Merwin Versus Zapruder: Cage Match!

While our September Poetry Book Club discussion on Frank Bidart's Star Dust is going strong, we have a glitch in selecting next month's book. There is a tie, despite the high number of votes.

The showdown is between W.S. Merwin's Migration and Matthew Zapruder's The Pajamaist. So, I am putting up a 3 day poll to settle the dispute. Vote for your favorite by Tuesday, October 2! May the better book win!

Weekly Word Count, September 23-September 29

Nada. Zip. Zero. But, I have a good excuse.

I remain at 22,976 for the year.

Web Communities

Just a note -- I noticed that my page was loading really slow, and lo and behold, it was due to all of the different webrings and communities badges on my main page. So I have created a new post for each of these communities, backdated them all to January 1, 2006, and created a link on my sidebar to see all of these different organizations. I don't mean to downplay the positive effect these different communities have played in leading readers to my site. I just want my page to load normally. If you would like to see any of the places I have joined, click on the sidebar link or click on the web communities label at the bottom of this post. Thanks!

Unpoetic

Did Emily Dickinson or Edna St. Vincent Millay ever have days (weeks) where they didn't feel poetic? Where they just were bone tired and didn't have the energy to see things with the lyric eye? I suppose, this could be why one was a recluse and the other was a drug addict, but I have a feeling it's not.

This week is the week where I have two jobs. I still have one week of teaching left at the old job, and I've begun working at the new job. So I work for two hours in the morning at the new job, leave at 11:30, commute for half an hour, teach for two hours, commute for another half an hour, then work for three hours at the new job. Gulp.

So all this driving, sitting at computers, last minute grading, completing of human resources paper work, and meeting new coworkers, has left me drooling on the couch, watching all the new must see shows for the fall. (Chuck and Reaper weren't half bad, even if I was in a drooling state. Or perhaps because I was in a drooling state.)

I want to write poems. I have the desire, somewhere deep in my body. I had inspiration -- both Writers Island and the Traveling Poetry Show are giving me prompts galore. But, mostly, I just want to relax and drool.

So, I think tonight, I'm going to try this exercise out of Julia Cameron's The Right to Write. (I've been reading it for a week. It's kind of her "Just Do It" mantra book, so far.) I'm paraphrasing her directions: In order to get in touch with the writerly side, find a quiet place to sit, and number a list from 1 to 100. Then, fill the list with things that you love. Then, post the list at your writing desk.

I think I'll try it before falling into bed. If it doesn't work, I should snap out of this by Friday, my last day at the old job.

Poetry Book Club Discussion: Frank Bidart's Star Dust

Here is our discussion post for the September Poetry Book Club Selection -- Frank Bidart's Star Dust.

I'll start by posting the same questions I always do, plus a couple of new ones.

Discussion Questions

Overall, did you like the book? What about it did you like?

Were there specific poems that spoke to you? Which ones? Why?

Was there anything that confused you about the overall book? What was it?

Were there any individual poems that confused you?

The stated theme of the book is the human need for creation and work. Which poems best carried out that theme? Was the theme clear to you?

How would you describe the author's style? How did he use language to convey images, ideas, or voice?

How would you describe the structure of the book? Did you see any sense of movement or progression from one poem to the next?

Would you choose to read this author again? Why or why not?


I think that's a good start. I'm going to post my own answers later today, after work, but feel free to comment or leave any extra information about your experience reading the book in the comment section.

Enjoy!

5-10 Question Meme

I just read this memeover on Stoney Moss. Both Whirling Dervish and ...deb had some really interesting answers to the following questions, which of course, encouraged me to try it out. They originally found the meme on Poefrika, Rethabile's site. If you try it out on your own blog, be sure to leave Rethabile a comment.

1. Who's your hero? Why (Not necessarily a writer -- do not include deities or family)?

Since I just wroteabout Ani DiFranco yesterday, so I'm not choosing her, although she definitely is one of my heroes.

Other than her, I would have to say that my advisor from graduate school is one of my heroes. Deborah Keenan is a wonderful example of how a woman can be a wife, mother, poet, and teacher in an honorable and honoring way. She spends so many hours working on other people's writing, through her role as professor and theater advisor, yet still has time to raise her kids, write her poetry, and have a semblance of a life. Although I'm not sure if she would agree that it is as easy as she makes it look.

