The Next Line: Let's Raise a Glass to Those Who Led Us

In all areas of life, accomplished people are compared to their peers to determine who is the Greatest Of All Time – the GOAT. Poetry is no different.

Many American poetry aficionados regard Billy Collins as the GOAT. Billy rose to fame in the 1990’s, becoming the U.S Poet Laureate from 2001-2003. He has sold over a million books, because his poems are simple and relatable, turning every-day observations into poetic works of art:

Forgetfulness – Billy Collins

    “The name of the author is the first to go

followed obediently by the title, the plot,

the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel

which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,

  as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor

decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,

to a little fishing village where there are no phones..."

Billy deserves his due, yet there is one American poet whom we often forget about, one man who was the most famous poet of his day, selling over 60 million books.

Rodney Marvin Woolever  was one of the first poets to write relatable poems about everyday life. His spoken word poem, ‘A Cat Named Sloopy’, was extremely popular in the 1970’s:

"For a while the only earth that Sloopy knew was her sandbox

Two rooms on 55th street was her domain

Every night she'd sit in the window among the avocado plants

Waiting for me to come home

My arms filled with canned liver and love We'd talk into the night then contented but missing something

She, the earth she never knew, me the hills I ran while growing bent

Sloopy should have been a cowboy's cat

With prairies to run, not linoleum

And real live catnip mice

No one to depend on but herself..."

I encourage you to get a glass of tea (and a tissue), and let Rodney Woolever, better known as Rod McKuen, take you on his journey with Sloopy through the concrete jungle of New York.

But poetry was not McKuen's only foray into writing, he's also a successful songwriter, and songs are merely poems with musical accompaniment. Some of you might remember this famous song:

 “Goodbye to you my trusted friend

We've known each other since we were nine or ten

Together we've climbed hills and trees

Learned of love and ABC's

Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.

Goodbye my friend it's hard to die

When all the birds are singing in the sky…

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun…”

McKuen’s song, ‘Seasons in the Sun’, recorded by Terry Jacks, was the top-selling song globally in 1974, selling over 14 million copies, and topping Billboard’s Top 100 for three weeks. McKuen wrote over 1500 songs, recorded by artists such as, Waylon Jennings, Perry Como, Barbara Streisand, and dozens more. His songs sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Add that to his 60 million poetry books sold, and that means Rod McKuen is the GOAT, right?  Possibly, yet ‘Seasons in the Sun’ was an adaptation of Jacques Brel’s song, Le Moribond. Ok, I hear you birdies chirping, “Where are you going with all this?”  

My point is this:  It’s a meaningless and futile attempt to determine who is the GOAT of anything. It’s ok to simply enjoy and appreciate what each person contributes throughout their career and life, without comparing them to everybody else. Each of us stands on the shoulders of those who came before us. Regardless of arena or stage, field or classroom, whether we intentionally hone our skills to emulate the people we admire, or we simply do what we do without a thought of our predecessors, we are successful because of them. Others led the way, opening doors to opportunities that allow us to do what we do.

So, let’s raise a glass to those who led us,

to those whose words and actions fed us.

A toast in honor of their triumphs and pains,

their spirit in us, that still remains.

Until the next line,

A.W. Bauman