I did the “S” word!

It’s cool here today. Not unpleasantly so, but it is a sign of things to come.

I made a pot of chili for lunch. It seemed like a good day for it.

I’ve read today, written, and yes, the “S” word.  That would be submitted material least you think it is something more adventuresome.  Over the past year, I’ve taken to considering it a burdensome task. It wasn’t that way always, but it has become my least favorite part of writing poetry.

In looking through my material I realized I need to better organize it. By that I mostly mean review my material and decide it some of it perhaps needs to go back into the work folder. I do have a few things that I’ve been sitting on that perhaps are really ready.  I just don’t like to rush them off.

I brought some work home from the office as well this weekend and I really ought to tackle on of those projects tonight… then I won’t have so much to do tomorrow.

I got eaten up on the deck this afternoon, sitting with the dogs. I fear tonight will be a Benadryl night.

Off to make espresso!   My earlier one got pitched while it was cooling down.

Anne Sexton – Early Writing Success

Anne Sexton’s public persona was not unlike that of Sylvia Plath’s. Both were women who seemed to be transfixed by 1950’s mores. Both had histories of mental instability. Both were poets. Both ultimately took their own lives. The final writings of both might well have foretold their suicides.

Plath’s mother saw to it that Sylvia had an academic background.  This is where the two differ. Anne was not interested in pursuing an academic path, she did attend finishing school and for a short period of time was a fashion model.

Sexton married at the age of 19 and following the birth of her first daughter required hospitalization for postpartum depression.  The birth of her second daughter heightened her depression and it was at the nudging of her therapist that she began to write.

What I find particularly impressive about Anne Sexton is that in 1956 Anne saw a program on educational television, “How to Write a Sonnet.” After Christmas Anne unveiled her first sonnet to her mother, knowing her mother had suffered an unfulfilled literary dream and would likely be a fierce critic.

In September of 1957, she enrolled in a poetry workshop at a Boston adult education center. She met the poet Maxine Kumin there. She would forge a lifelong relationship with Kumin that resulted in routine workshopping of poems by both as well as a deeply personal friendship.

By Christmas of 1957 Anne presented he mother with a stack of poems written and rewritten over the previous year. During 1959 she submitted poems with tremendous success to top flight lit magazines. Poems were taken by The Hudson Review, The New Yorker, The Christian Science Monitor, and in April of 1959, signed a contract to publish her first book, To Bedlam and Part Way Back.

According to Anne Sexton a Self-Portrait in Letters, I learned that on her 1960 Joint Income Tax forms with her husband, she listed herself as “Poet” and it would clearly seem that she had earned the right do so, taking an incredible and unconventional path to success as a poet. 

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National Punctuation Day

My wife called to my attention that today is National Punctuation Day.

It was created in 2004 by writer "Jeff Rubin"-- after he was annoyed by improper use of punctuation. This morning-- we've got three pieces of punctuation you might not have heard of. First -- this mark -- the asterism. It is used to call attention to a passage or to separate subchapters in a book. Next is the "irony mark". It looks like a backwards question mark -- it was supposed to be used to indicate when something should be taken ironically-- but it never really caught on. Last up -- the "interrobang". It's intended to combine the question mark and the exclamation mark. By the way -- we have more on national punctuation day -- including a recipe contest to celebrate -- at kmbc.Com -- under news links.  Or just click here –> National Punctuation Day

 

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Tug of Time

The week is knotted,
the ends pulling each
against the other.

Time stops to watch.

What I’ve Learned

This past weekend I finished a six week project mentoring under another poet. It’s been a great way to stretch myself beyond that point of complacency that sometimes creeps into our routines. The were a number of things that I learned or relearned in come cases.  Just off the top of my head, a few of them that readily come to mind:

• I have a lot yet to learn.

• Political poetry is best pulled off with subtle political tone and greater narrative.

• I can look to other poetry for ideas and examples as to how others have used poetic devise.

• Cut, cut and cut again if you can.

• Look for fresh & unique ways to show with my writing.

• It's all right to write about simple things.

• Beginnings and endings should both be strong.

• The middle of the poem still has a job to do... remain interesting enough to hold the beginning and the end together.

• Manuscripts are pieces of art in themselves.  Not just a collection of 30 to 50 poems...  they need a connective thread to establish some relevance, one to another.

• Write daily.

• Write daily even if what you are writing sucks.  It won't improve by not writing. 

• Read lots of poetry.  Learn from other's mistakes and successes.

• Improve my work ethic, but don't take myself so seriously that I don't enjoy what I'm doing.  Even if it gets frustrating at times.

• Even dead poets speak wisdom. 

• Look for the musicality in your verse. Work to improve this. 

During this period of time I’ve had exposure to a lot of poems from six different poets. A wide spectrum of topics. Many ways of approaching the art.  Fresh ideas.

I feel like I’ve had my battery recharged!

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Please Be Advised

In case there is any question, this blog is a weapons free zone.  Please check your side arms before entering.

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The attack of ideas….

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago”~ Friedrich Nietzsche

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