So I really like the concept behind “From Poem Beginning “The” [Dedication] by Louis Zukofsky even if I didn’t like the rest of the excerpts from the poem and it may be that I didn’t spend enough time taking it apart to satisfy my curiosity. The other poem that is in this collection by Zukofsky is really interesting and quite funny if a person looks at it in a certain way! I mean he is essentially thanking the wash-stand for being there and doing what it is suppose to be doing but in a way that is just really weird. I find it interesting that I find the poem good, I normally can’t stand poems have weird sentence structure but this one I liked.
Out of the selection of poems that are avalible from George Oppen I find that all but two of them are ones that I could forget and not really have it matter to me at all. The two that I like are “Solution” and “From Of Being Numerous”. “Solutions” I find great just because of the imagery it provokes. A puzzle, which took a long time is finally finished all of the hated table is covered, meaning that the puzzle is finally finished and the person who completed it is standing back and looking at it with a sense of accomplishment. As a person who loves puzzles I know that feeling as well as the frustration and a little anger at seeing the table no matter how hard you try to cover it because you still can’t get the puzzle to work the way you want it to. The other poem “From Of Being Numerous” is saved because of the word choice and my connection to those words. The first one word that popped out at me was the word pantheon. It is such an interesting word that I just wonder why it isn’t used a little more. I also liked the line “Are petty alibi and satirical wit”. I like the thoughts those words together provoke; what is a petty alibi? I didn’t know that alibi’s can be petty. I think it would be really interesting to read the entire poem “Of Being Numerous” even if I have no clue how Oppen got from one topic to the other.
Lorine Niedecker is someone that I could give or take. Her rhyming keeps getting in my way. Although I did like “What Horror to Awake at Night” and the idea of Nothing as a person. I find there isn’t much else I can say about her.
I stopped reading “From Holocaust” by Charles Reznikoff because I have to be in a particular frame of mind to read it. Its another poem that showcases the cruelty of people and made all the more gruesome by the fact that it is probably based in reality. That is not my idea of entertainment. It seems to me that Reznikoff is able convey things that most other poets can’t. I don’t know of any other poet that can convey the probable desolation and loneliness of the outside who doesn’t know why s/he is an outsider only that s/he is an outside and will be mocked if s/he goes outside when other people are out there. I really like all of Charles Reznikoff’s poems for different reasons.
Basil Bunting’s “On the Fly-Leaf of Pound’s Cantos” is interesting. It seems like Bunting doesn’t understand the Cantos and is comparing it to the Alps and waiting for it to crumble which isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. Which I think is the point so “Sit down” look at them, study them “and wait for them to crumble!” I also like “What the Chairman Told Tom”. I think I liked it because an accountant doesn’t sweat either and as someone who likes both accounting and poetry it’s an interesting combination.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Poets
Pound is a lot like Whitman, they both seem to flutter from one topic to the next in a poem. Pound does it in a different way than Whitman and I like it a lot better. I really like “The Pact” by Pound. I like it because it encompasses the way I feel about Whitman to an extent even if I’m not quite up to Pound’s standards. “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” is another good poem but I’m not sure how much of it is Pounds words and how much of it is a translation, but it is an interesting poem. It seems that I like a lot of Pound’s shorter pieces. It would be interesting to read “The Cantos” after studying mythology but it is an interesting poem. Overall I like Pound a lot better than I Whitman.
I love the way William Carlos Williams uses words. When I read some of the things he writes it feels like he uses words like a surgeon would use a scalpel. I think my favorite of his is “Sympathetic Portrait of a Child”. The image of a child trying to hide herself in sunlight is one that is interesting, I always think of her trying to hide her true nature or her trying to hide from something that she has seen but can’t because there isn’t a way to hide in the sunlight, only to chase it away with the sunlight.
H.D. is an interesting poet. It’s interesting that he caught what would be obvious if he was alive at the time but ignored now. H.D. captured the love hate relationship people have for anyone or anything that is really beautiful in “Helen”. There are so many things that make me very grateful to be who I am. It is a part of human nature, which we try to ignore, that makes it impossible for us to like someone who makes us want them without them even trying. The beautiful have both the benefits of being beautiful and the hardships. There is hate for things that are beautiful because they are beautiful, a lot of abuse happens because of that. The mother who drowns her daughter because the daughter was raped by the father and the mother got jealous that the husband would like the daughter more than her. There are other poems by H.D. that I really like but I keep coming back to “Helen” because it strips everything down to human nature and specific things that we like to pretend isn’t in everyone. Envy, hate, love, and how it is all intertwined.
T.S. Eliot is someone that I want time to read. I read his poem but didn’t have a chance to let it sing in as much as it necessarily should. His work is interesting and I do like some of the way he uses words but I’m not a big fan of the poems as a whole. I’m not sure why though which is why I want time to read him.
