Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Ashbery - One of Four
Monday, September 01, 2008
Observation Skills
Saturday my wife and I took the dogs and went off to the dog park. It was while traipsing around that rugged landscape that my knee went from bad to worse. It was also during this outing that I explored the various trees and branches and sticks and water containers for the dogs. The sky and the sun bursting through the leaves on the many trees that dot the landscape. Observation is such an important part of the poetry process. Even when not writing I think there is something to be said for taking in what is around us and looking at it with an eye for detail. Not so much for the ability to recount specifics, though this can be a beneficial exercise, but more importantly looking for the extraordinary in the otherwise ordinary.
From reading biographical material on Sylvia Plath as well as her journals I was long ago struck with how she was constantly seeking the poem in everything she came into contact with. Even odd jobs she took while attending Smith College provided fodder for her writing.
I am not quite as tuned into everyday events in the way she apparently was, but I do make an effort to see the poetry around me. One cannot underestimate the benefits that come from sharpening the observation skills. Mine are far from perfected.
Mundane Monday
Klaus always looks before backing out of driveway....
Labor day and I'm trying to find a the silver lining in this knee pain. It's not like I'm off on a sick day or anything. No, I'm using a perfectly good three day holiday to be sick. Grrr!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Report from the Gimp
I have worked on some writing yesterday and today but it gets a bit monotonous and thus becomes a distraction at certain points. Still, it is writing so that is progress.
The news of John McCain's selection for Vice President is interesting if not unsettling given her lack of any foreign policy experience and the fact that she has extremely limited governmental experience period. I believe there is no reason to fear a woman in the White House, I originally supported Hillary, but Sarah Palin would not be the same. This is a woman whose only other experience besides her short tenure as Governor of Alaska was city council and mayor of Wasilla, Alaska; a town that has a total area of about 12.4 square miles and a population estimated at about 6,700.
With hurricane Gustav likely to make landfall on the Louisiana coast by tomorrow morning, I have to think McCain has done the right thing by suspending much of the Republican Convention business in light of the hurricane. Thoughts and prayers go out to all those who find themselves again within the path of this powerful storm.
STLtoday - Missouri's poet laureate highlights area writers
By Walter Bargen
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
08/31/2008
Missouri's first poet laureate, Walter Bargen, begins a new feature for the Post-Dispatch this week. Every other week, he will choose a poem by a Missourian and write a short introduction to it.
This week, Bargen kicks off the feature with one of his own poems. STLtoday - Missouri's poet laureate highlights area writers