I feel as if I'm at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, but
it's only fair that I take my turn to stand up and introduce
myself.
Quick bio: I am an engineer on the one hand, but on the
other hand I have an M.Litt. (Oxon) in the field of Russian
versification. My thesis was about rhyme in the poetry
of Joseph Brodsky. My own list of published poems is
very short and my output these days is low. I have
been too long out of contact with people who share my
interest in poetry, so I joined this list in the hopes of
stimulating the old synapses and getting back into the habit
of thinking about poetry. I now live in France, but
unfortunately I can't seem to get really excited about French
poetry.
Re. my own poems: I haven't really got any guiding
principles, just a few tendencies. My poems seem
to have a natural length, which is short (ranging from 5
to 16 lines). Should I think of this as a problem -- have
I got some kind of mental barrier at the 16-line mark --
or is this normal? Other miscellaneous points: I am
fond of rhyme, so I use it quite a lot, but I do not see
it as essential. Finally, I don't like to explain my poems
too much. If they succeed in being self-explanatory, then
that is wonderful. For the more obscure ones, if the reader
gets out at least a part of what I tried to put in, or maybe
even something he found there himself, then I'm happy.
An offering: the thread about transliterating accents/dialects
reminded me of this little thing I wrote a few years back:
Contretemps III
Amid thick traffic
on Brislington Hill
forgetting those lessons on clutch control
I cock up my hill-start
and back the car rolls.
Crunch.
Damn.
Wha'ever next?
Oi've smashed a man's number plate
an' he be gurt vext.
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Cheers
Kari
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