Friday, June 22, 2007
Are There 13 Poems-on-Poetry That I Like?
If you've read me long enough, you may know that poems-on-poetry are not generally something I like. There's enough navel gazing and narcissism in contemporary poetry anyway, so when a poem starts to go on about the power of poetry or (even worse) the process, my eyes start sneaking toward the door (or just about anything else, really). But there are a few poems-on-poetry/writing that I actually like, so I'm going to list all the ones I can think of and see if I can get to 13. You won't find Marianne Moore's "Poetry" (half good mean fun, half poorly edited blather) or Archibald MacLeish's wrongheaded "Ars Poetica" here.
1. "Teaching the Ape to Write Poetry" by James Tate. Funny-creepy is one of my favorite tones for poetry. I also like apes and hubris.
2. "The Joy of Writing" by Wislawa Szymborska. Killer first three lines. Szymborska does a lot of poems-on-poetry, doesn't she?
3. "Because You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetry" by Howard Nemerov. Sharp lyric description put to good use.
4. "Paradoxes and Oxymorons" by John Ashbery. It figures that one of the Ashbery poems I like more (and feel like wanders off into space less) is one that seems to me is gently tweaking people who complain about his poetry. Was that "Every Ashbery poem is about poetry" line just a straw man Vendler made up to pummel, or can it be sourced to someone?
5. "Wrong Poem" by Mark Halliday. This one wins me over with the phrase "drooling gerbil." Oddly, the only place it can be found online is from when I posted it in the comments of A. D.'s blog (and it's a terrible fit for the kind of poem he was looking for--I probably posted it just because I thought it was fun).
6. "Ground Swell" by Mark Jarman. This was one of the first poems I discovered in contemporary poetry when I started following it in college.
7. "Lines" by Martha Collins. I'm going to interpret this one broadly and say it can be about writing too.
8. "Love the Wild Swan" by Robinson Jeffers. I'm a sucker for misanthropy if it's done artfully.
9. "Eating Poetry" by Mark Strand. Apparently it helps you get on this list if your name is Mark.
10. "Why I Am Not a Painter" by Frank O'Hara. This pretty much epitomizes New York School, doesn't it? Both the stuff I like and the stuff I don't like so much.
11. "Why the Prose Poem Will Never Get the Respect It So Richly Deserves" by Robert Perchan. From the Poetry West chapbook contest winner. Fun, crazy stuff.
12. "The Poem" by Ellen Kirvin Dudis. First published in The Eleventh Muse.
13. "Hello Thank You" by Jordan Davis.
Fine, I cheated at the end. If I ever write a poem that's blatantly on poetry (I think that theme can be found in some of my current poems, but it's not at the fore), I will call it "Arse Poetica." That's probably already been used, though. Sigh...
1. "Teaching the Ape to Write Poetry" by James Tate. Funny-creepy is one of my favorite tones for poetry. I also like apes and hubris.
2. "The Joy of Writing" by Wislawa Szymborska. Killer first three lines. Szymborska does a lot of poems-on-poetry, doesn't she?
3. "Because You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetry" by Howard Nemerov. Sharp lyric description put to good use.
4. "Paradoxes and Oxymorons" by John Ashbery. It figures that one of the Ashbery poems I like more (and feel like wanders off into space less) is one that seems to me is gently tweaking people who complain about his poetry. Was that "Every Ashbery poem is about poetry" line just a straw man Vendler made up to pummel, or can it be sourced to someone?
5. "Wrong Poem" by Mark Halliday. This one wins me over with the phrase "drooling gerbil." Oddly, the only place it can be found online is from when I posted it in the comments of A. D.'s blog (and it's a terrible fit for the kind of poem he was looking for--I probably posted it just because I thought it was fun).
6. "Ground Swell" by Mark Jarman. This was one of the first poems I discovered in contemporary poetry when I started following it in college.
7. "Lines" by Martha Collins. I'm going to interpret this one broadly and say it can be about writing too.
8. "Love the Wild Swan" by Robinson Jeffers. I'm a sucker for misanthropy if it's done artfully.
9. "Eating Poetry" by Mark Strand. Apparently it helps you get on this list if your name is Mark.
10. "Why I Am Not a Painter" by Frank O'Hara. This pretty much epitomizes New York School, doesn't it? Both the stuff I like and the stuff I don't like so much.
11. "Why the Prose Poem Will Never Get the Respect It So Richly Deserves" by Robert Perchan. From the Poetry West chapbook contest winner. Fun, crazy stuff.
12. "The Poem" by Ellen Kirvin Dudis. First published in The Eleventh Muse.
13. "Hello Thank You" by Jordan Davis.
Fine, I cheated at the end. If I ever write a poem that's blatantly on poetry (I think that theme can be found in some of my current poems, but it's not at the fore), I will call it "Arse Poetica." That's probably already been used, though. Sigh...
