The Professionalization of Poetry...It's Okay

I’ve thought a little bit more about Mattix’s article “Poetry and Subsidies: Is Materialism Ruining Creativity?” Although Mattix seems to be asserting, along with several sub-points (jabs at the avant-garde, the need for riskier poetry that is against the commercialization of art, etc., etc.), that: poetry is waning because there’s too much money thrown at mediocre poets through prizes, subsidies, grants, lectureships, and professorships.

After re-reading the article it feels like an anti-academic criticism; after all who funds the majority of the prizes, subsidies, grants, lectureships, and professorships: universities and well-funded non-profit arts organizations who often have some ties to universities. I think what Mattix is talking about is the professionalization of poetry, which essentially means that the proliferation of creative writing programs necessitates professional poets (who of course have other skills…namely teaching lit, comp, etc.).

So, a poet who loves writing and has a passion for poetry and/or literature might postulate “I should teach” and off they go to build a resume to achieve that objective. But how is this any different than any other profession. I work for a bank. How does one move up in the bank:

• They take an entry level position selling residential loans or running a depository branch, get really good at selling residential loans, etc., etc.: top producer, awards dinners, plaques in office, etc.
• They get promoted to lower level management
• Go back to school and get MBA
• They get promoted to mid-level management: more accolades, awards dinners, more responsibility and more visibility
• And they eventually get promoted to senior level management and somewhere along they way they might have to get a little more education to sweeten the deal

The prizes, subsidies, grants, lectureships, and professorships help build a prospective “professional poets” resume along with, of course, publications. I don’t think “contemporary poetry works like a Ponzi scheme operated by the academic world” (sorry BJ) because this kind of “resume building” is prevalent in any occupation. So, “resume building” is expected for those that want to teach creative writing in academia and I still have faith that the prizes, grants, and publications are available to academic and non-academic alike because quality poetry will always rise to the surface whether an MFA student or teacher poet or established god/goddess of poetry or a poet outside academia is writing the poetry. My only concerns are:

A. That poetry becomes elitist: that bad poets make all the decisions or non-poets make all the decisions regarding prizes, grants, publications, funding of creative writing programs.
B. That those poets operating within “the hallowed walls” (sorry if this offends anybody…I’m not anti-academic) of academia are writing poetry for resume building as opposed to writing because they must.
I think to some degree the surge in small, grassroots presses helps counter concern A. There are many small presses that are producing wonderful work and two that have supremely impressed me are Black Ocean Press and Octopus Books. For example, I am not at all stylistically similar to Eric Baus but his work challenges me, inspires me, makes me feel good after I read it. I’ve read The To Sound twice and finished Tuned Droves about a month ago. And as BJ puts it, there are plenty of poets writing from outside academia to give proper balance to contemporary poetry:

There are scads of poets living and working outside of academia, and these voices are quickly becoming the voices recognized as contemporary poetry. They are voices that aren't being called upon to fill job requirements, in fact, they are voices that exist despite job requirements, motivated by no other desire than to make poetry that people want to read, or, in the very least, that we want to read again later. They are voices that don't have to exist, but do…

I don’t know if they are being “recognized as contemporary poetry” but they are being recognized and are evolving into a more essential component of contemporary poetry. And I like the idea of being “motivated by no other desire than to make poetry…” This is really what I’m after…to make poetry and equally important to ingest poetry (metaphorically of course…unless said poetry is chocolate in nature or Starburst jelly beans in taste).

So, in conclusion for tonight, I don't believe materialism is ruining poetry.

Making It Commercially

This post was going to be a response to John Gallaher's post about an article by Micah Mattix's article Poetry and Subsidies which was partially in response to Tom Bethell's article in The American Spectator. But my response got a little to big for its britches so, since I haven't posted in a while, I decided to post my response here.

I honestly think, if Mattix is interpreting Bethell accurately, that Bethell is off kilter…as is Mattix. Sure prizes, subsidies, grants, lectureships and professorships may be bureaucratic and careerist in nature but who cares. Is the world that bad off having more poetry in it due to the prizes, subsidies, etc.?

