12 days left to Vote on Poetry & Academia

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Spencer Tunick and the Art of Nothing at all

Hundreds of people took their clothes off in the name of art in South Beach Florida yesterday. Monday. Spencer Tunick, a photographer and artist of the human form, last month let it be known he needed 600 volunteers to be part of his upcoming art installation at South Beach's Sagamore Hotel. Tunick has had no problem attracting participants and the 600 number for this event is actually rather small by his standards. Last year 18,000 took part in a Mexico shoot.

Tunick will unveil his work during Miami Beach's annual Art Basel festivities in December.

Here's my question. Tunick is coming to your community and need volunteers for his next photo shoot. Do you bare it all for art? See poll on sidebar to left.

The results were:

8 or 80% said you would take it off for art.
2 or 10% said No Way... Not in Public.

Thanks to all who voted.

Poetry Revision Part 1

Rewrites, revisions, whatever you want to call them require a writer to examine something already committed to a page. Early on, I probably viewed revisions in more a negative light than a positive one. Not overtly, because I don't recall it as such and I don't recall thinking about it much at all. I am sure now, thinking back this was a subconscious thing.


For the young writer I think there is an urgency to create work. There were times I knew a rewrite was necessary and I did them. There were no doubt times I didn't, yet should not be satisfied. I suppose it is a part of maturing as a writer that we learn not to be in such a rush. Awkward as it may be, I am learning this. This is an especially difficult lesson for one to learn when they did not start writing till later years and feel their life rushing along before their very eyes.


I did a survey of readers on my blog as to how many times on the average they would rewrite a poem. The results are of course not representative of a scientifically controlled survey, and the response was not near as many as I would have liked, so we are dealing with a very small universe.

The Question was this: On the average, how many revisions do you do of poems you write?
The results are as follows:

• 3 or less 14%
• 4-10 57%
• 11-25 14%
• 26-50 14%
• more than 50 0%

I suppose it should not surprise me that the biggest response came in the 4-10 range. At first thought I would have placed myself in that category based on nothing more than a perhaps less than educated guess. But as I pulled out a few drafts of things I've written more recently, I decided that I really am more likely in the 11-25 range on an average, but closer to 11 then the higher end of the range. I've had a few like one titled Night Wishes that came almost spontaneously and as I recall tweaked I think two words in it from the original draft. Things like this however are rare.

I know people who firmly believe the first thought on paper is the best and don't like to make changes because of the belief that something subliminal has lead them to write a great truth. I find subliminal influence on writing very interesting but I don't subscribe to any notion that there is something sacred about the first thoughts to reach the page.

I have marveled at the assertion by Donald Hall that he has rewritten poems hundreds of times. The poem White Apples about his father's death took him 17 years to write.

I think there is a comfort level that must come only with maturity in writing that allows you to slow yourself down a bit and really look for the right words in the right places in your poems. One of the benefits of getting work accepted in various venues and waiting for them to come out is that it has allowed me not to be in such a hurry to get something new to send out. In fact of my last four accepted poems, two have been older ones that have hung around a while.

More rewrites are not always going to make a better poem but I think some level of rethinking is always critical. In fact I now like to put a poem that I feel is finished back and revisit again a week later. Sometimes what sounded good a week ago leaves you thinking what you might have been drinking when you stopped and put it aside. I have taken the rewrite process to an extreme and found that I was getting further from what I wanted, not closer. There is obviously nothing magical about the number of drafts but I think a willingness to try new language or approach is critical to growing as a poet. Sometimes shaking up the poem by reversing the beginning and the end, or rewriting a first person into another viewpoint.

If I am having trouble getting started with new stuff, I find that it is sometimes go back to old journals and pull out something unfinished, or really rough and work on it from a new perspective.

I've got more to say on the topic but I don't want to unload it all tonight. Besides, I'm interested in other perspectives on the value of revision and the process others use.

Last Day of Survey On Rewrites

Today is the last opportunity to participate in the survey of poets on their revision practices. See the left sidebar and take the survey if you have not already. There are about 12 hours left till it closes. Thanks!

I beseech you, don't make me beg...

I’m scaling down this weeks summit and being careful, but not particularly graceful in my descent. Monday and Tuesday were relatively speaking manageable days. Wednesday was on the other hand, one of those days where it all falls apart and topples down on you. So today, I continue down the incline, but with concern as not to create an avalanche behind me.

There are but two days left for people to respond to my survey on the sidebar about rewrites. I want to blog some next week on revisions and while such a survey is of course not scientifically representative of the poet population as a whole, it will give me some idea as to what readers here might consider their norm. So please, don’t make be beg, (I look so undignified) if you haven’t done so already, take a moment to respond.

Couple of bits from my journal this week:

• The lady up the street powered up her nose / in a mammoth snub / I flashed an Indian corm smile / like I wanted her approving curtsy
• Afternoon slumps / Holding its hands in its pockets
• I would watch her sleep / Sometimes in silent fog
• You popped my bubble wrap / In italicized arrogance / I popped yours in return

Poetric moments on the field

Watching the San Francisco Giants play the (cough) LA Dodgers I was taken in by a couple of poetic moments on the field. No, nether of them had to do with Barry Bonds hitting #755. That quest continues. The unlikely source of this artistry on the field came from the new arrival Rajai Davis a young fielder from the Pirates organization with very limited major league experience. He came in a deal that sent pitcher Matt Morris to Pittsburgh and will give the Giants another player to be named later.

While somewhat disappointed about the trade, Young Davis came up with a fantastic fielding play in center and firing to 2B to cut down a Dodger hitter challenging the young fielder for a two bagger. In the 8th, he safely bunted on, had a stolen base, then went to third on a wild pitch and was latter driven home. Oh, did I mention he hit safely in I believe the 5th? The kid definitely has wheels. ###

(sigh) I know who the winneris in Rupert Murdoch's acqusition of the Wall Street Journal. Sadly, I think I know who the loser is as well. ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A special court that routinely has approved eavesdropping operations has put new restrictions on the ability of U.S. spy agencies to intercept e-mails and phone calls of suspected terrorists overseas, U.S. officials said Wednesday.The previously undisclosed ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has prompted concern among senior intelligence officials and lawmakers that the efforts by U.S. spy agencies to track terrorism suspects could be impaired at a dangerous time. Gee - I suppose this is the consequences of not being able to trust them not to abuse of this power. ###

Hey, in case you have't noticed it - check out the poll on the side bar. - Thanks!