Gary Wassner
February 13th, 2005, 07:12 AM
Yes, it does go back a bit. But the quality does not fade with time. I could have quoted Amelia, Carey, Edith and the Kingpin, Roses Blue or any others where she creates a character and a world of circumstances in 20 lines of verse. When a poet can do that, it is incredible, as far as I am concerned. Leonard Cohen is just as successful at it.
I read poetry silently to myself all the time. I read it with pauses and emphasis as well, and I hope when I read that the pauses are where they were intended to be, but if the meaning is clear to me, then I suppose so is the punctuation. I do have a hard time punctuating my own poetry so that it is read the way I inetend it to be read. The rhythm and pace that I have in my head is not always easy to convey on paper. I read it aloud to myself often in order to see if it reads as it should, but I have to keep in mind that no one else will be reading it aloud.
In my books, poetry serves to raise quesitons and set moods, but almost always prescient ones, and I only add them to the text when I have an urge to write a poem. I don't plan to put one ahead of time right there in that chapter, or there at the beginning of a scene. They are usually the result of a mood of mine that predates the writing of the chapter. Poetry frames a mood for me. It helps me to clarify an emotion or sensibility, even though it is vague and unclear often. So are emotions when the cause of fear or melancholoy or sadness is not self evident. So are moods under the same circumstances. It helps me to deal with the uncertainty, even though it doesn't answer it. I have always written poetry during my life for the same reasons as I write it now to include in my books. It's just part of the process for me.
I read poetry silently to myself all the time. I read it with pauses and emphasis as well, and I hope when I read that the pauses are where they were intended to be, but if the meaning is clear to me, then I suppose so is the punctuation. I do have a hard time punctuating my own poetry so that it is read the way I inetend it to be read. The rhythm and pace that I have in my head is not always easy to convey on paper. I read it aloud to myself often in order to see if it reads as it should, but I have to keep in mind that no one else will be reading it aloud.
In my books, poetry serves to raise quesitons and set moods, but almost always prescient ones, and I only add them to the text when I have an urge to write a poem. I don't plan to put one ahead of time right there in that chapter, or there at the beginning of a scene. They are usually the result of a mood of mine that predates the writing of the chapter. Poetry frames a mood for me. It helps me to clarify an emotion or sensibility, even though it is vague and unclear often. So are emotions when the cause of fear or melancholoy or sadness is not self evident. So are moods under the same circumstances. It helps me to deal with the uncertainty, even though it doesn't answer it. I have always written poetry during my life for the same reasons as I write it now to include in my books. It's just part of the process for me.