All Over Except the Equinox
Only August ceases to be so inconspicuously.
It works on the mind until we’re careless
In sunshine, tanned and dazed
As we unwind lackadaisically.
How did it end again?
The infrequent breeze gave
Such slight respite from the heat.
But red-faced, I see that despite its subtlety
An unperceived inertia pushed enough
To turn the calendar page.
/Summer
This is why editors were so useful in the old days … Please spare us the high-school girl poetry (“lackadaisically”? Really?). And please take the time to figure out metre … poetry isn’t just something you can dash off; it requires careful study and practice.
— Mike McCarthy · Sep 7, 09:46 PM · #
Not sure why Mr. McCarthy despises the word “lackadaisically.”
His snobbery is itself a reflection, or a consequence, of poetry’s demise. Back in the day – in that ante-tubular age when poets were culturally necessary – poetry was indeed something that one “dashed off.” Most of it was awful, to be sure, but a healthy spirit of amateurism (in both the dictionary and etymological senses) served as a fertile environment for the growth of giants. If everyone is self-conscious – if poetry is everywhere a vocation and never a lark – then you end up with…a laurel-headed Jorie Graham.
— TimCrim · Sep 8, 01:36 AM · #
I don’t like McCarthy’s comment, but I also don’t agree with TimCrim’s history.
— Freddie · Sep 8, 01:44 AM · #
I don’t mean to say that John Milton “dashed off” Paradise Lost. Only that there was generally less inhibition about writing poetry. The “McCarthyite” notion that we need to study poetry before sharing it – in the same way one might study Marx’s labor theory of value before venturing an opinion on the subject – is ultimately destructive to a healthy poetic culture.
— TimCrim · Sep 8, 02:02 AM · #
I met a girl on the beach, we smushed.
With my unsubtle inertia, I pushed.
While from the sky, a looking glass:
Diana, perceiving my bare white ass.
/labor day weekend ’10
— KVS · Sep 8, 02:14 PM · #
There once was a blogger named Conor
Who was obsessed with comity and honor
We all shook our heads
And together we said
“Relax! Try smoking marijuaner.”
— Freddie · Sep 8, 03:49 PM · #
To clarify, I don’t think one needs to study formally, or (G*d forbid) attend a writer’s college or workshop, before writing poetry. Rather, one should put serious effort and time into what is, in the end, a craft. The seemingly easy and natural flow of so much great verse is deceptive and, as such, makes many people think they too can bung a few pretty phrases together and, voila, poetry! As TimCrim notes, in a (largely mythical) “earlier age,” of omnipresent popular authorship (in fact, I would imagine more poetry is written today than at any time in history), “most of it was awful.” I agree, though I would add that most writing of any kind in any age is awful. I am arguing only that the poetry that lasts — or, to cite a lower bar, the poetry that would be worth putting one’s name to on a public website — is the product of private study, practive and, maddeningly to the meritocrats, innate talent). Just because we can write, does not mean we can write good poetry and more than the fact we can speak means we can sing like Renee Fleming. If it takes 10,000 hours to become a competent doctor or pianist, why should it take less time to write good poetry? I applaud creativity, amateurism in the best sense(s) and experimentation (within, as it necessarily is whether it recognizes the fact or not, inherited tradition), but along with the public airing of one’s work comes the right, even the duty of others to react and, when necessary, to criticize lazy and self-indulgent work. We aren’t in kindergarten; we don’t all get gold stars for verbal finger painting. Happy writing!
— Mike McCarthy · Sep 8, 06:28 PM · #
There was an Old Man in a chair
Who seemed to be saying a prayer.
When they flipped a long switch
The man started to twitch
And soon he was medium rare.
— TimCrim · Sep 9, 08:00 AM · #
Mike,
I am sure that my poetry would benefit from criticism, a form of writing that can be invaluable when its author puts sufficient time and thought into it, but that too many people think they can competently dash off in a lazily punctuated blog comment. If you’d care to express something more than a distaste for a word that plenty of non high school girls have used, and to be more specific in your criticism of meter, I’d be happy to benefit from your insights. If you think it takes 10,000 hours to be a good poet, why should it take less time to be a good critic?
— Conor Friedersdorf · Sep 9, 08:29 AM · #
Mr. Friedersdorf,
The larger issue is not the quality of your poetry (or lack thereof) but your tendency to use this group site as an outlet for your personal expression and/or near constant self-promotion.
Best,
— David Polansky · Sep 9, 02:38 PM · #
Well he definitely can’t use this site as an outlet for his profundity.
— KVS · Sep 9, 04:09 PM · #
So, just what are one’s duties as an “underblogger”?
— m00se · Sep 9, 06:49 PM · #
Oy vey. Conor, this is so embarrassing. It’s a train wreck. I’m turning off my computer. Oy, oy, oy.
— Lasorda · Sep 11, 08:19 AM · #