Growing up in Southern California and living my adult life in Northern California, I really enjoyed reading each section of David Henderson's "California 13". I connected with so many lines because I have experienced these places personally and in a very similar way. We enter David Henderson's "California 13" in the Berkeley hills then continue to travel south down the coast of California.
I chose to write my close reading on the following section:
Santa Monica and Venice Beach
weekenders biking walking jogging skating
disco-skaters rocking backwards
tank tops halter tops and shorts
cradling boom boxes like babies
rolling sand and surf
the horizon above our heads
the Far East due West
beach blondes frolic
topless surf
white noise of Malibu
We land in Santa Monica near the middle of the writing . It is not necessarily written in order of direction or location. Henderson jumps around a bit. The stanza here is written as one would see people and experience the surroundings of Venice Beach. You really would see people all around you (weekend or weekday). Jogging, skating, biking, walking... everyone is moving . There is non stop action in any direction you look. The section ends with "white noise of Malibu". I had never thought of it as white noise, but if you were to show me a clip of the above description, I would immediately connect it with Venice Beach. It is interesting though, because I initially read it as a silent film, but I can also see how my image of a silent film could also translate into white noise. I just really loved this stanza of "California 13".
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI can respect your perspective of this poem as a California native; my perspective is that of a New Yorker, like Henderson, who has also spent some time in Santa Monica too. And I can picture the Pier, and Venice Beach from my travels there. I wonder if Henderson thought of the Coney Island Beach and Boardwalk back home in Brooklyn as I did when I visited Santa Monica? Some of the goings on he described at Venice could also describe Coney Island. It appears that you and I agree, poems seem so much real when you have the same experience as the author.
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeletePoems definitely paint a picture in ways that are specific to this type of writing. Experiencing these elements first had as you said you had gives you an instant visual and you're immediately transported there. I'm not usually a fan of poetry but this was fun having experienced the places he speaks of. It's interesting to picture how things have changed since the author wrote about his experiences and how things have remained the same through time.