives that made education unattainable and inconsequential for the vast majority of people in his day-to-day life. In three short poems that model the evolution of language and society in conjunction with the individual growth of someone who refuses one's given place, Gardner offers a unique insight into the mind of those on the brink of exile lacking a foothold in society. Identifying as both educated and uneducated, he shares an emotional context of pursuing enigmatic goals coupled with disconnection from one's family in the verse of a Nordic saga. Turning then to the form of a Shakespearian sonnet, Gardner critically analyzes the relationship between empowerment and valueless life. The piece concludes with a lyrical tribute to Jimi Hendrix acknowledging the uncertainty one feels adrift in an ambiguous expenditure of exertion and toil.