a quick rundown
– new poems coming out of me. a hard birth but its happening. the midwife is definitely an impending deadline.
– i have an idea for my creative non-fiction class which will revolve around the bronx and the directions that algarin left in the poem i posted last week.
– regarding the poem i posted last week: i disagree with algarin’s first point. i am torn as to whether or not poetry should or should not change in an increasing electronic world. to ignore the demands of our mass-media driven society is folly. analog is out, digital is in. the solution is somewhere in the middle, sites like fishouse prove that solid literary work doesnt have to be bland to the ears. def poetry proves that poetry can be packaged for mass consumption. now where does today’s working poet fit in there? i am not going to talk of differing camps and rigid lines, that goes against everything in me. what has to happen is a hybrid and i think the poets who can take advantage of all the tech available to them now have the best chance to be archived on their own terms and i cant think of any artist who wouldnt want that. more latah foh sure.
– still on algarin. i do dig a lot of what he says in the poem and mad respect to all poets who are willing to put down an ars poetica. i dont believe in camps but i do believe in strong individuals who dont sway in the wind with their opinions.
– about ready to drop a rant and a half cuz this aint doing it for me. some of it involves new york and some of it involves poetics but its all revolves around community. and not community as a rah-rah kumbaya rally call but what community really is: messy, difficult, rewarding, musical, healing and struggle. if you think you can have community without making choices then you are just conforming and i’ll stop there cuz i got other shot on my mind.
– song of the moment: Scissor Sisters’s “I don’t feel like dancing”
its all about the purple jump suit, foolios! that and the cheesy laser sound effects!
– add home made pizzas to my growing culinary repertoire.
– i just had lunch with my parents and the rest of my family will be here in a few hours. life is hella good.
– this blog is on lock down for the next few days and you all know why…
damn you, bermeo, now that scissor sisters song is going thru my head. grumble, and esp. because no rainbow legwarmers appear to have been involved.
anyway, i’d been meaning to respond to the miguel algarin poem you posted here; i agree with you on the medium between digital poetry and (traditional?)(page/book) poetry, and while i also agree that def poetry makes poetry mass-consumable, i also believe this does not necessarily “better” the state or quality of poetry. here i will steal yout idea re: the absence or lack of editorial input in digital media which both democratizes poetry positively, and then also makes the dissemination of more bad poetry (or trite, or insipid, as you and profe wd say) possible. elitist? sure.
re: community, i’m not even gonna get started on this one.