Glad some others agree. Just wanted to put that comparison out there. I'm not saying mine is gold standard, just there for contrast. Unfortunately, in the poetry world out there - most is of her form, ilk, standard. Yet, fierce, direct poetry will survive. It's in us - to tell things as they are, to pull out the cork and forsake the drivel and diarrhea that masks as poetry.
I believe that the first poem is pure drivel, written by an academic for other academics. (Much like scientific papers.) I imagine Dionne sitting at her desk with a thesaurus in hand, trying to find obscure words to impress others in her field.
For me, the litmus test for reading fiction or poetry is whether or not it speaks to me and is understandable. I love the English language. That woman butchered it and left me empty.
Hi David. I agree. The poem by Dionne did nothing for me. But yours did speak do me. It felt more honest and poignant. There's a similar conversation going on over at Jeannine's Writing in the Dark https://writinginthedark.substack.com/p/rene-denfeld-keeps-writing-books about those writing outside the academic class. I think it's why a lot of us are attracted to Substack. While there are star performers here, and that's a good thing, there's room for those who come from different backgrounds, a truer sense of the public forum, where the washed and unwashed have communion.
Well, I wish there were a better forum but it is the best we've got ... you can say what you want to say - that's a rarity it seems. I could say so much (and have in the past) about MFA programs and its glass housing of the poetic soul. Poetry is of the fresh air ... I'll take a look at the conversation - just hope nobody invites me to a workshop (and then a retreat and then a contest ... pay $$$$, tuition, get a certification. It's all so tiring, I'd rather chop wood and buy red wine with that money.
Glad some others agree. Just wanted to put that comparison out there. I'm not saying mine is gold standard, just there for contrast. Unfortunately, in the poetry world out there - most is of her form, ilk, standard. Yet, fierce, direct poetry will survive. It's in us - to tell things as they are, to pull out the cork and forsake the drivel and diarrhea that masks as poetry.
I believe that the first poem is pure drivel, written by an academic for other academics. (Much like scientific papers.) I imagine Dionne sitting at her desk with a thesaurus in hand, trying to find obscure words to impress others in her field.
For me, the litmus test for reading fiction or poetry is whether or not it speaks to me and is understandable. I love the English language. That woman butchered it and left me empty.
Hi David. I agree. The poem by Dionne did nothing for me. But yours did speak do me. It felt more honest and poignant. There's a similar conversation going on over at Jeannine's Writing in the Dark https://writinginthedark.substack.com/p/rene-denfeld-keeps-writing-books about those writing outside the academic class. I think it's why a lot of us are attracted to Substack. While there are star performers here, and that's a good thing, there's room for those who come from different backgrounds, a truer sense of the public forum, where the washed and unwashed have communion.
Well, I wish there were a better forum but it is the best we've got ... you can say what you want to say - that's a rarity it seems. I could say so much (and have in the past) about MFA programs and its glass housing of the poetic soul. Poetry is of the fresh air ... I'll take a look at the conversation - just hope nobody invites me to a workshop (and then a retreat and then a contest ... pay $$$$, tuition, get a certification. It's all so tiring, I'd rather chop wood and buy red wine with that money.