Hello to all,
Thank you so much for all your responses to my question on form. So much of what you say resonates with what I already 'know' but only express with toddlerish clumsiness. I'v much to learn about the history of poetry, and the language of Lit Crit. To me it's obvious that the choice of the form, including its organic development by the poem itself, is an essential part of a poem's (self) creation. I'm also fascinated by the way in which the choice of medium underpins the poem. I so often have Rothko on my mind when I'm writing - it's the pure simplicity (and complexity) of bands of colour (meaning) on canvas that I'm striving for, if that makes any sense at all.
By the way, Judy, you're right, although I did squish my need to write under various unhealthy displacement activities for the best part of 40 years. And then my husband died. I wore my head completely shaved for 2 years after his death, couldn't bear even a hint of stubble (Ripley amongst the aliens, gulag, nunnery, androgyne - for all these reasons and more) - in retrospect, a concrete poetic expression of the stunning brutality of grief. My children were young, however, and disturbed by it, so now I have a very short silver (bottled, of course) crop. But somehow Chris's death gave me life, and a sense that I have wasted so much time, and I just can't be timid anymore. I appear to have talent, or at least the potential of it - I would nail my colours to the mast (my claim to be here) by posting my OU submission , but it's far too long. It's funny that the snap surveys should appear now - I'm not quite ready to participate yet, but I soon will be.
Thank you again,
Cindy
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