The Poetic "I"

[rayheinrich]

Why "I"?
Because Leanne remonstrates against me when I use "me" 'subjectively'.

BTW: I normally use "i" as lower-case 11-point Courier New.

Approximate usage figures:
(These figures include "me" and various other personal pronouns.)

1% - square root of -1.

35% autobiographical "i" - (associated with) reality.

25% autobiographical "i", - pastiche of reality and fiction.

10% autobiographical "i", - Kleenex of lies.

10% authorial "i".

20% implied, encrypted, metaphorical, apocryphal, et al "i".

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And regarding bringing a third person into the damn thing
(which relates, of course, to the 'why "I"' topic):

I use cohorts of "i"'s in support of my legions of "you"'s because
I dislike 3rd person. (And, BTW, much prefer the present tense).

Though 3rd person can be useful, it's usually too distant,
abstract for the type of poetry I like to write. My poems
mostly involve speaking directly to another person. Using 2nd
person makes it easier for the reader to assume/pretend that this
person is them [stated the singular 'they' proponent]). But what
else would you expect from someone whose favorite poems are
ones about love (in all its permutations, varieties, and senses
including frogs, toasters, and charm-type quarks).