A poem and a moral statement are not the same thing. Way I see it, a poem
can be a moral statement; but if it isn't working properly as a poem, then
it's not pulling its weight as a moral statement. The same criteria have to
apply to all poems.
But if I'm shown a bad Holocaust (or confessional) poem by an inexperienced
poet, I try not to say anything that doesn't count as constructive
criticism, same as I would whatever the subject.
joanna
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Corelis" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2005 8:12 PM
Subject: Something I've been thinking about
[The following is prompted mostly by my experience of going to more poetry
readings than I used to. These questions deal with explosive issues, and I
want to make it clear that I don't personally have any firm answers to them.
The fact that I feel as uncomfortable writing these questions as most people
will feel reading them I take as evidence that they are important and ought
to
be discussed.]
If a poem deserves respect as a moral statement, does it therefore deserve
respect as poetic art?
Is it possible to write a bad poem deploring the Holocaust? If the answer
is
no, what are the implications for aesthetics of the claim that a poem's
quality can be assured by its choice of subject matter? If the answer is
yes,
then if someone showed you a bad poem deploring the Holocaust and asked what
you thought of it, how honestly would you answer?
A member of a poetry workshop reads a poem about the damaging effects of
sexism. The poem is a deeply felt expression of a personal experience which
clearly deserves compassion and respect. The group immediately starts
talking
about the problem of sexism, about other poems on the theme, about how
writing
poems about it can contribute to a solution. But nobody raises the issue of
whether the poem is good as poetry or not. There is apparently a general
tacit
agreement that it is not appropriate to judge such a poem by the same
critical
standards as a poem about flowers or sunrise or rivers. Is this something
to
worry about or not?
At more than one open mike reading I have been to, someone reading a poem
they
had written was so moved by it that they broke down in tears. The audience
response (myself included) was to applaud particularly loudly in sympathetic
support. Would a folk singer who was moved to tears while performing one of
their own songs be given a similar audience response? Would a pianist?
Would an artist standing sobbing before one of their own paintings?
A poet at a reading delivers several impassioned poems denouncing the Iraq
war, then goes into the parking lot, climbs into their car, and drives alone
home. Is there anything wrong with this scenario? Is there anything wrong
with the fact that it would almost never occur to anyone to wonder if there
is
anything wrong with it?
===========================
Jon Corelis
[log in to unmask]
www.geocities.com/jgcorelis
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