Micah Mattix’s suggestion that there’s a possibility of “making it commercially” in poetry is pretty ridiculous. With the exception of a few poets who have achieved a little “commercial” success such as Ai, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou, poetry is not a profitable endeavor and thus using the phrase “making it commercially” feels asinine.

Unfortunately, like many contemporary arguments about the “decline of poetry,” I feel that Mattix assumes that poetry “is” waning before proving it “is” waning, which is to say, “poetry is waning” seems like one of his premises, while at the same time being his conclusion. This is probably confusing but suffice it to say, I am not convinced that poetry is in fact waning.

If the prizes, subsidies, grants, lectureships and professorships were reduced to reduce the amount of mediocre poetry wouldn’t this be similar to what Collins jokingly suggested a few years back: that the NEA pay poets to not write to reduce the mediocrity in contemporary poetry. This, in my opinion, seems to lead to elitism.

I like Mattix’s conclusion though, that critics need to do a better job of finding good poetry.

Ultimately though, I say who cares. These kinds of things tend to take care of themselves. Time causes the dross to rise to the surface and eventually it’s scraped off. But of course this may be too simplistic a conclusion and doesn’t mean that I believe thoughtful dialogue about the state of contemporary poetry shouldn’t exist.

Out on a Friday Night

Megan, I, and the boys went out to Minsky's Pizza tonight. It has been a long week and neither Megan nor I were up to going through the normal routine of preparing dinner. It was a pleasant little family dinner minus, of course, sitting right next to the entrance.

In a little bit Megan and I are going to watch The Duchess. We tried to watch Appaloosa earlier this week but could not watch all of it. I don't think it was a bad movie; it kind of reminded me of old school westerns: very plain, straightforward dialogue, clear bad guys and good guys, a woman who vies for the affection of the rugged gun slinger. But I kind of got bored which was too bad since I love Ed Harris, Jeremy Irons, and Viggo Mortensen.

Oh, and before we watch The Duchess I'm going to run out and get fixings for Cosmopolitans. No, I don't drink Cosmopolitans but Megan likes them and she's in the mood for martinis. So, I'm going to attempt to make my first martinis tonight. It could get ugly.

I'm getting three Tupperware containers full of encyclopedias tomorrow. And my parents are visiting which should be fun. And I'm going to the Apple store in "The Plaza" or "The Plaaaaza" to price a new computer.

David Kirby

I went to David Kirby's reading at the Kansas City Art Institute tonight. There was a fairly large turnout...mostly art institute students through. I've read Kirby's work before and it is littered with obscure (and less obscure) literary and pop culture references. He has a very stream of consciousness style which can be difficult to follow but very rewarding if you stick with the poem. But hearing him read the poems brought the poems I've read to life and added an even greater texture to the language, narrative, etc. David Kirby appears to love language, narrative, story-telling, pop culture, literature, and he has tones of fun with each of them as he weaves in-and-out of different threads within the same poem. It was fun listening to him read. The reading made me appreciate his work a whole lot more...so much so that I bought his most recent book: The House on Boulevard Street: New and Selected Poems (LSU press).

The Party Monkey

Today I felt a little out of sorts. I still had "the party monkey" on my back as one of my co-workers put it. Although there are some naysayers regarding AWP I had an excellent time. My top 10 highlights:

1. Hanging out with BJ and MD drinking beer, single malt McCallan's, and eating good food.
2. Buying John Gallaher's Map of the Folded World (I also bought Heather Derr-Smith's The Bride Minaret and Ashley Capps' Mistaking the Sea for Green Fields from the University of Akron Press and look forward to reading all three...thanks to Mary Biddinger for her recommendations on Derr-Smith and Capps).
3. Walking 20 blocks in the wrong direction attempting to find the Rabbit Lights Live reading at New Wave Coffee, walking 20 blocks back to the Empty Bottle, and then another 6-8 blocks before BJ, MD, and I gave up. It was an adventure.
4. Drinking beers with BJ and MD at Blueline after walking around for 2 hours after attending No Thousands: A Small Press Reading and attempting to find the Rabbit Lights Live reading.
5. The Poets of American Hybrid reading: Peter Gizzi was amazing.
6. The More Than a Collection: Imagining and Realizing Thematic Poetry Projects panel. Oliver De La Paz, Jake Adam York, and Sean Nevin were great. This was one of the most professional, articulate, and helpful panels I've been to at AWP. Great job...my favorites were ODLP, JAY, and SN.
   
