There is a need for good worthwhile poetry, and it seems the poetry world, if there is one, seems to be heading off in some downward, away from aesthetic principle (not creating new ones to the objections of the old schools) and toward nothingness.
I read all the major journals today and I don't even want to read another one when it comes in the mail.
I am always amazed that todays trend of poetry, and there are trends, tend to not have anything poetical within the subject of the poem. Once all the trappings of the form are taken away, what is left is some weird garbage-thought, or something packed full of snooty irony, or some dumb half-thought. Why would I want to read anything like the stuff packed into lit mags these days?
I wonder if the truth is that the writers can't actually think of anything worthwhile to say? If you can't draw, scribble.
However, possibly it is best not to say anything: if you do, people will object.
The world we live in and seldom notice through poetry and art. Visit the website, www.thomasjardine.com
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I promise there is good poetry out there, it may just not be in the main lit magazines hanging out at the Barnes and Noble. You have to search out the good literary magazines, the ones where you feel a connection not just to the work, but the careful, whimsical editing, the hearts of the people behind the magazine. These magazines exist. You just have to read a lot to find them. And then it'll be a beautiful revelation, as if you feel, these poems have been waiting for me my whole life.
Jeannine,
OK. I believe you. Which magazines?
Then, I do have a question. What do the editors have to do with the qualities of any given poem? I am certain the hearts of editors are fine, but why would I have to read a lot to find them? Is there no consistency? Does a magazine's group of poems take precedence over individual creative endeavor? Like the borg?
Why read for beauty? Beauty is a minor issue in life. And why revelation? Revelation infers higher order--is it more enjoyment of shared consciousness?
Just put forth examples of great poetry, and as discussed, examples of great prose poetry.
Show me.
Tom
Ha! Tom, always with the questions! So, I think I'll try to attack the first couple, anyway...
Which magazines? Well, lately I've been enjoying Columbia Poetry Review, 32 Poems, 11th Muse, American Poetry Journal, and Mid-American Review, among others. Why do you have to read a lot? Because you have to read widely to find taste that matches your own. You can't expect it to fall into your lap! And what do editors have to do with the quality of the poem? Well, the poem could be great, but if it's not published, no one ever reads it. It's the editor's job to go through stacks of poems and pick "the best" to them, whatever that is. So, to find poetry you enjoy, you have to read enough magazine (showing a variety of editorial tastes) to find out what's out there, sample it (like a wine tasting) and find out what you like. What I consider a beautiful revelation, other people may consider to be junk. It happens.
As far as a great prose poem, I think I've already mentioned Baudelaire's work in this regard. But, for something more contemporary, I would recommend two poems that will be featured in Silk Road, the issue I happened to edit, by Suzanne Frickshorn. Here are a few lines from her poem "To the City I May Not Enter:" (I sing to my beloved Cuba)Reading this, along with her other poem, La Dama Axul, expemplifies what prose poems do best.
"Cienfuiegos, pearl with the luster of a thousand fires, I swallow you and taste your heat; the scent of white mariposa its flue pure and rebellious. A woman in a blue dress caresses my nape and wings traverse to kiss my ear...O, to see a hundred fires burn among your thick stalks..."
Dear Jeannine,
You have a lovely heart. Here, openly, let me note a few things. You say "to find poetry you enjoy"...well, I should probably let you know that I don't enjoy poetry; never did, never will. In fact, the first guide for any poet is to hate poetry. Only in true disdain does truth emerge. The second guide is to burn the institutions to the ground, the places where teachers/fees/lies/absurdcoddling/prevail and merge.
I read those magazines you mention. I have yet to read a contemporary poem that moves me---at all. Several years ago I did read one, and I am trying to find it now.
I read one modern poet but in my year semi-off poetry the poems now sound like silly tunes with shallow themes. I wish I could tell them, but there is arrogance where listening should be.
You might also want to know that I have been involved with poetry for thirty five years and have yet to meet a single person who will talk about "form." Not sonnet form or ballad form, but a meld of expression and subject, whether in structured stanzas or free or any other. Most of what I read is unoriginal prosey hack-work. I take the stand of the public: modern poetry makes them sick.
Already I have learned a great deal from you, and hope to learn more. You are bright to the world.
I am old to the world. All the young Americans dying in Iraq get 2 seconds in the "news" while the "new" war gets hours and hours of live coverage. The real terrorism is the media. I mention this because I read your blog. Poetry must get to the truth, is another reason I continue: terrorists should never be given names, only numbers like 7876353436373635987635365, but what the US does is make 'cards' with their pictures--just what the terrorists secretly enjoy. From my perspective, we should be fighting the arms manufacturers--where do all those bombs and bullets come from? China! N. Korea! Iran! The arms dealers are laughing out loud right now. Most people talk about the politics--what they should talk about are the arms dealers. Poetry should be like this, be truth and talk about truth. Not hype. Does anyone think that the arms dealers are on the front lines?
It is not good to mix up poetry and politics, but it is always an easy example to which people can relate.
There is never truth in hype.
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