I'm so glad to be moving on from poetry. I won't catch all the intricacies of fiction right away, either, but at least there are some pretty sweet stories to look forward to - right? I'm not really sure what I should be commenting on about these, but…here goes.
The first thing I noticed when reading Fiction Packet 1 - Short Stories was that they aren't too different from the Lyn Hejinian poem from Poetry Packet 1. Or maybe that poem is more like a story?
From this packet, my favorite is "Mystery Stories" by Sharon Krinsky. They are short and don't tell too much. I'm left thinking, "Uh, what just happened?" "The Record Store" and "The Red Coats" are like that. Why did she come to the party with two coats to begin with? It seems every year at a Christmas party, somebody in my family loses a coat to the bedroom. (Why is it that the coat room is always the bedroom? I'd rather keep my coat on than leave it on somebody's bed…)
"Morning News" was quite hard to read. This past year has been full of people close to me getting sick and some have passed away. Every time another person gets sick, someone does something crazy, like buy a 60" television. "I feel a failure of imagination." That's always been me. While everyone else is saying their "last words" and stuff, I have nothing left to say, except "I love you." If that's a surprise, I must have done something wrong.
"Wallet" is just so paranoid - I love it. "We are both stupid with smiles and he is shouting, 'Drive fast, drive fast.'" Sometimes, it is so much fun to feel reckless when you haven't done anything wrong.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
After Ed Roberson
Isn't it true that
we move through nature
never taking stock
of our natural state?
Train hop across
the countryside.
Think you've become
one with nature.
Not frolicking bodies
in the prairie
meadows
and open fields.
Isn't it true that
our bodies respond
when we present
them with nature?
Top speed of 10 mph
on a gusty day.
Air slapping skin.
This is natural.
Skip town.
Not by train
but by trail.
Not by trail
but by path.
Not by path.
but by the breeze.
we move through nature
never taking stock
of our natural state?
Train hop across
the countryside.
Think you've become
one with nature.
Not frolicking bodies
in the prairie
meadows
and open fields.
Isn't it true that
our bodies respond
when we present
them with nature?
Top speed of 10 mph
on a gusty day.
Air slapping skin.
This is natural.
Skip town.
Not by train
but by trail.
Not by trail
but by path.
Not by path.
but by the breeze.
Roberson, Part 2
I wish I had something original or insightful to say about City Eclogue, but I honestly just don't get it. In class, hearing from the class is helpful, and I always begin to think that I will start to think in a similar analytical or innovative way that some of my classmates do.
One of the poems that grabbed me was "Simple As One Two" (105-6) because the title suggested that it would be simple. It's not. Of course. I thought that because sections "1" and "i" don't necessarily fit well together, maybe "1" & "2" and "i" & "ii" would fit. Okay, I should say that when I say "fit," I mean "make sense," which means that I can understand exactly what is being said exactly the way it is written. I should know by now not to expect that from poetry.
I thought "ii" was awesome.
"the glass flash and the metal
sharp edge as you is
a paper cut but deeper"
Doesn't that just make you feel something? Pain mostly. Paper cuts are the worst thing that can happen to a person, second only to Memorial Day parade blisters in your cute new shoes.
"ii" used a different positioning technique, too. Rather than basically tabbing each line in one further, like parts "1" and "i" and "Painting From Science for Hui Ka-Kwong" (and all sorts of other poems), "ii" makes that angle come on the right. I prefer this. It looks beautiful. This section is different from the others, so it isn't surprising that is arranged differently too.
The only poem with a period in the title is "Point." That's fitting, right? Put a point at the end of the word point.
One of the poems that grabbed me was "Simple As One Two" (105-6) because the title suggested that it would be simple. It's not. Of course. I thought that because sections "1" and "i" don't necessarily fit well together, maybe "1" & "2" and "i" & "ii" would fit. Okay, I should say that when I say "fit," I mean "make sense," which means that I can understand exactly what is being said exactly the way it is written. I should know by now not to expect that from poetry.
I thought "ii" was awesome.
"the glass flash and the metal
sharp edge as you is
a paper cut but deeper"
Doesn't that just make you feel something? Pain mostly. Paper cuts are the worst thing that can happen to a person, second only to Memorial Day parade blisters in your cute new shoes.
"ii" used a different positioning technique, too. Rather than basically tabbing each line in one further, like parts "1" and "i" and "Painting From Science for Hui Ka-Kwong" (and all sorts of other poems), "ii" makes that angle come on the right. I prefer this. It looks beautiful. This section is different from the others, so it isn't surprising that is arranged differently too.
The only poem with a period in the title is "Point." That's fitting, right? Put a point at the end of the word point.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Roberson and Lamott
My favorite section of Ed Roberson's City Eclogue is "Ornithologies." Ornithology is the study of birds, so I was expecting plenty talk of birds, and that's just what I got. Calling the departures/arrivals board in the Trenton Station in New Jersey the "state bird" was powerful in the poem "Orinthology" (pages 94-5)
I'm sure it's been said many times before, but isn't it true that we move through nature by train or plane, without ever noticing it? The closest we come to birds is in a train station, staring up at the departures board, getting angry that you're being delayed.
Another example of "moving through nature" in "Ornithologies" is in "Open / Back Up (breadth of field)" (page 88) is when Roberson states that the last time he walked through a field, he was basically surrounded by police. An aside regarding this poem - I had to look up "auspice" (but I'm still not sure what it means) and found that it literally means "one who looks at birds" in Latin. Not so different from ornithology!