2. Who's your favourite dead poet? Which of their poem do you like best?

So many dead poets to choose from! I would have to say that Sylvia Plath has to be one of my favorite poets of all time. Not because of her dramatic life, although that is interesting, but because she was a technical genius. While I love many of her poems, I would have to say that Tulips is one of my favorites. She extends this beautiful and grotesque image of the tulips as mouths which is just haunting.

3. What well-known poet/writer have you met? What was the occasion?

I have been pretty lucky in my young adult life to meet several poets, mostly through my undergraduate school's excellent English Department. (Hooray for small hippie liberal art colleges with excellent visiting writer programs.) Two instances really stick out in my life.

First, as a junior, Denise Levertov was a visiting writer for a semester, and I took a class with her. This was maybe 6-8 months before she passed away from cancer. Not to speak ill of the dead, but she was both brilliant and terrifying.

She asked to read our poems and then met with us all individually to give us a critique. I turned in several poems, including a couple of attempts at sestinas. (I was so proud that I was able to use all 6 words at the end of each line in each stanza -- it took me days.) When I arrived to my meeting, she was mostly kind to me, until we got to the sestinas. She said, "Well, these are almost sestinas," and handed them back to me dismissively. I went home and looked up the form, only to realize that I didn't use the super special order for each of the end words; I just stuck them in when they worked. Despite her slight callousness, she taught me so much about metrics and reading poetry, that I still read back on her essays to this day.

Secondly, when I was a senior, Quincy Troupe came to a reading at our school and I was selected, along with a friend, to have dinner with him and one other student and the entire English faculty. I read his book, Avalanche, as a way to prepare. I was so knocked away by his book that I became incredibly intimidated as the time came for the dinner. During the dinner, I was dumbstruck, as was my friend. The third students monopolized the conversation, and really networked quite well, in retrospect. I only said one word to him, the entire night. Minneapolis. This was after he asked me where I was from, as we were leaving the restaurant. He commented that it was a lovely city, and that he had read at the Loft several times. That was the entire conversation.


4. How do you recognise a bad poem? What are its characteristics?

I hate to sound relativist, but I don't know if there are bad poems. Certainly, I have read and written some clunkers, filled with cliche, stilted, awkward language and mixed metaphors. However, I think that poetic expression is so fleeting these days that any attempt at elevating our language to the poetic is a risk and a challenge, and should be honored. Therefore, I will skirt the question to say that there are a) poems that don't appeal to me personally but may appeal to others, b) poems that have a burning ember of quality, covered in layers and layers of bad or sloppy language, or c) poems that have good language but not a great idea.

Recognizing the first one is easy. I can identify the qualities that make it a good poem to others (fresh language, interesting metrical tools) but I might not care for the subject or the style. I take it as a learning experience and move on, both as a writer and reader.

Recognizing the second kind is more difficult. I can see the idea, even for a fleeting second, but can be distracted from the sloppiness or poor language or convoluted imagery. When it is my own, I feel like I need to dust off the layers of thought and language, to reveal what lies beneath. Hopefully, if I can see the initial impulse for the poem, I can reconnect with the meaning and rebuild.

The third kind is my least favorite as a writer, because I can spend the most amount of time on them. I call this polishing a turd. I will take that poem, that seems to have some sort of freshness or creativity to it, and continuously rework it, in the hopes that it becomes good. It never does, because frankly, not all of my initial impulses are genius. Sometimes, I have crappy ideas. :)

5. Why are some poems entitled untitled? What's your take on that?

Personally, I like to title my poems, as a tool for the reader to add another layer of meaning. However, I hate the act of titling my poems, because it's hard. I often over-title and show my hand way too early. This is an awful habit to break.

One of my favorite all time poets, Emily Dickinson, never titled any of her poems. She either didn't need to or didn't want to, and frankly her meaning is clear without them. A title would just way them down.

From a marketing point of view, a title on a poem is a tool. It's so we don't have to say, "this is my one about..." at readings and in cover letters to journals.

Weekly Word Count, September 16-September 22

Another good writing week -- dare I call it a roll?

759 words, for my review for the October issue of the Uptown Neighborhood News.

22,976 for the year.