7. Hanging out with BJ, MD, FK, etc. at BJ's place in Hyde Park which happens to be 2 blocks from where Barack Obama lives and he happened to be at home for the weekend which meant that the street leading to his house had no parked cars. That's a little tid bit that made me feel warm and fuzzy...but that could have been the Knob Creek.
8. Buying Brandi Homan's Hard Reds: it feels good to know there's a published Marshalltown poet or poet from Marshalltown.
9. The University of Missouri-Kansas City/New Letters reading featuring Robert Stewart, Michael Pritchett, Christie Hodgen, Hadara Bar-Nadav, and Michelle Boisseau. Christie's story kicked ass as did Michelle's and Hadara's poetry. The whole thing was really great!!! Thanks for hanging in there BJ and MD.
   
10. Falling asleep at 2:30 AM on Friday night after a day and night of drinking McCallan's single malt and beer. I snored while BJ and MD chatted away until 4:30 AM. O, AWP.

Thanks for the great time BJ and MD. And thanks for having us over to your apartment Anne. Also, it was great seeing Friedrich again.

Misery

Check out your misery index. It looks like we're mildly miserable in Missouri. Although Kansas City is ranked better than Chicago. Kansas City is ranked 92nd; whereas Chicago is ranked 159th. But of course this is not a joking matter...things kind of stink right now and the media is fanning the flames everyday.

Tonight is going to entail the following:

1. Watch a little Lord of the Rings with Elijah and Gavin
2. After Elijah and Gavin go to bed I'm going to drink a few beers
3. I am going to drink a few more beers and either watch The Duchess or The Namesake with Megan

I finished another rough draft this morning: "After Watching Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" which of course is based partially on the incidents after watching Nightmare at 20,000 Feet with Elijah and Gavin.

Four days left. I'm going shopping this weekend. Guess what I'm shopping for?

2009 Poetry Tournament, Eastern Region Round 2 continued

Here's Eastern Region Round 2 for Group 2:

Jean-Paul Pecqueur, "Truth"
vs.
Mark Bibbins, "Just Yesterday"

WINNER: Jean-Paul Pecqueur, "Truth" - this is somehwhat of an upset because I've read Bibbins before and thoroughly enjoyed sky lounge but upon reading "Truth" a third time in the last week I saw thing I did not see in previous readings.

* * *

Nancy Krygowski, "This Loss, Any:"
vs.
A. Loudermilk, "Daring Love"

WINNER: Nancy Krygowski, "This Loss, Any:"

* * *

So here's the final 4 for the Eastern Region:

Joan Houlihan, "Squall Line"
vs.
Joshua Beckman, "Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter"

and

Jean-Paul Pecqueur, "Truth"
vs.
Nancy Krygowski, "This Loss, Any:"

Ahhh, the things I do to pass the time. I think I might do a post-AWP poetry tournament involving all the poetry books I purchase at AWP.

2009 Poetry Tournament, Eastern Region Round 2

Here's Round 2 for Group 1 from the Eastern Region bracket:

Joan Houlihan, "Squall Line"
vs.
Jim Daniels, "The Dark Planet"

WINNER: Joan Houlihan, "Squall Line"

* * *

Joshua Beckman, "Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter"
vs.
Anthony McCann, "Father of Noise Ceremony"

WINNER: Joshua Beckman, "Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter" - I think BJ's right: Beckman is going to be hard to beat. His poem is pretty awesome.

* * *

Tomorrow we will move on to Round 2 for Group 2 from the Eastern Region bracket and then we will be down to our final four. The poets competing in Round 2 for Group 2 are:

Nancy Krygowski, "This Loss, Any:"
vs.
A. Loudermilk, "Daring Love"

and

Mark Bibbins, "Just Yesterday"
vs.
Jean-Paul Pecqueur, "Truth"

I can't believe I just used the words "poet" and "competing" in the same sentence because I'm idealistic and don't want to believe poet's would ever compete amongst one another. Of course, my idealism is bull shit because whether poets like to admit it or not they either overtly and secretly compete with each other quite frequently.

