Followers

Friday, November 07, 2003

Mystery

"An English poet, Philip Larkin, said that poetry doesn't start with an idea; it starts with a poem... You have t be open to mystery. If you are open to it, mystery will come. If you're not, why should it, actually?" - Lucille Clifton (b. 1936)

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

Is the week half empty or half full?

Looking for an interesting read and haven't seen it yet.... then check out K. Silem post on meter. A very worthwhile read on the subject of writing metrically, it's relative ease or difficulty and the degree to which the competence of such writing can be ascribed.

Today's thought:

"I've never had a schedule. I go simply by impulse, whim. What I do try to do is to keep my life uncluttered when I am not teaching, and therefore be able to harden to the first whisper of any idea." - Richard Wilber

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

depression

i don’t pretend often.
where do you find these women who are
primitive creatures of habit? a different altogether
variety. and would that be silk flowers in the ming?
it’s not a real sport,
i seldom watch.
war i suppose. but the sweaty linebacker is
setting out the third quarter reading
sonnets and eating hot cheetos.
orange smudges frame the page corners. some
funky nickel play won the game. god,
football really has gotten cheap.

The Long Awaited - Overdue - Blog Sweeps Reviews

Yesterday was a very busy and frustrating day. I won't go into details other than to say that I lost it all when I lost my post as I was adding the links. No, with crossed fingers, toes, and eyes... I start the process over once again.

I will give you my overall ranking in descending order. Then My reviews/comments.

6. Super Deluxe Good Poems (No posts during this period and I will therefore not attempt to pass judgment on it's normal content. It is likely a very fine blog - but I had not posts to judge it by)

5. The Bloggedy Blog Blog - limited posts, but there was activity.

4. The well-nourished moon

3. the INGREDIENT

2. Mikarrhea

1. Love During Wartime



The Bloggedy Blog Blog is obviously a poetry blog that has developed a reputation which has warranted a following. Numerous others have quoted or made reference to Katie's Poet's Job Survey. During this past week, her postings were very limited. There was little to go on in comparison to the others. Three posts to be exact. One acknowledging that she won the Monkey Award for blog post of the year. I'm sure this blog is worthy of reading - and I plan add it to my reading list for a while anyway. There is nothing extraordinary about the blogs layout... a pee green background with very basic layout.

Stephanie Young's well-nourished moon is a combination of groupie updates, poetry and poetics. I enjoyed reading it. Like the graphics across the top - Stephanie's writing can be a little off the wall. This is not a criticism, simply an observation. I liked her sweeps blog with the run-in or stalking of the Parliament Light. The Gender Genie post was fun though not a first generation post.

I find value in reading Stephanie's blog though I am sure that it must have more meaning to those close poetry friends that make up a part of her social life.


Alli Warren's the INGREDIENT was delightful. Her poetry has depth, but I don't feel I need to excavate it to enjoy it. It's more like it's just below the surface. Under the skin.

"The Ingredient is ridiculous for countless reasons, of course, but the main source of its absurdity being a consistent lack of context?" Those are Alli's words not mine. Ridiculous? Not at all. She adds a "?" to the above sentence I suppose suggesting this is rhetorical. I found Alli's writing extremely pleasing to read and I liked her color scheme and the photo in the upper left just below the heading. She will occasionally change the photo, but it has always been something slightly off center, up close, out of perfect focus, etc. It has what I like to think must be a clearly "Alli" element to it. I think it says something about her.

I loved her post: "For sweeps do I pose nude - assuming even I "occupy" a nude to portray?" An undercurrent of sensual exposure while postulating societal implications.

Appearance wise, I believe this was my favorite blog. It is earthy and comforting to read even as the commentary may be deeper than the comfort level might suggest.


Michaela Cooper's Mikarrhea has been on my reading list for a while. I mean where else am I to get my "Random neuron firing, lame philosophy, literary pontificating, movies, sex, clothes & other femme stuff?"

Michaela is deep into social/political commentary as well as poetry and poetics. She can be hard, bitchy, direct, sarcastic and humorous. She can also be fun and flirtacious. She is well read and it shows in her blog. Her command of language is so obvious in her work. My favorite post of this past week was alarum. Of course her graphic in the upper right is her trademark.... the layout otherwise is pretty basic. Her content is clearly her strength.


Love During Wartime impressed me the most. The Poetic Powerpoint really caught my attention. Clearly James has taken it upon himself to accentuate poetry and poetics during Blog Sweeps week. That's fine, he got there. Still there are strong political under tones in his work. I found the GBII Poet to be enjoyable.

Mixing Warren Zevon, George Wallace (not the former governor), L.C., and Cassie Lewis's material with his own provided well rounded reading. Aesthetically the site is pretty hum-ho, but he made up for that with his content. Again I feel the Poetic Powerpoint stole the show.


There you have it. I hope no one is crushed, and no one's head is too swelled. It's only my impression not that of anyone important. I enjoyed the experience, and I think I will likely convert this to my list of top five blogs that I am reading in future weeks.






Monday, November 03, 2003

AUGH!!!!

When finishing up the links in my final review.... I lost the material. I will have to repost to publish. I will try to get this done later tonight. I simply don't have time to start over this afternoon. Sorry.

Blog Sweeps Week - Posting Reviews Today

Yes, the Blog Sweeps week reviews are due today & they will be posted before the day is out. I am putting my final touch on the post, so check back later. Have a great day! Oh, yeah... sorry. Forgot it's Monday.