I love the way William Carlos Williams uses words. When I read some of the things he writes it feels like he uses words like a surgeon would use a scalpel. I think my favorite of his is “Sympathetic Portrait of a Child”. The image of a child trying to hide herself in sunlight is one that is interesting, I always think of her trying to hide her true nature or her trying to hide from something that she has seen but can’t because there isn’t a way to hide in the sunlight, only to chase it away with the sunlight.
H.D. is an interesting poet. It’s interesting that he caught what would be obvious if he was alive at the time but ignored now. H.D. captured the love hate relationship people have for anyone or anything that is really beautiful in “Helen”. There are so many things that make me very grateful to be who I am. It is a part of human nature, which we try to ignore, that makes it impossible for us to like someone who makes us want them without them even trying. The beautiful have both the benefits of being beautiful and the hardships. There is hate for things that are beautiful because they are beautiful, a lot of abuse happens because of that. The mother who drowns her daughter because the daughter was raped by the father and the mother got jealous that the husband would like the daughter more than her. There are other poems by H.D. that I really like but I keep coming back to “Helen” because it strips everything down to human nature and specific things that we like to pretend isn’t in everyone. Envy, hate, love, and how it is all intertwined.
T.S. Eliot is someone that I want time to read. I read his poem but didn’t have a chance to let it sing in as much as it necessarily should. His work is interesting and I do like some of the way he uses words but I’m not a big fan of the poems as a whole. I’m not sure why though which is why I want time to read him.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Four
This is a new poem that I thought would be a part of my chapbook but it is a first draft.
Done in four,
That was my promise
To myself.
Done in four,
Despite the fact
That it was intended for five,
That is what I did.
Done in four,
Means I graduate
With minimal liabilities and
at the age of 21.
Done in four,
That was my promise.
That is what I did.
Done in four,
I overloaded many terms
My grades suffered,
Yet I still have a 3.0.
Done in four
This is my last
And it is done.
Done in four
And then done
At least for a while.
Done in four
Then I leave
Protests aside.
Done in four
Slightly singed and
Drowsily awake.
Done in four
Ready for a break while
Acknowledging my affliction.
Done in four,
That was my promise
To myself.
Done in four,
Despite the fact
That it was intended for five,
That is what I did.
Done in four,
Means I graduate
With minimal liabilities and
at the age of 21.
Done in four,
That was my promise.
That is what I did.
Done in four,
I overloaded many terms
My grades suffered,
Yet I still have a 3.0.
Done in four
This is my last
And it is done.
Done in four
And then done
At least for a while.
Done in four
Then I leave
Protests aside.
Done in four
Slightly singed and
Drowsily awake.
Done in four
Ready for a break while
Acknowledging my affliction.
Limited Freedom - I haven't thought of a better title yet
So the following poem is the poem that got me thinking about what my chapbook should be about. I was thinking about the title and theme of my book be Decisions - Consequence.
The poem is one that still needs some work but I still really like it!
So here it is!
Limited freedom crawled to liberty.
Kneeling in front of the refined Elite
Whose merciless cruelty punished
Forcing submission and obedience.
Surrendering right, deferring to wrong
Complacent to the lawful regulations.
Chained to discipline and reprimand
Castrating respect and reverence
Penalizing righteous disobedience
Chastising regard
Failing to yield and comply.
Until finally vultures
Force mine to their knees
Bowing to obligatory religion
And complying with the rebuke
Abiding the forced obedience
Skinning people of thoughts and rights.
Discrimination down to a science
Thoughts as the enemy
Savage brutality the pastime chosen
Leaving kindness and hospitality
To fraternize with decimated freedom.
Murdering anything and everything
Enjoying the awful sensation
Of a person’s last desperate breath
Drawn with deep gasping gulps.
Compromise racing to capitulate
Obstructions shoved toward the dead
Ignoring the alleged good
Embracing conflict and abuse
Delighted with war and death.
Hope beaten, crushed
Society viciously shoved into violence
Enjoyment twisted and contorted
Until the possibility of benevolence
Lost to sadism.
Limited freedom’s humbleness caused
Enlightenments thoughtless cruelty and contortion
But stayed death
Despite the gleeful effort of the Elite.
Any suggestions that you have would be very helpful!
The poem is one that still needs some work but I still really like it!
So here it is!
Limited freedom crawled to liberty.
Kneeling in front of the refined Elite
Whose merciless cruelty punished
Forcing submission and obedience.
Surrendering right, deferring to wrong
Complacent to the lawful regulations.
Chained to discipline and reprimand
Castrating respect and reverence
Penalizing righteous disobedience
Chastising regard
Failing to yield and comply.
Until finally vultures
Force mine to their knees
Bowing to obligatory religion
And complying with the rebuke
Abiding the forced obedience
Skinning people of thoughts and rights.
