If you asked the average man in the street to name a contemporary poet of note I guess they might struggle.
Scratching their heads, they are unlikely to come up with anything approaching a household name from the world of verse.
Ask them to name a poet from a bygone age, however, and the names would come tumbling out – Shakespeare, Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Burns. Most people will have a passing knowledge of these literary figures and could probably chuck in a couple of quotes to boot.
Why has poetry fallen so far from popular consciousness? Who is the current poet laureate and more to the point does anyone care?
Poetry is so far out of favour that it is considered irrelevant by a huge swathe of the population who couldn’t tell a sonnet from a limerick. Song lyricists are the nearest we have to the celebrity poets of the past, capturing the emotions of everyman and touching their hearts.
Against that background one Perth man deserves the utmost of admiration for his efforts to turn the tide of opinion of poetry of the man in the street – well more accurately the man and woman on the bus.
Jim Mackintosh will be travelling in search of a new audience, randomly boarding Stagecoach services to recite poems to unsuspecting passengers.
He has been handed the romantic task of convincing the people of Perth that his poetry has a place in their hearts as part of this year’s Platform Festival of contemporary arts.
Inspired by an American project where poets travel free on trains in exchange for reciting poetry, Mr Mackintosh has even been composing a new work for his new role, The Number 57 Bus.
“I firmly believe there is poetry bubbling under the surface of many travellers on the buses of Perthshire and I want to provide a platform for it to be heard,” said Mr Mackintosh.
Who says he isn’t right?
Whatever the reaction, anyone who cut their teeth performing as poet-in-residence with St Johnstone Football Club must be well able to cope with hard-to-please audiences.
