tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post111905591285682718..comments2023-10-31T09:37:59.862-07:00Comments on Rocket Kid Writing: Here Comes EverybodyRachel Dacushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1119066519215849632005-06-17T20:48:00.000-07:002005-06-17T20:48:00.000-07:00The first poem I ever loved was James Wright's "Ly...The first poem I ever loved was James Wright's "Lying in a Hammock on William Duffy's Farm" poem, and the wy is easy: because it surprised me. That last line, to this day, is the most catch-you-ff-guard line I've ever read. I recently came back to the poem while reading the letter between Wright and Robert Bly concerning Wright's travels to the Duffy farm, fantastic stuff. <BR/><BR/>I constantly read ninja/samurai lore. I can't get enough of it. I began training in ninjutsu as an old man's second time around at sports, and the reading immediately swallowed me with it's tales of chivalry turned upside down, war, philosophy inside of war and the aesthetic world and class system of martial arts. <BR/><BR/>Philosophy is important to my writing in that the same basic questions posed by the Socratics are around in every good poem. In regard to modern philosophy, if it can really be distinguised from classic philosophy, I'm not sure it has to much to bring to the table that hasn't already been there. <BR/><BR/>Favorite non-anglo american writers: I refer back to my ninja books. <BR/><BR/>I read a lot of poetry, largely because I've never had the patience to read something like a novel that I can't atleast have a once-over in one sitting. It's important to the writing because it keeps the rhythms in your head that turn into your own poems later on. Sometimes, without reading, there's a temporary regression in my writing. What was that thing Pound said about when carving an ax handle the model is never far away? <BR/><BR/>Colleagues may assume I've read a lot of things I haven't, especially the longer works. I never read Wordsworth's Prelude, or Paradiso, much of anything by Gertrude Stein. I haven't read them because they're kind of hard to bore into, and the last two I suspect are boring. <BR/><BR/>A poem is a small story, or a song, or a picture of something, most likely all of these together, or nothing. <BR/><BR/>I don't believe in a role for the poet, largely because I believe in the separateness of the artist aspect of one's personality from the rest of one's personality. I suppose if one became Hamlet you could become a free artist of yourself, but until then. I suppose if there were a role, I'd say it were no different than anyone's- figure out what the hell's going on and look forward to failing at that. <BR/><BR/>lemon: cabin<BR/>chiseled: venice beach<BR/>I: redundant<BR/>of: what?<BR/>form: Turco<BR/><BR/>The text and the body: is this one of those SAT analogy questions? : as paper plate is to wedge of watermelon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com