I keep referring this poetry tournament thing as the "Eastern Region bracket" because all of these poets were or still are from the east coast: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, etc. Plus, I like to think of this as my own little private "NCAA-like" tournament only with poetry.

Tuesday Tid Bits

This is the dialogue between my wife, Brayden (my youngest son who is turning 3 in 19 days), and I the other night (keep in mind my son has never said "I love you" to either of us because he's stubborn):

MEGAN: I love Brayden. Who do you love Brayden?

BRAYDEN: I love mommy.

MEGAN: No, I love Brayden.

BRAYDEN: I love mommy.

ME: What about me? I love Brayden. Do you love me Brayden?

BRAYDEN (taking his eyes off of me and slowly turning his gaze towards Megan): I love mommy.

MEGAN: Don't you love daddy?

BRAYDEN: I love mommy.

ME: C'mon. I love Brayden. I love Brayden. What do you say Brayden? Do you love daddy?

BRAYDEN: I love Brayden.

Megan laughed. Brayden laughed. I cried. No, actually I laughed too.

* * *

My other son Gavin (7 years old) said two hilarious things during our farkle game tonight:

1. He told Megan and I that when he visits are tombs some day that he's going to put chicken on my tomb because I eat meat and vegtables on Megan's tomb because she's a vegetarian.
2. He also said that his stuffed otter, which he has called baby for years, is the son of God and that his baby is just waiting to take God's place when he wants a break.

* * *

BJ made me aware of this awesome off-site reading during AWP:

6:00PM-9:00PMThe Burning Chair Readings: Ahsahta Press & Typo
Location: The Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave
Cost: Cover charge TBD by venue
Website: http://www.typomag.com/burningchair
Poetry readings from Carrie Olivia Adams, Ben Doller, Kathleen Jesme, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, Alex Lemon, Barbara Maloutas, Rusty Morrison, G.E. Patterson, Marvyn Petrucci, & Stephanie Strickland.

I'm familiar with Carrie Olivia Adams, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hilman, and Alex Lemon. And I look forward to familiarizing myself with the rest.

* * *

Farkle Standings
Gavin - 19
Jon - 18
Elijah - 16
Megan - 13

2009 Poetry Tournament, Eastern Region Round 1 continued

Here's Group 2 for round 1:

Jeffrey Levine, "Blisses"
vs.
Nancy Krygowski, "This Loss, Any:"

WINNER: Nancy Krygowski, "This Loss, Any:"

* * *

A. Loudermilk, "Daring Love"
vs.
Alessandra Lynch, "Birthday"

WINNER: A. Loudermilk, "Daring Love"

* * *
Sarah Hannah, "The Garden As She Left It"
vs.
Mark Bibbins, "Just Yesterday"

WINNER: Mark Bibbins, "Just Yesterday" - Mark Bibbins is pretty freaking awesome. Reading this poem makes me want to read sky lounge again. And since I've read sky lounge before Sarah Hannah's poem was probably at a disadvantage since I haven't read Inflorescence before. You could call it bad refereeing.

* * *

Jean-Paul Pecqueur, "Truth"
vs.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, "One Bit"

WINNER: Jean-Paul Pecqueur, "Truth" - I can't really say anything about this one. This was an upset. I loved Aimee Nezhukumatathil's At the Drive-In Valcano and thought she'd win this won. But alas, Jean-Paul is the winner.

* * *

On to round 2.

2009 Poetry Tournament, Eastern Region Round 1

You could call this Round 1, Group 1 since it's only the first 8 poets. But since I'm a little short of time I'll have to have Round 1, Group 2 tomorrow or Tuesday. But here you go (I hope this captures the essence of Schomburg's fun poetry tournament exercise):

* * *

Ethan Paquin, "[people are/wherever there's clouds/starry curvature]"

vs.
Joshua Beckman, "Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter"

WINNER: Joshua Beckman, "Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter"

* * *

Anthony McCann, "Father of Noise Ceremony"
vs.
Ellen Dudley, "The Bats"

WINNER: Anthony McCann, "Father of Noise Ceremony" - it was close but McCann nailed the ending like a gymnast nailing a dismount from a pommel horse.

* * *

Rod Smith, "the egret says..."
vs.
Joan Houlihan, "Squall Line"

WINNER: Joan Houlihan, "Squall Line"

* * *

Susan Grimm, "Green Wave"
vs.
Jim Daniels, "The Dark Planet"

WINNER: Jim Daniels, "The Dark Planet" - this one was close as well but its hard to compete with Daniels' ending:

"A smudge at memory's edge: love's
tender silence. Footsteps." (ll. 9-10)

I really love the simple yet stark language alongside the haunting footsteps.

* * *

So, the forthcoming Round 2 for the first group will be:

Joshua Beckman, "Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter"
vs.
Anthony McCann, "Father of Noise Ceremony"

and

Joan Houlihan, "Squall Line"
vs.
Jim Daniels, "The Dark Planet"

The host city will be Syracuse, NY for Group 1 (this is a NCAA hoops reference).

2009 Poetry Tournament

A few months ago Zachary Schomburg posted a poetry tournament. I can't find the post; perhaps BJ can help. The concept was simple: set up a bracket (probably 16) of contemporary poets from your personal library, read the first (i.e., opening) poem from their book and which ever poem is best moves on until a champion is crowned. I hope this is an adequate description.

I have chosen poets from the east coast for my first poetry tournament. So, if this were a "March madness" type poetry tournament this would be the Eastern Region bracket.

This will be my distraction for the next 1 1/2 weeks so that I'm not distracted by the looming trip to AWP in Chicago when, as Marc and I talked about today, us adults get to go on vacation and indulge by staying up late and drinking lots of beer.

Here are the poets from the Eastern Regional bracket and the corresponding book that the first poem will come from:

Ethan Paquin, The Violence
Joshua Beckman, Things Are Happening
Anthony McCann, Father of Noise
Ellen Dudley, The Geographic Cure
Rod Smith, Deed
Susan Grimm, Lake Erie Blue
Jeffrey Levine, Mortal, Everlasting
Nancy Krygowski, Velocity
Alessandra Lynch, it was a terrible cloud at twilight.
A. Loudermilk, Strange Valentine
Sarah Hannah, Inflorescence
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, miracle fruit
Jim Daniels, Night with Drive-By Shooting Stars
Joan Houlihan, The Mending Worm
Mark Bibbins, sky lounge
Jean-Paul Pecqueur, The Case Against Happiness

I will post the first round tomorrow (hopefully...time permitting). This ought to fun, entertaining, and something nerdy to pass the time.

My Friday Night

My sons (Gavin and Elijah) are in Boy Scouts. So, this is what I did on Friday night:

Elijah's Boa constrictor pine wood race car.

Gavin's car.

Gavin, very excited about his prospects of being the Pinewood Derby champion.

Sibling Rivalry: oddly enough, Elijah and Gavin had to square off against each other in their first race. It was a random drawing to see who went against who.

Gavin and Elijah (left to right) patiently wait for the race results.

Elijah hoping for the best.

Elijah getting excited as the cars are released while his friend Zach sways in a zombie like trance.

Elijah's car at the end of the track after beating Gavin's car. Elijah was 4-0 against Gavin, which didn't make for a very happy Gavin.

But Gavin was still very gracious in defeat. Although he won all the races that were not against his brother. Also, our sons were the only siblings to race against each other even though there were at least 4 families with multiple boys in Boy Scouts. Very weird.

The Pinewood Derby is an annual event put on by the Boy Scouts. It was a new experience for me because I didn't do Boy Scouts growing up, and quite honestly probably wouldn't have signed my boys up for it if they hadn't asked to be in Boy Scouts. Their friends are in Boy Scouts so I couldn't really deny them.

We didn't get home until 9:30 pm. So, we ended up picking up Culver's because it started at 6 pm and we didn't have time for dinner before the Pinewood Derby started.

Naysayers, etc.

Megan and I are back into Battlestar Galactica. We're plowing through season 4. I love it! The narrative is dark, complex, mesmerizing, unique, haunting, etc., etc. I think it's one of the most well-written Science Fiction television shows of all time, which isn't saying much I suppose since there's not much competition in the science fiction category. So, I'll extend it by saying I think it's one of the most well-written 1 hour dramas ever.

*
Farkle Standings
Gavin - 19
Jon - 18
Elijah - 16
Megan - 12

Gavin is still the king and Megan is in a bit of a slump.

The AWP Itch

I'm getting the AWP itch. I haven't had much time to think about AWP because I've been busy at work. It dawned on me a few days ago that AWP is only a week and half away. Last year I came back with so much loot (mostly books and journals) that I had to pay Northwest Airlines $25 because my suitcase was over 55 lbs. By the time I got home the zipper broke on my suitcase and I almost was ready to bust out a very large "manly knife" to rip it open so I could get to my booty. Fortunately a little TLC prevailed and I got my suitcase open without resorting to violence and destruction. The the suitcase wasn't mine, it was Brandon and Debbie's, which is another good reason I didn't tear it open.

This year I won't be flying. Marc Dickinson and I are taking a road trip to Chicago. I hope the weather cooperates. The three things I'm looking forward to the most: drinking with my friends, the AWP book fair, and the off-site readings on Friday night.

Of course, I've highlighted a few panels. I'd like to take advantage of the conference a little more this year. Last year Luke, BJ, and I stayed up later and later each night, and got up later and later each morning. It was awesome!

But this year I'm looking forward to arriving fully stocked: a cooler with beer, a trunk with spare beers to be added to the cooler when said cooler is empty, and a few bottles of single malt Scotch whisky (probably 12 Year MaCallan's). It truly will be Cartons and Kegs. Luke, BJ, Marc, myself, perhaps even Ron Sandvik, and anyone else who wants to join the party(s).

Stuff

I was going to blog about "Typography in Poetry" (my first post about my "poetry book score card") but I have a cold that's kicking my ass. So my brain isn't up for anything overtly demanding. So, instead I'm going to say that I love Cate Marvin's Fragment of the Head of Queen. Cate Marvin kicks ass. I just said "kicks ass" or a similar variation twice in one paragraph. Fuck!

I'm currently reading:

• Matthew Harvey, Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form
• Arts & Letters (Issue 18)
• Indiana Review (30.2)
• There's an incredible shorty story by Anthony Farrington in this issue
• Shih-Shah Henry Tsai, Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle
• Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King

I'm hoping to post a semi-review of Cate Marvin's in the next week.

*
Check this out:

A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.

This is the kind of indifference that just baffles me. Doesn't the municipal power company have any culpability in this tragedy given the age of the customer?

Farkle

I love Farkle. I've blogged about it before but I have to admit that it's my favorite game and I love playing it with Megan and the boys. As I have done before our Farkle standings to date are:

Gavin - 18
Jon - 17
Elijah - 16
Megan - 12

The numbers above represent the number of games each person has won. Gavin has been the "King of Farkle" since September and hasn't relinquished his top spot in almost 6 months. He rubs his "blanky" for good luck with his right hand fingers while rolling with his left hand.

Speaking of Gavin, the other night he said something hilarious and disturbing for a parent during a Farkle game. The objective in Farkle is to be the first to reach 10,000+ points. Once a player reaches 10,000+ points, the other players have one turn to beat the top score.

Gavin reached 11,050 and the nearest score was 9,050 which typically is a pretty safe cushion. But not on Sunday night. Megan rolled doubles and then 1,200. When I announced the mom had just passed him he screamed "dammit."

We all froze. His jaw dropped and eyes bulged. We stared at him in opulent silence. Then Megan started chuckling. I couldn't contain myself so I started laughing. Of course, Elijah laughed. And finally Gavin cracked a smile and stated rather profusely and repeatedly "I meant to say darn it! I meant to say darn it!" Through our snickering and lack of composure both Megan and I stated "that's not an appropriate word...we don't use that word."

Of course we probably lost all credibility by laughing. I think we were both so utterly shocked and we were both feeling like "dammit" because it seemed impossible that Megan was going to beat his score. And by the way, Elijah topped by Megan and Gavin with a final score of 11,550.

Perhaps, I'll bring my travel Farkle to AWP and coax BJ, Luke, and Marc into a drunken game of Farkle. We'll see...

I'm so one of those guys...blogging about Farkle?

