Hi Nicholas,
I am so grateful to have received your message and more examples of prose
poems. the piano was hilarious and I appreciated the church of insomnia
although I didn't understand the allusion to Jonathan Edwards. I suspect I
would enjoy it even more if I "got it" I certainly enjoyed both of them.
Also, I loved the discription of a poem being that the lines end before they
have to. I guess poetry like all other art is in the eyes of the
beholder.(?) To me any written word needs some tension, creating interest,
conflict and release.(no?) let me know. regards and gratitude for your
reply. Joanne
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nicholas Sergeant" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2001 3:50 AM
Subject: Re: prose poem
> Joanne,
>
> In a poetry class I attended a few years ago we
> gave up trying to define poetry other than that it
> is a piece of writing in which the lines end
> before they have to.
> Though there would be exceptions to this
> definition as well. Such as the "prose poem"
>
> I expect a prose poem to be a very short piece of
> prose which invites a large amount of interest,
> pleasurable re-reading with further surprises. And
> there are large prose works that do that as well,
> and short ones that don't (or don't seem to - but
> with a short piece re-reading is not very
> arduous). So this is not a definition.
>
> Apart from the interest within these poems,
> often the ones that stick in my mind have a viral
> quality which makes the prose somewhat
> hallucinatory, and it infects the way I think
> about "ordinary" prose. Here's one by Russell
> Edson (Verse Vol 13 No 1):
>
> The Baby Pianos
>
> A piano had made a huge manure. Its handler
> hoped the lady of the house wouldn't notice.
> But the lady of the house said, what is that
> huge darkness?
> The piano's just had a baby, said the
> handler.
> Meanwhile the piano had dropped another huge
> manure.
> What's that? cried the lady of the house,
> surely not another baby?
> Twins, said the handler.
> They look more like cannon balls than baby
> pianos, said the lady of the house.
> The piano dropped another huge manure.
>
> Triplets, smiled the handler ...
>
>
> And on the next page in an ad for _The Prose Poem_
> (a journal "devoted to that which is neither
> poetry nor prose, but both") is this is by Charles
> Simic:
>
> The Church of Insomnia
>
> The huge congregation is in the dark. The
> altar is a bed with a canopy. The minister reads
> by candlelight the works of Jonathan Edwards. If
> you listen hard, you'll hear pages being turned,
> the ash of his cigarette falling into the abyss.
> The cat with the mouse in its mouth is simply
> passing through.
>
>
> Regards
> Nicholas Sergeant
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: joannedenton <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 1:30 AM
> Subject: prose poem
>
>
> > Dear Andrew, and all,
> > Hope this question is not too dumb for the
> "room", I have been lurking and
> > learning,from all you talented people,but now I
> would like to ask a
> > question: What qualifies as a "prose" poem? and
> what distinguishes it from
> > verse? sending my regards, Joanne Denton
> > (no chuckles out there hear?)(<:)
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Andrew Burke" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2001 6:21 PM
> > Subject: Re: In my dreams
> >
> >
> > > Nicholas - I really liked your poem - of the
> ram and the hook, etc. - The
> > > format seemed to lose itself on my machine. Is
> it a prose poem? The first
> > > par came like that, ten te second was full of
> longish lines juxtaposed
> > with
> > > short (very), and finally a paragraph of left
> margin, ragged right. (I
> > know
> > > justifying doesn't work on email, but the
> first par seemed justified
> > > enough.)
> > >
> > > I'd like to keep it and use it in classes if
> that's okay with you. That's
> > > why I am interested in getting your intended
> format strictly correct.
> > >
> > > Andrew
> > >
> > > ----------------------------------------
> > > Andrew Burke Copywriting
> > > [log in to unmask] Creative Writing
> > > http://www.bam.com.au/andrew/ Editing
> > > ----------------------------------------
> >
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