I finally received my token of friendship from The American Poetry Review this week. I seem to remember when being friends did not require subscriptions, and I also seem to recall that paying someone to be your “friend” is frequently referred to by a different term that has some of the same sounds and the same end as “subscription” but certainly different connotations.
Anyway…I am not going to start spattering my blog with continuous reference to The American Poetry Review, but I cannot help but admit that the general ordinariness or even badness of its offerings do provide inspiration for writing. The first set of poems offered in the quarterly are written exactly in the “forms” that I do not understand. The poems are neither metrical verse, nor are they line and page-filling prose. They are not particularly descriptive in nature, but they are certainly not intended as narrative prose either. They seem overly personal while, I feel, trying to be universally understood by a particular group whose lifestyle and culture are different than most people. They do not express original thought, yet do not use a mode, style, or words that would make the thoughts seem well-expressed. The poems in this token of my subscription friendship get better, at least to me, in providing more lyrical expression, but they start off with “prosetry,” and if we would call it that, I would be much happier. See my books The Mercy Killing or The Joy of Shadows to see what I mean. By the way, having a term to define what the writings might be does not make them better or even good.
Speaking of “lyrical,” essayist and poet (The token says. I have not read her works.), Lisa Wheeler writes probably the most interesting piece of work in this edition that talks about taking poetry personally—or at least how far a reader can go in judging a poem only by her or his feelings about it. The most interesting statement that she makes reads, “Researchers tend to ignore lyric poetry or argue that its terseness and formal qualities short-circuit total engagement.” Huh?
Let’s conduct two experiments. You ready? Complete this lyric.
Old Mother Hubbard
Went to her cupboard
To get her poor doggy a bone,
When she got there…
Please, finish the text two lines. The poem, while a child’s lyric, is one of a collection of lyrical poetry often referred to as nursery or Mother Goose rhymes. Maybe you will not know the two lines. I think that you will, and, thus, I believe that we will have proven “researchers” wrong.
Now, the second experiment: I am going to write a collection of words in two different ways. All I ask is for you to think about two things: (1) which collection is more enjoyable, and (2) which you are more likely to remember. Both enjoyment and memory are terms that indicate engagement.
Tree stump, fence post, cross bar, pole
Fish pond, spill way, frog’s egg, hole
Blue sky, white cloud, jet stream, soul
Groundhog, squirrel, black crow, mole
Black crow, mole, spill way, frog’s egg
Hole, spillway, white cloud, squirrel
Jet stream, fence post, ground hog, soul
Blue sky, fish pond, pole, tree stump
Boy, that second one was hard to write.
Okay, it is up to you. One of these offerings is lyrical. It has a few aspects that are songlike including purposeful rhythm, a broken rhythm in the last line, some alliteration, consonance, and assonance, and end rhymes. The other, because it uses the same words, has similar rhythmic opportunities and alliterative potential but does not seem to fulfil them, or does it? Which of the two is more engaging? Your answer concludes our experiment.
Catch you later.
Today’s picture is one that I took at the Salem City Park last week. I could not capture the twinkling between the leaves that I could see with my eyes.
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