I write both poetry and (often poetic) philosophical prose. These for me are two aspects of my larger self process as a writer and thinker, and they play themselves out in each other.
I am interested in semiotics and the way that a piece of art can assume multiple diverse meanings and interpretations in the hands of different readers, different cultures and life histories.
I like to play around with different levels of ambiguity and concreteness, but at present I tend to be on the more ambiguous side. I do not look to make all of my meanings clear or discursive.
My meanings are very rarely clear-cut. They never can be fully translated to a direct or discursive summary, although I can often interpret and make background and sta…
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I write both poetry and (often poetic) philosophical prose. These for me are two aspects of my larger self process as a writer and thinker, and they play themselves out in each other.
I am interested in semiotics and the way that a piece of art can assume multiple diverse meanings and interpretations in the hands of different readers, different cultures and life histories.
I like to play around with different levels of ambiguity and concreteness, but at present I tend to be on the more ambiguous side. I do not look to make all of my meanings clear or discursive.
My meanings are very rarely clear-cut. They never can be fully translated to a direct or discursive summary, although I can often interpret and make background and statements about motivation. I most appreciate authors who don’t give away their meanings too easily, at least in poetry. I enjoy poems that make me work, that push me to repeatedly re-read and find more every time.
Poets dont always have a direct or obvious meaning they are trying to convey. Poetry doesn’t always have to be obvious like that. Not everything has an answer; not everything can be answered. It’s important in art and poetry to be comfortable with ambiguity. Poetry taps into an aspect of human experience that is non-discursive, cannot be related through thematic take-aways or obvious subjects. It’s possible to read a poem and not try to dissect it for “what it’s about;” to take away general impressions without an obvious “this is what the poet is trying to say.”
I realize that I use too many concrete and imagistic nouns in my poetry, and sometimes I do not connect them well enough. I am working on it.
I would like to use more verb oriented language and I would like to learn to be more subtle and cohesive.
Sometimes I make intentional, crazy plays on words that may or may not work.
I have a habit of switching metaphors or using multiple metaphors for the same object. According to Stunk and White, this is a no-no. I am trying to figure out how to break the rule in a way that works.
Overall I would like to be less awkward; I would like to gain a tighter command over my language.
My favorite poets include:
Audre Lorde
Agha Shahid Ali
Jan Zwicky
Thomas Sayers Ellis
Anne Sexton
E.E. Cummings
Annie Dillard
Loren Eiseley
William Carlos Williams
Prageeta Sharma
Wallace Stevens
Tomaz Salamun
Nick Flynn
and many others.
I also LOVE words, I keep a long running list of my favorites, and I read Webster’s dictionary for fun.
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