2 poets held in high regard by 2 other poets are Bill Knott and Franz Wright, with Knott higher. Go down to the 11.27.07: entry. This entire interview is worth reading. * - - - See directory2007 in Catmap. Rho00029
Thursday, December 13, 2007
high regard
Sunday, December 9, 2007
It Poetics
For the past three weeks I have been reading Paul Hoover's Postmodern American Poetry. Am into the Poetics section. Along the way I have found that my open-style poetics has similarities to Gustaf Sobin's organic view and to Michael Palmer's view about narrative. Stan Apps's post yesterday contained a link to an older post of his I zapped to and read. Afterwards it occurred to me I--if some publisher were willing to do it--could bequeath Invisible Ink, a book of 1024 pages of my collected poems. Of course, every page in that book would be blank. Later yesterday I read a sobering 2005 interview: Robert Arnold with Bill Knott Even though I do not accept all of Bill Knott's conclusions, I consider it a must-read entry. My situation is less conducive to recognition than Knott's is. Why? Several life-choice reasons pertain, but for as long as I am vital (able to think and do) I hope to continue to make poems and other things. However others judge what I do, being beyond my control, I for myself cannot deem it a waste. One thought of mine I have clung to is: Do not let your life wend on, nowhere going, nowhere gone. This does not mean I need to be highly regarded or possess material wealth. It does mean, however, I need to consistently deepen whoever it is I am. Another thought of mine, one I stated in a letter I wrote in May of 1970, is: ". . . creatures of polarities, caught up in change, we are constant mysteries." Though I do have an aphorisms entry in my primary blog, both here in Rhodingeedaddee and over in Sprintedon Hollow/ my thoughts about poetry are wherever I had them. Onward. Brian A. J. Salchert's It Poetics is so named because it centers on a made thing. As to the sources, the main ones are three: a word or words as they come to me from the womb of my subconscious, a word or words along with an idea, an idea. Sometimes what comes/ I later abandon. Those that appear and are not abandoned/ I try to be true to. That is, the directions I sense, I strive to follow. One could say I do not have a staunch aesthetic. Some would say, therefore, that my not having a perceptible style is a failing in me which indicates a weak sense of self, and thus a status unworthy of more than a passing glance. I say it takes more strength to be open in the ways I am than it does be closed in the ways certain others are. I also say it is a lot more interesting to be open in the ways I am, albeit I am not totally open. For intance, as I have written elsewhere, I have a supra-rational God belief. For another instance, as I have written elsewhere, I like to engage in conversations. Strangely, two things just happened: 1) I got a red notice saying: could not contact blogger.com 2) When I saw that I immediately looked at the time. The time was 1:11, which in my universe is God-time. I clicked SAVE NOW, and it saved. It is only by such events that I know God, for God (by whatever name spoken of) exists within and yet beyond human knowability. Belief in a god is always and ever a matter of faith. No rational argument for or against matters, which is why I am not a proselytizer. Onward. Each human who makes constructions with words, or with any other intangible or tangible sign, is moved to choose preferences. So, some poets settle on a certain aesthetic, a way of making, and stick with it. The late Jon Anderson wrote: "My poetry is not for everyone." Nor is mine, however varied. I have written over 800 poems, and therefore am not a prolific maker. If among those/ you find one you like, thank you. In Sprintedon Hollow--where my most readily available poems are, I insert on most entries: © 2007 Brian A J Salchert Thinking Lizard All rights reserved. -- Thinking Lizard is a viable press I created in 1978 or 1979. At the same time I created the pen name: Alden St. Cloud. I then produced on cassettes four of my books, sold a few copies of them, and registered them with the Library of Congress. That was in 1980 and 1981. In 1982 I put together a book of new and selected poems under my Thinking Lizard and my pen name. I think the run was 20 or 25. That book is also registered with the LoC. There are no remaining copies of those ventures. The only traditionally published book of mine is the 1972 Rooted Sky (the original version of that book). It was published out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by Tom Montag's Monday Morning Press. Some copies of it are available online, but they sell for 6 or more times what they sold for originally. Somehow Beyond Baroque acquired a copy of it. Partly due to personal problems & partly due to my personality, I became more and more dissatisfied with traditional publishing. As a result, what I am doing--placing most of my writings only online, is Dissed (consigned to Hell). I suspect such writers as Walt Whitman, E. A. Robinson, e.e. cummings would have welcomed the Internet; but that's just my guess. - - - See directory2007 in Catmap. - - - Rho00028
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Ketjak replica
Although the pull to do so is there, I did not expect someone actually would set out to replicate the pattern of Ron Silliman's Ketjak as a means to more fully appreciate that work, but-- to take one word from Kasey Mohammad's comment beneath this poet's revealed effort--doing so is "illuminating": ~ - - - See directory2007 in Catmap. - - - Rho00027
Monday, December 3, 2007
Electoral College
* some thoughts about why I do not like the Electoral College * See directory2007 in Catmap. Rho00026
