writing
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What is Poetry? What is a Poem?
People are keen on over defining things, and in the long run I believe doing so leads us in a straight line to fascism. Not everything has to be categorized in a jar. However, for the purposes of grant writing and educating little kids, its always good to have some kind of definition ready to…
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Look for poetry that stirs you: Rhythm
For me, that’s always going to have some punchy rhythm. Rhythm in poetry is made by word choice, order of words, length of lines and stanzas, etc. It’s easiest to feel it in strictly structured, rhyming poems like Shakespearean sonnets. It’s probably why that kind of poetry gets taught so much in school. Even if…
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They say there’s no catching up on sleep, and it must be true.
In three decades I have only gotten “enough” sleep for maybe a month. Nights I stay up shouting, crying, letting the Void emerge from under these chewed up ribs and tear apart my day and life and work, shred the love I have for whoever is before me, and if there is no love there,…
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A Despair
It’s end of day and I’m pushing away from my desk in my office in my home where I pour my brilliance and energy. Everyday I am revolted that this office is my studio. The place I make art. The place I read poetry. The place I photograph myself trying to have a good time…
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I love surrealism.
I love the bends and gasps it makes in my brain, melting this and stretching that. That flower is a beautiful face, and those spiders will shelter us from the desert rays. I love the painters of surreal paintings: Miro’s playful lines that lead the eyes to newness, Magritte placing objects in my face, Kandinsky…
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Big Feelings
Big feelings are absolutely a hallmark of writers. Despair Ecstasy Joy I’m sure even writers who mechanically pump out a new book every 6 months to a year (Kristen Hannah, Steven King, Colleen Hoover, Raymond Chandler, etc.) feel massively in their chests and limbs the loves and fears of their characters. The secret is being…
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The Sound of One Hand Snapping
Poetry and lit readings have some weird stereotypes, starting with the berets. Of course we all wear berets, and I must say I own 4 different berets, wear them often, and look forward to buying more should they appear at flea markets. However, I find myself in the extreme minority with the berets. More common…
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I love working.
My brain is like a dynamo that highschool students present at science fairs. It is crude but unstoppable. It fits neatly in a diorama and I am dying to show it off. And because my brain is always moving (shark) so too are my hands; such stubby fingers typing, clicking, dialing, waving a wild dream…
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Look for the poetry that stirs you: Words
For me, that’s always going to be language heavy. Like, I read a lot of poems in books and on the internet that just sound like day time talk show guests things to introduce themselves. It’s bland in word choice (not to mention forced in intention and energy). Where are my fellow poets who crack…
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All the aesthetics…
At no time in history before has it been possible to “choose” an aesthetic. Maybe the last ten years. Oh, sure, kids and adults in the 19 twenties could choose this or that outfit, this or that makeup style, and build a kind of an aesthetic. Girls could go full flapper, for example, in the…
Erin Oubliette 