Poet lauriet

[Hcat]

Why doesn't some one make an effort to nominate Gord to become Canada's poet lauriet? I would if I knew how. I'm not swinging in the right circles to take on such a task . I feel he should be given this honour. His songs are really poems just as Bliss Carmen's R W Service and DeLa Mare were in their time. He deserves this honour, his poems speak of Canada and it's peoplejust as the Group of Seven's paintings did almost a hundred years ago . He is distinctively Canadian.

[char]

I have looked into this before and never found the right avenue to follow through. I will keep it in mind tho. i am also a firm and longtime believer that he should be our Canadian Poet Laureate.
char
The problem may be that Lightfoot is not considered to be a "poet" in the true sense of the word as defined by those who determine theses things. He is a singer - songwriter. To us his words are poetry and they are majestically lifted to another level when his music and voice are added but alas that may not be enough for the powers that be.

[This message has been edited by char (edited May 03, 2002).]

[This message has been edited by char (edited May 03, 2002).]

[Brian 57]

I'm from the U.S. but I'd like to put my two-cents worth in about this if you don't mind. I feel that a poet laureate of any country should best represent the heart and soul of that country. They shouldn't plaster the flag all over their chest nor should they slip special interests into their back pocket. Their work should evoke the spirit of their nation and its people to the point where listening to their words gives one a clear impression of what that country is like. Mr. Lightfoot, by that standard, would make an excellent poet laureate (though he may not qualify by genre) because I remember the places I've seen in Canada when I think of them, but I feel Canada when I hear his songs. It's only about 350 miles from my house to the Canadian border, but Canada is definitely NOT "America Lite". It has its own blood flowing through its veins, and Mr. Lightfoot captures its color. We've had our poet laureates in the U.S. too, but (at the risk of offending some poetry fans) it seems an amorphous stream of consciousness passed off as free verse ain't quite what we need.