06-01-2011, 12:28 AM
Damn Billy, a lot of good insight there.
I fully agree with that. Here's the funny thing, sometimes the poet's intent is horseshit. Sometimes there are layers they are subconsciously putting in that they aren't aware of at the time and when pointed out they feel like their an idiot savant of some kind. In my poem Hood I used these lines:
...her hum
a mouthful of bees.
Not saying they're the greatest ever just I know what I was thinking when I wrote them. For me, it was the sounds and the flow of writing in the moment. It had to be pointed out to me by another person that the bees were a metaphor for the danger this red riding hood / lolita could bring to the "wolf" if she opened her mouth and spoke. I think writers put a lot of subconscious connections into their work which is another reason why they don't own the interpretation after they release it to the world.
Hell, that's true too. I'm reading a book by the NY Times Poetry critic David Orr called Beautiful & Pointless where he relates a story telling a woman what he does for a living and he said her reaction was the equivalent of him saying he dropped bags of kittens into a mulcher all day. Poetry is seen as too personal to critique in some circles--and I agree with you that that kills it in some sense. If everything is "good" nothing is.
And finally, yeah Bukowski mixed bag. I love some of his stuff and can't stand a lot of it. But you're right about this poem...good writing is when the cat is the cat and also something else entirely.
Good thoughts.
Quote:once i write a poem it's no longer mine apart from having the need and ability to edit it should someone point out how i can improve it for me. once the edit is done it's back out there and has to stand on it's own without explanation.
I fully agree with that. Here's the funny thing, sometimes the poet's intent is horseshit. Sometimes there are layers they are subconsciously putting in that they aren't aware of at the time and when pointed out they feel like their an idiot savant of some kind. In my poem Hood I used these lines:
...her hum
a mouthful of bees.
Not saying they're the greatest ever just I know what I was thinking when I wrote them. For me, it was the sounds and the flow of writing in the moment. It had to be pointed out to me by another person that the bees were a metaphor for the danger this red riding hood / lolita could bring to the "wolf" if she opened her mouth and spoke. I think writers put a lot of subconscious connections into their work which is another reason why they don't own the interpretation after they release it to the world.
Quote:it's extremely hard to disagree that blind acceptance is killing poetry,
Hell, that's true too. I'm reading a book by the NY Times Poetry critic David Orr called Beautiful & Pointless where he relates a story telling a woman what he does for a living and he said her reaction was the equivalent of him saying he dropped bags of kittens into a mulcher all day. Poetry is seen as too personal to critique in some circles--and I agree with you that that kills it in some sense. If everything is "good" nothing is.
And finally, yeah Bukowski mixed bag. I love some of his stuff and can't stand a lot of it. But you're right about this poem...good writing is when the cat is the cat and also something else entirely.
Good thoughts.
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson