Comments on: Come Join The Poetry Revolution http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/come-join-the-poetry-revolution/12/27/2007/ Commentary On 21st Century Poetics Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:13:20 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Jim Murdoch http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/come-join-the-poetry-revolution/12/27/2007/comment-page-1/#comment-82 Jim Murdoch Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:29:30 +0000 http://worldclasspoetryblog.com/come-join-the-poetry-revolution/12/27/2007/#comment-82 I was not aware of Dana Gioia back in 1989 but I know very well what it likes to be, if I can borrow from Little Britain, the only poet in the village: COMING OUT "So you are a practising poet ?" she asked, and I felt unclean and wanted my closet back. 23 March 1989 At that time, and this still remain true, I had only ever been to one poetry reading. I have no idea if it was typical – I was only there because I had been invited to submit a poem to a competition and this was the prize-giving. I went alone and never socialised. I didn't feel like I belonged. Yes, I was surrounded by other poets but I was so used to being an outsider that I didn't quite know what else to be. I agree with #3 because, even now after 35 years of writing poetry, I still don't consider myself well-educated when it comes to poetry. The poet Basil Bunting kept explication of his poems to an absolute minimum – "Never explain" he advised fledgling poets "your reader is as smart as you." No we're not. I spent a couple of hours yesterday flicking through the various poets included on the Electronic Poetry Center's site (http://epc.buffalo.edu/) and I was dismayed by how obtuse some of the writing was. It makes me wonder what the end of poetry should be. Naively I've always thought that the bottom line should be meaning, a poem should make sense, but I can see that, for other poets, the bottom line is thinking, a poem should make you think – but how does the unsuspecting reader know what's expected of him? As regards #5, judging by the state of poetry education in the UK, which has been commented on in the press recently, it's pretty clear that the teachers themselves need to spend more time on analysis before they have the brass neck to step out in front of a class. Since the majority of my poetry is very short, I've never really considered poetry as a thing to be performed. On #6, this obviously has been superseded by the internet. podcasts have the added benefit that you can play them again and again. A poet can include a text copy of the poem and even notes on the poem. The internet is definitely the place where educators should be setting up camp. I was not aware of Dana Gioia back in 1989 but I know very well what it likes to be, if I can borrow from Little Britain, the only poet in the village:

COMING OUT

“So you are a
practising poet ?”
she asked,
and I felt unclean
and wanted my closet back.

23 March 1989

At that time, and this still remain true, I had only ever been to one poetry reading. I have no idea if it was typical – I was only there because I had been invited to submit a poem to a competition and this was the prize-giving. I went alone and never socialised. I didn’t feel like I belonged. Yes, I was surrounded by other poets but I was so used to being an outsider that I didn’t quite know what else to be.

I agree with #3 because, even now after 35 years of writing poetry, I still don’t consider myself well-educated when it comes to poetry. The poet Basil Bunting kept explication of his poems to an absolute minimum – “Never explain” he advised fledgling poets “your reader is as smart as you.” No we’re not. I spent a couple of hours yesterday flicking through the various poets included on the Electronic Poetry Center’s site (http://epc.buffalo.edu/) and I was dismayed by how obtuse some of the writing was. It makes me wonder what the end of poetry should be. Naively I’ve always thought that the bottom line should be meaning, a poem should make sense, but I can see that, for other poets, the bottom line is thinking, a poem should make you think – but how does the unsuspecting reader know what’s expected of him?

As regards #5, judging by the state of poetry education in the UK, which has been commented on in the press recently, it’s pretty clear that the teachers themselves need to spend more time on analysis before they have the brass neck to step out in front of a class. Since the majority of my poetry is very short, I’ve never really considered poetry as a thing to be performed.

On #6, this obviously has been superseded by the internet. podcasts have the added benefit that you can play them again and again. A poet can include a text copy of the poem and even notes on the poem. The internet is definitely the place where educators should be setting up camp.

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