Moving on to some more birds...this time by Anne Lamott. I first borrowed Bird by Bird from the library in February - I kept renewing the book until I saw it on the required texts for this class and was relieved that I could finally just buy it! I love how Lamott describes writing as just being something a person does. It doesn't have to be terribly profound and it's going to suck the first few times around. And you keep going anyway, because it is what you do.
The idea of "taking it bird by bird" is hard for me, though. (And I know all too well the feeling of having had three months to write something and still writing it the night before it is due...please don't look at the timestamp on this post.) I like to tackle projects, head first, and beat them until I'm finished. This doesn't happen in chunks, shifts, and hardly ever drafts. No matter how many people or books say to never edit while you write, I'm going to edit while I write. (Just kidding, I'm trying really hard to stop editing while I write....) In some cases, it is nearly impossible to NOT go "bird by bird," like research papers. All you can do is take the quotes and fill in around them. Can't start at the top and go straight through to the end, because you can't know how it should begin if you don't know what you said in the middle. But other things, you need to start at the beginning and follow it out, without jumping around, to the end, because that is how that particular piece of writing will come together best.
I'm sure it's been said many times before, but isn't it true that we move through nature by train or plane, without ever noticing it? The closest we come to birds is in a train station, staring up at the departures board, getting angry that you're being delayed.
Another example of "moving through nature" in "Ornithologies" is in "Open / Back Up (breadth of field)" (page 88) is when Roberson states that the last time he walked through a field, he was basically surrounded by police. An aside regarding this poem - I had to look up "auspice" (but I'm still not sure what it means) and found that it literally means "one who looks at birds" in Latin. Not so different from ornithology!
Moving on to some more birds...this time by Anne Lamott. I first borrowed Bird by Bird from the library in February - I kept renewing the book until I saw it on the required texts for this class and was relieved that I could finally just buy it! I love how Lamott describes writing as just being something a person does. It doesn't have to be terribly profound and it's going to suck the first few times around. And you keep going anyway, because it is what you do.
The idea of "taking it bird by bird" is hard for me, though. (And I know all too well the feeling of having had three months to write something and still writing it the night before it is due...please don't look at the timestamp on this post.) I like to tackle projects, head first, and beat them until I'm finished. This doesn't happen in chunks, shifts, and hardly ever drafts. No matter how many people or books say to never edit while you write, I'm going to edit while I write. (Just kidding, I'm trying really hard to stop editing while I write....) In some cases, it is nearly impossible to NOT go "bird by bird," like research papers. All you can do is take the quotes and fill in around them. Can't start at the top and go straight through to the end, because you can't know how it should begin if you don't know what you said in the middle. But other things, you need to start at the beginning and follow it out, without jumping around, to the end, because that is how that particular piece of writing will come together best.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Sonnets and Love Poems
I'm just going to come right out and say it. I hate sonnets. I sort of hate poems. I'm trying to channel that into writing 3 wonderful, pithy sonnets. (It isn't quite going as well as I hoped, but there's still time!)
Ted Berrigan's XV sonnet was confusing, but once I figured it out, I loved it. There is hardly anything more fun than playing around with words and lines like that. One thing I noticed that wasn't mentioned in class is that the poem seemed to have an hourglass shape, like Marilyn Monroe. Perhaps that is why he rearranged the lines, in addition to the collage effect? To make it look like Marilyn Monroe.
Heather McHugh poem "And What Do You Get" is all about wordplay. Some are obvious, like "Or from example, take the ex out: now it's bigger," but "take in out of mind and you've got someone who delivers you a bill" took me a moment to decipher.
I think I will write my sonnets mostly according to the Shakespearean form. I felt that Berrigan's sonnets could hardly be considered sonnets, but what do I know? 14 lines is 14 lines. Still, I feel like I need a little direction here, and using that rhyming structure and (maybe, if I can make it work!) iambic pentameter will give me some place to jump off from.
Ted Berrigan's XV sonnet was confusing, but once I figured it out, I loved it. There is hardly anything more fun than playing around with words and lines like that. One thing I noticed that wasn't mentioned in class is that the poem seemed to have an hourglass shape, like Marilyn Monroe. Perhaps that is why he rearranged the lines, in addition to the collage effect? To make it look like Marilyn Monroe.
Heather McHugh poem "And What Do You Get" is all about wordplay. Some are obvious, like "Or from example, take the ex out: now it's bigger," but "take in out of mind and you've got someone who delivers you a bill" took me a moment to decipher.
I think I will write my sonnets mostly according to the Shakespearean form. I felt that Berrigan's sonnets could hardly be considered sonnets, but what do I know? 14 lines is 14 lines. Still, I feel like I need a little direction here, and using that rhyming structure and (maybe, if I can make it work!) iambic pentameter will give me some place to jump off from.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Intro
Hi everybody, I'm Lucy! I am a Written Communications major, but I haven't yet decided on my minor. I'm leaning toward Geology because, well, rocks are cool. This is my third semester at EMU.
I grew up in the Great Lakes states, spending a couple years in each Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I can't get away from Lake Michigan - not that I would ever want to. Now that I'm living in Ann Arbor, it takes some effort to get out to the lake, but it pays off every time. I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd, currently reading Repotting Harry Potter by James W. Thomas and constantly re-reading the series. I help with the Awana program (Bible verse memorization and games for kids) at my church.
I grew up in the Great Lakes states, spending a couple years in each Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I can't get away from Lake Michigan - not that I would ever want to. Now that I'm living in Ann Arbor, it takes some effort to get out to the lake, but it pays off every time. I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd, currently reading Repotting Harry Potter by James W. Thomas and constantly re-reading the series. I help with the Awana program (Bible verse memorization and games for kids) at my church.
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