Though I, on the whole, have a penchant for the traditional forms and meters of English poetry, I am not content to study it alone. Like any fruit-bearing crop, the fields of English poetry require rich fertilization in the form of inspiration. In the past 100 years, this was accomplished primarily by the abandonment of… Continue reading Ghazals, Renga, and Memes: Oh, My! Part 1
Tag: poems
Musings on “The Art of Haiku” ch. 1
I was mentored by a professor with some very strong opinions about what qualifies as poetry, a classics curmudgeon, his daily tea steeped in Latin. He didn’t consider slam poetry as true poetry. He didn’t consider the lyrics of songs as poetry. I even had difficulty in talking to him about the various poetic traditions… Continue reading Musings on “The Art of Haiku” ch. 1
Reading that book I bought twelve years ago by Stephen Addiss
Twelve years ago, after taking a special 1-on-1 poetry mentor class with C. Wade Bentley where I practiced writing free verse poetry, I decided to make a self-study of haiku. As part of that, I finally decided to buy a book I had been eyeing for a year at the local Barnes & Noble “The… Continue reading Reading that book I bought twelve years ago by Stephen Addiss
I’m Changing my Writing Process of Seven Years
I’m changing my writing process. I’ve used the same writing process for seven years now, and it has served me well. I have strong reasons for changing it though, to adopting a better process for me. Now, instead of waiting a calendar year to revise and submit a drafted poem to my peers, and then… Continue reading I’m Changing my Writing Process of Seven Years
Emma Trelles’ Tropicalia is very fun (and no, I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense)
I am going to make a false comparison because I can. I recently read Tropicalia, Emma Trelles’ 2010 poetry collection. I also recently read some of Louise Glück’s poetry, not from any one period, but a generalized smattering. Are these two poets vastly different with very different goals and audiences? Yes. Am I going to… Continue reading Emma Trelles’ Tropicalia is very fun (and no, I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense)
Alexandra Teague’s 2024 collection [ominous music intensifying] feels retro. I don’t think it intends to.
To be fair, the cover art is called The Visitors by Andrea Kowch which Steve Parks of Newsday described as “Using Middle America . . . [to draw] the history of a particular place— invariably rural—to the surface as it collides with a new reality in layers of metaphor and moodiness. The faces of her… Continue reading Alexandra Teague’s 2024 collection [ominous music intensifying] feels retro. I don’t think it intends to.
Review: Amy Newman’s On This Day in Poetry History Mythologizes Poetry, One Weird Robert Lowell Anecdote At a Time
Some poetry collections are written with me in mind, I’m convinced. I couldn’t imagine a poetry collection more well-suited than Amy Newman’s On This Day in Poetry History to my personal tastes. (Well, maybe one that talked extensively about Lord Byron’s Venetian exploits or Mitt Romney’s imaginary, pizza-fueled demise . . . but that’s why… Continue reading Review: Amy Newman’s On This Day in Poetry History Mythologizes Poetry, One Weird Robert Lowell Anecdote At a Time
Review: Molly McCully Brown’s The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded is a woman’s book—would men like it as much?
Review: Molly McCully Brown’s The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded is a woman’s book—would men like it as much? Poetry teachers across the land say and have said, for generations, that a good poet can make a good poem out of anything—content does not necessarily make or break a poem. But some subject… Continue reading Review: Molly McCully Brown’s The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded is a woman’s book—would men like it as much?
Review: Reading Diane Seuss’s 2024 Modern Poetry is like listening to the ramblings of a drunk woman—but like, in a good way
I expect poems, as a rule, to have some self-contained meaning. I expect each line to build to the next and contribute to a sense of thematic unity in the poem. I know, I know; how 19th century of me. Modernism and postmodernism showed us that poems don’t have to make sense to make us… Continue reading Review: Reading Diane Seuss’s 2024 Modern Poetry is like listening to the ramblings of a drunk woman—but like, in a good way
Patchwork Poetry
Gathered in the second floor of Pioneer Book (a Provo, Utah staple), four poetry pals gathered to discuss Shakespeare–except, none of us had read the same play. Whoops. We improvised, however, and decided to use our meeting to write four poems–together. It was interesting, each of us writing a line on our phones, then passing… Continue reading Patchwork Poetry
Over/Poetry 