Quantity Vs. Quality
Poem
Just once, the sheet should cover the whole bed
the first time I unfurl it.
Just once, I should hold a plug
the right way when I plug it in.
Just once, the hair stylist should trim my hair
the way — I say — (the god damned) way I described it.
And just once, I wish the church would really
protect us all from sin.
Just once, I wish my laundered socks all had the same tread,
and liked to be found,
by me,
and liked me as much as they loved me,
and matched my high expectations,
and my socks protected me,
and,
and,
and
just once, I wish the world knew how very, very much
I’d love to like to love it back,
here at the very end.
(2024)
A Note About Poetry and Peer Pressue
po·et·ry /ˈpōətrē/ noun: poetry; plural noun: poetries ) DEF: literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.
What is poetry? Well, according to one online post (different platform) I read, it meant following certain writing rules. You know. Following those rules was what separated poetry from, say, prose.
Hm.
“Well, for starters,” I replied as one does when one is social media-ing, “there are any number (countless) examples of prose that I believe are also poetry. Often, single scenes or even individual passages from stories achieve this. Song lyrics. A significant chunk of LeGuin’s literary canon.
IMO, Poetry is anything that evokes the feelings and ideas mentioned (in the definition), regardless of forms, styles, particular rhythms, or even intent. A grocery list could be a poem — and quite by accident, at that. The same way unintentional paint stains could be a beautiful piece of fine art.
OTOH, a poet could try very very hard to make a poem by employing well-established techniques and forms, …and still not really write poetry. Goodness knows I have. ;-)”
A fairly recent review (of Hecht’s works) from David Orr in the New York Times Review of Books a few months back touched on this topic. In pertinent part, Orr wrote:
The question for poets is always, “How do I write poetry?” — and for a long time, the answer, provided in part by Eliot, was, “By knowing a lot about poetic tradition and making a show of it.” It’s not the most obvious answer (the more one thinks about it, the stranger it seems). But for Hecht’s generation, it was a reliable answer that led to measurable rewards and it did so because a cohort of poets, editors and critics agreed that it would…
…Yet the question “How do I write poetry?” and the question “How can I be seen and respected as a poet?” aren’t the same. In fact, they’re frequently in tension, because the preferences of the “club” are so twisted by that group’s tiny size and self-dealing that to satisfy them often says more about acceptability than artistry.
Indeed.
Also Featured in the 2024 Edition of POETRY PACIFIC
My short poems:
Springtime is for Poetry and Self-Love, You Idiot (Part One)
and
There’s a Certain Way — can be seen here.
Enjoy!
