Saturday, May 07, 2005

End of Parenthetical Poetics

Aye, carumba! And then you have a poem like the one I just read on a national online publication (this blog is trying to be nice and not actually name names). Maybe the first poet on the blogosphere is right after all. And the scourge of mediocrity, where are you when we need you.

Maybe the formalists and the avant garde have more in common than we think: most mainstream poetry just isn't that good. At least formalists have a sincere interest in craft. And postmodernists at least won't bore you with incredibly inept syntax with dull metaphors or sentimental and inane confidences.

I think the problem here, beyond the fact that something like this is considered exceptional enough to be published in such a singular space, is the fact that the poet appears to have labored long on such hackneyed and pedestrian fare, as if under the impression the poem being written was actually good.

Or maybe I'm just thinking of my own writing. We are the last ones to know after all.

7 comments:

Jonathan said...

Give us a hint?

A mediocre poem published in a prominent place is hardly a remarkable event. Your sense of outrage, though, is almost Mayhewesque. I'm not sure if that's good or bad... Nice rant.

son rivers said...

J, and I somewhat agree, so I've deleted the clues and your response. Although I think I may need to discuss the code in more length. Should there be such a code? For now I'll agree.

A. D. said...

G-

I'd like to read your criticism. Would you be willing to share?

Mark Lamoureux said...

Check out Annie Finch's "The Body of Poetry," for some interesting links between formalism and the avant-garde, and for Finch's avant-garde formalism.

It is a good text, Finch is a refreshing mind.

son rivers said...

AD, absolutely. But be brutal! Email me. Maybe we can make this some kind of blog thing.

son rivers said...

dr, obviously im not willing to decide for everyone. just me.

son rivers said...

Mark, thanks for the suggestion. I've been meaning to check that book out. Good idea.