Douglas, hello again,
If you want me to stop asking you questions, just say that you're going to lunch or something.
In the meantime, this topic of inspiration won't let me go (until of course my own lunchtime). You say that some poets need to be in love in order to be inspired, and that you yourself were inspired by kitten Marty's arrival. Then you said that you think it's deeper than that (love, that is), and that it has to do with confidence. Of course, anyone who feels (s)he's in love usually feels quite confident. Hence 'twould seem that you're closing in on the truth, namely, that confidence's the rubric under which love might sit, as well as many other qualities. I eventually will lead you right back to LOVE, of course, as THE ONLY necessary condition for inspiration---though by that time you may not recognize it! ;-)
Dictionaries offer the word "divine" in some of their definitions of inspiration. Do you feel that the divine has anything to do with your own inspiration? 'Twould seem that a poet's thorough belief in the divine might give her/him confidence. When one believes that (s)he is loved by a human, a cat, or the Source, one feels whole, worthwhile, and accepted---conditions necessary to confidence, surely.
A thing which gets in the way of confidence, it seems to me, is a poet's feeling that her/his poems are making no "connection" with others, and it raises in the person a great fear (the opposite of love) that fills the void with self-questionings. That happens when 1) someone like Basil Bunting (sorry, Basil, if you're reading these words now; feel free to comment on my poems, though) throws a false premise roadblock in front of you. (re his criticism, think of the greatest of poets, Douglas: did they never "repeat" themselves?) Envy and need for the feeling of power can cause a commenter to kill, sometimes for years, the creative life of a poet. This fear also happens 2) when a poet's work meets frequently with NO response. And, finally, it happens 3) when a poet's work must climb through judgment hoops (poetry "boards", poem "contests", online poetry lists that "select" poems before posting any), leaving the poet wondering if her/his writings are "right" enough. The poet then begins to sound to her/himself like the proverbial desperate actor asking a director: "Do you want me to be taller?"
Wake up now, Douglas, it's time to feed Marty, and I'm WAY hungry, m'sel'.
Blessings,
Judy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Clark" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2005 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: poem
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "judy prince" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2005 5:02 PM
> Subject: Re: poem
>
>
> Hi, Douglas,
>
> I didn't get that---still don't. But I like the poem anyway.
>
> My favorites of yours are Susan #1 (Halloween) and #2 (Citadel), Merlin in
> Winter (not the least because you've put my name in it), Cernunnos, and
> Marty (poem 2).
>
> You've written that poetry has left you, and it makes me wonder, can a
> poet truly lose the Muse? I'm quite serious, and my feeling is that a poet
> cannot lose the Muse. But I am ready and willing to be instructed in the
> truth.
>
> Your fan,
>
> Judy
>
> Thanks Judy. I was just explaining to Anny that when I wrote 'Verse' in
> Edinburgh thirtyeight years ago I was rhyming i with a e o u and had to
> struggle for rhymes but made it in the end..phew!
>
> Regarding poetry thanks for liking poems but the inspiration just went in
> 1996 and has only returned a couple of times since then. Once when Marty the
> kitten came into the house. Some poets can only write when they are in love
> and that might be the explanation but it is probably deeper than that..more
> likely to do with confidence. If you dont believe you are the cat's pyjamas
> the words dont jump into the head anymore.
>
> All my work is on my website butr there arent many readers nowadays (except
> for the last poem I wrote, the confessional poem, which I will post next
> Sunday at its anniversary.) seening that Google has downgraded my Cat and
> Kitten Poems in its listings.
>
> But the truth in a way is that Basil Bunting told me never to repeat myself
> and if I wrote love or cat poems again I would just finish up parodying
> myself and I havent the ability to stretch much beyond that. And it just
> isnt there anymore. Few poets go on past sixty, unless you are Yeats.
>
> Cheers.
>
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