Someone, (whose name escapes me) said, “All writing is re-writing.” This is the most succinct summary of the writing process I’ve ever heard. And, it is sooo true. Recently, I read Dylan Thomas’s Collected Poems. One of the poems was unfinished at the time of Thomas’s death. The editor included the most finished version ofContinueContinue reading “Process”
Category Archives: Modern poetry
Post-Modern Sketches
(The painting for the post is “Retroactive II” by Robert Rauschenberg) Poetry has sometimes been a medium for social critique, as all art forms have. My poems are no exception, and some comment on the world we live in. One of the poems in my book, The Wind and the Shadows, is called “Post-Modern Sketches.”ContinueContinue reading “Post-Modern Sketches”
I Know the Moon
Writing doesn’t happen in a straight line, at least not in my experience. Some poems are like slipping on the ice; others like digging out of prison with a spoon. Most poems fall somewhere between these extremes. My first book, The Wind and the Shadows, has at least four poems of the “digging out ofContinueContinue reading “I Know the Moon”
Aliens—Amy Lowell
Amy Lowell is considered one of the leading figures of the Imagist movement in poetry. The Poetry Foundation describes Imagism as “An early 20th-century poetic movement that relied on the resonance of concrete images drawn in precise, colloquial language rather than traditional poetic diction and meter.” I recently read Amy Lowell’s poem, “Aliens.” The titleContinueContinue reading “Aliens—Amy Lowell”
MCMXIV—Philip Larkin
One of the poets I’ve been reading lately is Philip Larkin (1922-1985). Larkin has many striking poems, but one that stands out to me is “MCMXIV”. MCMXIV is, of course, 1914 in Roman numerals. The title suggests the beginning of World War I. Larkin begins the poem by talking about long lines of men, thenContinueContinue reading “MCMXIV—Philip Larkin”
A Wandering Minstrel 