Am writing in a completely different style now, one that a critic recently called "false etymological wordplay."
But I love it. I love being freed up from narrative, or just having a thread of narrative in big, loose stitches that can be pulled out. I'm taking straight-up autobiographical images and events and making them non-stories. Not fake stories, not fiction (which is incredibly difficult). The non-stories form the architecture of the poem.
Maybe because I'm no longer in journalism, and no longer need or want to "translate" a work of art into digestible bits for the reader, that pressure of being earnest is gone. Maybe it's age, but writing poems that shout "please understand me!" -- which is what I did when I was younger -- is no longer interesting.
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10 comments:
"etymological wordplay" sounds like something a critic would have stored in their "Oblique Generic Phrases" data base. EVERYTHING sentence ever written started out as wordplay. It's the way language evolves(d).
So you are starting fresh- pushing yourself and not settling for the ordinary acceptable answer?
5 years from now the same critics may write "Innovative- courageous- extraordinary- never a dull word from Ms. Amy Sparks"
Sounds like you are onto something and giving the "intellectuals" something to write about.
Actually, Dork, it was "false etymological wordplay," which I subconsciously left out. Life is so odd, just writing down what you see, hear, and do creates a string of absurdities (and I live a pretty quiet life). Hope you're right.
My brilliant Amy!
Free from narrative! Yes!
Amy, I'm regretting doing my MFA in fiction- I miss poetry something awful!
How is 611 going? Had to drop- one class too many.
Hey, are you busy on V-Day? Would you like to be a featured reader at a 9 p.m. reading at Visible Voice books?
Have you read Canadian poet Christian Bok? If not, I'll get him to you- etymological wordplay is the name of his game- it's excrutiatingly beautiful stuff-
Ginny
Sullivan, you're my hero...
Ginny, what took you to the "dark" side? Have not read Bok... and yes, will read on Thursday--no one has asked me to read in a long time!
The dark side indeed.
Hi Ame,
i'd like to see you read if you're doing so Thurs PM.
Lil Bro
post one of these puppies so i can see what you're doing!
The weather is so bad and we can't get to Dumanis' class tonight. How am I going to get my Amy fix? :(
I like it when you say, "Actually, Dork."
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