So April is Poetry Month, as you know, and I'm on a push to get back on track. I'm sitting at 101 poems at this moment, for 2010, on my ostensibly "poem-a-day-on-average" blog. It's called A Pocketful Of Poesy - you should check it out! I recently added an RSS feed link (RSS are read, violets are...never mind). Conceivably, you could never miss out on a poem of mine again.
But anyway, 101 poems for 2010, when anyone with an ounce of math in their brain could tell you we're on day 117 of the year! So that's a bit behind pace. Admittedly, not as bad as last year, when I fell so far behind pace I had to pull out a 104-poem November just to be in reach to hit 365 for the year! That was a pretty epic push. And anybody who wants to claim quality suffers from deadlines - hey. Go read November '09. Those poems stack up right next to my best. That's right. I flow under pressure like the bottom-most layer of a glacier, and many of my poems are exactly that cool and smooth of flow. And some of 'em are about as heavy! So those of you who poo poo my methods can just...!
Um. Excuse me. I seem to have gotten a bit sidetracked. There's really no need for me to be so defensive about my monumental triumphs! Ahem. My apologies.
So anyway, it's early goings yet for 2010, but I'd like to catch back up to the pace I've set for myself. And April being poetry month, the timing couldn't be better. So here's how it's going to happen: 20 poems in a little less than three days.
No hill for a climber! Twenty, or at least 16 poems at any rate. 16 will draw me even with the pace, but I'd like to get a bit ahead of it if I can. So for the rest of April, and then continuing at a more stately pace, those of you who already know you like poems, well damn, now you will damn well know where to go to GO GET THEM! Those of you who aren't sure whether or not you like poems, all I can say is: try some. They're not for everyone, but then neither is bathing. It's a question of degrees of couthe.
Or I guess you could go also here. She's better than I am, to be honest. There are other spots too. Lots of good poets out there! I guess I'd put myself in about the top fiftieth percentile, if I had to rate me.
We artists don't really like to do that.
8 comments:
Your poetry blog is like a box o' chocolates. You never know if the chocolate is going to be filled with mint creme, rum, or ... a grasshopper! But hey, that's the price of volume. And I do think one mark of a true poet is volume. Anyone can write ONE good poem, and be thankful for it, but one good poem does not a poet make.
I know you were being facetious, but I actually agree with you about the glacier thing. When you write a lot of poems, it trains your brain and it starts spitting out poetry spontaneously and you might come up with some of your best stuff. Whereas when you take a break ... well, that's why I haven't written many poems lately.
Reading poetry also helps prime the pump for writing it. So thanks for the link to another poet. I will check it out if I can ever finish writing this comment.
Another way poetry is like a box of chocolates: it's best to eat them one at a time. The first one is great, and makes you want more, but the more you eat in a sitting, the less you are able to enjoy them. This applies to all poetry, now, not you just yours. For me anyway.
"Poems is like a box a' chocolates" ... think THAT could be a poem? ... Nah ...
Jen, do you put your poems up online? I've seen your book review blog & recipe blog but I haven't seen your poetry. See how I try to ensnare others into the seedy world of online poetry. Oh yeah.
I couldn't agree more - volume is really important (I was indeed being a bit facetious as you note, but only in the brag aspect) and how! Write tons, and some stuff that you would never have written at all will be great! And you can always come back for a second try on any ideas that didn't quite fly the first time.
Shit. Unintended rhymes creeping into my prose already. The price of a "poem push"!
So - is the chocolates-poem a request...? :-D
Oh, I also agree with your observation that reading poetry primes the writing pump! But I don't know if I agree on the one-at-a-time, or small portions. Either for chocolates or poems. I tend to get in the mood and then gorge deeply and with keen appreciation!
Mmmmm.
Grasshopper!
I'm giggling at that last one, because it's kind of creepy!
Not a request. More of a threat ... quickly retracted ... I am not going to use that one, so if you want to have a crack at it, go ahead.
I don't have a poetry blog. But just for you, here is probably my favorite poem I ever wrote:
It's not a very sunny day.
I wash the laundry anyway,
and hang it on the nearby trees,
hoping for a breeze.
The doldrums lasted days on end.
It started getting to the men.
Listless they scanned the steely seas,
praying for a breeze.
He felt the winter getting old.
There seemed to be no end to cold.
He searched for crocus on his knees,
waiting for a breeze.
You know, I love 3-stanza poems. I always used to feel (when writing them) that they need another stanza! Can't just stop there. Where's stanza four?
But then I realized that feeling of leaving you waiting for something is exactly what some poems need. Like this one!
Waiting for the breeze.
I love it! What's he want the crocus for? Is he making saffron for the masak?
That's probably ill-used, grammarwise.
No, c'mon. There's no winter in Indonesia. The crocus is just the first flower up in the spring, often poking thru the snow, right?
Is saffron made from crocus pollen, or some other flower?
"Masak" ... yeah, Indonesian grammatical categories are hard to import into English. That's why, in my blog title, I didn't even try. Actually, "masak" or "memasak" is the verb. "Masakan" means cooking, like the product that you can eat. But since I was already mixing languages, I just didn't bother for accuracy. And since so much is lost in translation, I can't even tell you whether the sentence you made is grammatical.
Thanks for not crushing me w/ a devastating critique!
ME a devastating critique? Shoot I hope not!
I wasn't picturing the scene in Indonesia, I was just kind of picturing a universal masak.
Apparently saffron is gotten from a crocus! I'll meditate on that next time I eat at Zach's. They put a lot of saffron in their potatoes and corn beef hash.
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