Scorecard

The other day (Jan 12th and 13th to be exact) I referred to a rating scale I've developed for poetry books. I've identified different poetic components that I often reflect upon (some more so and some less so) while I read a book of poems. I rate each component on a scale from 1-5, add up the score, and then rate the book based on the total score. Here are the scales:

1 = I hated it 1 = Not at all

2 = I didn’t like it 2 = Not really

3 = I liked it 3 = Sort of does

4 = I really liked it 4 = Yes it does

5 = I loved it 5 = Absolutely does

The reason I have two different scales is because, for example, a poet's book might employ a lot of alliteration, assonance, consonance, slant rhyme, internal rhyme, etc. but I don't particularly like their use of the sonic level. So, for the Sonic Level I rate a book of poetry on two levels:

• One, is it present = objective
  
• Two, do I like it = subjective
  

Of course not every category is like this and I know this sounds very nerdy and almost too scientific for what is often viewed as an intuitive art but several years ago I felt compelled to analyze and critique the books I was reading rather then just reduce my responses to simple "knee-jerk reactions" (i.e., "I don't like it" or "I liked it"). Perhaps I just want to be more interesting in my conversations about poetry but I've always been intrigued by exploring the questions: "What is Poetry" and "What constitutes good poetry." I think my desire to explore these questions has lot to do with my desire to explore and understand a philosophy of what is beautiful (of course this exploration is going to be very subjective and preferential at times).

But my score card breaks down into the following components and their corresponding sub-categories:

Typographical
The Sonic Level
The Sensory Level
Diction
Craft
Formal Range
Meaning
Originality
Structure
Vision
Emotive
Likability
Credibility

Now, I realize not many people read my blog but I'm open to suggestions about my score card if missing something. Beyond being nerdy though, the scorecard has helped me become more objective and fair in some readings. For example, I may think a particular poet lacks originality but a few poems illicit emotive responses, they attempt to conjure meaning in their poetry, and their sonic level is pretty good. So, I'm going to at least find some redeeming qualities in their poetry instead of simply saying: "this poetry sucks ass!" and then proceed to chuck the book against the wall.

That's it...My twenty minutes are up.

Today's Bullet Points

Here's what I did today (in bullet points):

• Revised two poems
• Watched Cars twice with Brayden and he tried to con me into letting him watch it a third time
• Read National Geographic (July 2008)
• Finished reading chapter 5 and parts of chapter 6 in Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle
• Finished reading Craig Cotter's Chopstix Numbers
• Prepared lunch for Brayden: fish sticks, tater tots, and applesauce
• Read I Spy with Brayden
• Folded 3 baskets of laundry
• Sorted laundry and did 4 loads of laundry
• Cleaned kitchen and did dishes
• Blogged
• Chatted with Travis Mullen and Dan Nichols via Facebook
• Found out Adam Muller moved to Nashville
• Gave Brayden a bath - he peed on the potty tonight (we're trying to potty train him)
  
• Watched Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring with Elijah and Gavin
• Watched Battlestar Galactica Season 4 episode 1 - it was amazing
• Watched Max Payne when Megan went to bed
• Drank 2 Guinness's and a Samuel Smith Taddy Porter

Exciting times...exciting times.

Another Emperor Poem

I finished a rough draft for another "emperor poem". So far I've finished 5 but it hasn't been until more recently that I've focused all my attention on completing a series of "emperor poems." So far the titles are:

"The Burial of an Emperor" - which appeared in Notre Dame Review (Issue #25)
"The Emperor's Eunuch"
"The Emperor Orders Death By One Thousand Cuts"
"The Emperor Plays A Divination Game"
"The Emperor Has His Ex-Adviser Buried In the Snow"

I've got a few ideas for future "emperor poems" but I need to continue my research. This has become my new project. I think poets (or in my case aspiring poets) need projects whether they be a chapbook, a book, a series of poems, etc. Or at least I need projects.

But the one thing I hate is the great "sigh" after completing a poem: it is both gratifying and frustrating. On one hand its gratifying because I've finished something with language and yet on the other hand I always have this feeling of "where do I go from here" which is the exact feeling I have right now: what do I work on next? When I experience this I usually will revise an old poem until a new idea surfaces or try a writing prompt if I want to continue composing.