Good morning, Shah. I sense this is a subtle response to some of my remarks
about poetry being an act of communication and its value lying there. Where
you are suggesting in this poem that the act is the most valuable and the
result invaluable (valueless?) trash.
It is perhaps valid to argue that a poem exists in three possible states.
There is the poem the poet thought s/he wrote, the poem that was actually
written and the poem the audience perceives as being written.
When writing a poem I think it fair to say that in most cases, the reason
and direction of the poem is chosen by the poet and to that end s/he bends
such craft and art as are available to them. The poem's direction may well
mutate in the creative process but in the main the direction and any changes
will feel to be under the control of the poet. The end result will be the
poem the poet thought s/ he wrote. It will have purged some emotion,
explored some thought, brought some process to a conclusion.
However poems do tend to have a life of their own and some sub-conscious
input from the poet can hide a different purpose and direction in the poem,
I say sub-conscious to indicate that it is beyond the conscious control of
the poet. It may be this other input is part of the creative ecstasy. I use
'ecstasy' with care and precision. During writing I find two processes at
work one is the ecstatic process where words seem to come of their own force
and volition and the other is the craft process. It is not a good thing to
rely entirely on the ecstatic process since poems written entirely in that
state are deeply personal, obscure and often without coherence. Sessions of
' speaking with tongues' might amaze and awe but they are rarely understood.
A poem is ultimately a form of communicating if it does not do that because
of obscure syntax, lack of structure and coherent sense of direction it
fails in its purpose and it fails as poem. However, the poet is entitled to
expect some intellectual effort from the audience but should never leave it
entirely up to them.
However the mind has ways of communicating through metaphors, myths,
connotations, legends, and that is part of poetry it is also where the
second poem emerges. Crafting is an essential element I think. Many of us
write and re-write our work and we should do so, that's when we can
expurgate the ecstatic outbursts and shape them for universal access.
The third poem is the most interesting. The reception of your work by an
audience. I have mentioned at other times the problems of connotations.
Connotations for a word or grouping of words can be universal or very
special and personal. That is when the third poem is written in the mind of
the audience. Of course, the third mode multiplies by the size of the
audience so that apart from the poem originally conceived there is the
proliferation that occurs when a poem is shared or broadcast, with the
potential for there to be as many poems as there are members of the
audience.
It will serve us to remember that as readers of poetry we are as much a part
of the creative process as the poet.
There is always the poem where all three poems merge as one poem , where
ecstasy and craft have worked together and the essence of a time and place,
a person or emotion the poet sought to convey is recaptured perfectly by the
audience. Unfortunately it does not happen often but what fun there is in
trying.
I hope you will excuse the short essay. If I sound to be pontificating I
regret that. This is all my own personal view of what writing and reading
poetry is all about. Others might agree or differ from my views and that is
their intellectual right.
Regards Arthur.

----- Original Message -----
From: "c s shah" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 5:28 AM
Subject: NEW: Value Erosion


> Value Erosion
>
> "How much?"
>
> "Twenty dollars."
>
> "Very reasonable! Why so cheap?"
>
> "It's invaluable, that's why, please.
> Twenty or two thousand
> makes no difference anymore,
> however,
> I've used canvas and colours
> worth twenty dollars, sure!"
> --
>
> c s shah