A Link to Voznesensky

I was very surprised to recently find
that Andrei Voznesensky
has a new career.

While using that wonderful poetic device ‘Google’
I saw the great Russian poet’s name
listed on Linked-In.com.

Once there, I discovered that
Mr Voznesensky is a
“Senior Principal Scientist at Pfizer
in the Hartford, Connecticut Area.”

And the author of Modern Nature and
ru and
Dead Still
and my favorite
– Bicycles –
has 50 connections!

And some of my connections know some of his connections…

I am so glad to know that Voznesensky is interested in:
* career opportunities
* consulting offers
* job inquiries
* reference requests
and
* getting back in touch

There is so much we could discuss –
the surreal image,
symbolism and
use of synecdoche
in his previous position as
a Principal Research Scientist at Bayer Pharmaceutical.

Does Boris Pasternak know
that his former protégé is now
a member of the
Biotech & Pharma Professionals Network?

Are the poetic influences of Mayakovsky and Neruda
useful in his present endeavors?
If I sound disappointed, well,
that may be true.
I mean, the guy’s got a minor planet
named after him:
‘3723 Voznesenskij.’

And shouldn’t he – after all – be concentrating
on poetry?

So I sent him a message, because
there’s that big blue headline:
“Send a message to Andrei Voznesensky”
and right under it, two golden buttons –
“Contact Directly”
and
“Get Introduced”
(“7 of your trusted connections can introduce you to someone who knows this person”).

And I wrote,
“So Andrei, how’s it hanging?
Hey, what’s with the job in big pharma?
You’re a genius, man, with medals and shit,
And you ought to be writing those pithy poems
that made you famous.
Keep it real, man,
And don’t forget your roots. Hakim”

And a couple days later I got this back:
“Sorry to disappoint you,
but the poet you write about
and I
are not even related.
I hope he is not bothered by people
looking for a prescription.
Dos vedanya, AV”


David Hakim is an assistant director, producer, and publicity expert who developed campaigns for every major Hollywood studio and handled publicity for the Motion Picture Academy. Find him in the Reel Directory online: www.reeldirectory.com.

All material copyright 2008 David Hakim and may not be duplicated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.