Discrimination down to a science
Thoughts as the enemy
Savage brutality the pastime chosen
Leaving kindness and hospitality
To fraternize with decimated freedom.
Murdering anything and everything
Enjoying the awful sensation
Of a person’s last desperate breath
Drawn with deep gasping gulps.
Compromise racing to capitulate
Obstructions shoved toward the dead
Ignoring the alleged good
Embracing conflict and abuse
Delighted with war and death.
Hope beaten, crushed
Society viciously shoved into violence
Enjoyment twisted and contorted
Until the possibility of benevolence
Lost to sadism.
Limited freedom’s humbleness caused
Enlightenments thoughtless cruelty and contortion
But stayed death
Despite the gleeful effort of the Elite.
Any suggestions that you have would be very helpful!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Late
Due to the fact that I have been sick for the last couple of days I haven’t gotten online to do my blog although I have been thinking about it.
I have already made my opinion on Walt Whitman clear and in case you don’t know it, I think he is an egotistical bastard. That aside I do appreciate what his work lead to even if I don’t like his work myself. I do like the detail he goes into and the way he lists things he sees but I hate how he jumps from one topic to the next. I feel like I’m missing the bigger picture and that is what I want to see and instead I’m betting snapshots that don’t line up and there are gaps that I cannot fill because there is no understanding of what is in those gaps.
My opinion on Emily Dickinson is the exact opposite. I do so love her stuff. There has yet to be something of hers that I didn’t like. Either because of the imagery she uses or the subject she is writing about; a headache is no longer just a headache but a funeral in a brain. I’m not sure if that is really what she was talking about but that is what I think of when I read that poem.
The two people that we were told to read, Stein and Loy are vast opposites. Out of the two I like Mina Loy the best. Her play on words that bring to mind ideas and images, which I know aren’t normal for someone reading her poems. For example, in her poem “Brancusi’s Golden Bird” there is a footnote about the Alpha and the Omega which references Jesus, in my mind I see werewolves both the top and the bottom of the pack thrown together to make this toy. The best of both the top and the bottom and coming up with the best of everything. You can tell I really like Science Fiction. But to me that makes more sense that it having to do with Jesus, so that’s what I see and it still makes sense to me in the context and I like the poem all the more for it! I would love to have a toy that is the perfect form of a werewolf, the best parts taken from the alpha and the omega.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is Gertrude Stein makes my head ache and me wonder if I read the last line or if I’m rereading a different line. I can understand and appreciate what she was doing with the repetition but that doesn’t make it any easier to stand. Luckily the only time I see that to the point of making me want to shoot myself is in “Picasso”. However like Walt Whitman she flutters from one topic to another, giving snapshots that don’t touch. I think I’ll have to set it down and read it again to even begin to understand her. Once I do I might even like her but until then I will say that I don’t really like her poems.
I have already made my opinion on Walt Whitman clear and in case you don’t know it, I think he is an egotistical bastard. That aside I do appreciate what his work lead to even if I don’t like his work myself. I do like the detail he goes into and the way he lists things he sees but I hate how he jumps from one topic to the next. I feel like I’m missing the bigger picture and that is what I want to see and instead I’m betting snapshots that don’t line up and there are gaps that I cannot fill because there is no understanding of what is in those gaps.
My opinion on Emily Dickinson is the exact opposite. I do so love her stuff. There has yet to be something of hers that I didn’t like. Either because of the imagery she uses or the subject she is writing about; a headache is no longer just a headache but a funeral in a brain. I’m not sure if that is really what she was talking about but that is what I think of when I read that poem.
The two people that we were told to read, Stein and Loy are vast opposites. Out of the two I like Mina Loy the best. Her play on words that bring to mind ideas and images, which I know aren’t normal for someone reading her poems. For example, in her poem “Brancusi’s Golden Bird” there is a footnote about the Alpha and the Omega which references Jesus, in my mind I see werewolves both the top and the bottom of the pack thrown together to make this toy. The best of both the top and the bottom and coming up with the best of everything. You can tell I really like Science Fiction. But to me that makes more sense that it having to do with Jesus, so that’s what I see and it still makes sense to me in the context and I like the poem all the more for it! I would love to have a toy that is the perfect form of a werewolf, the best parts taken from the alpha and the omega.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is Gertrude Stein makes my head ache and me wonder if I read the last line or if I’m rereading a different line. I can understand and appreciate what she was doing with the repetition but that doesn’t make it any easier to stand. Luckily the only time I see that to the point of making me want to shoot myself is in “Picasso”. However like Walt Whitman she flutters from one topic to another, giving snapshots that don’t touch. I think I’ll have to set it down and read it again to even begin to understand her. Once I do I might even like her but until then I will say that I don’t really like her poems.
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