Isn't writing like other sports?? I always seem to have drawers full of "practise poems" or snippets that are terrible, or have nice parts or MAY become something some day.?
As a girl, I used to skate competitively and, for me, practise poems are like school figures or dry run-throughs.? Activities you do to strengthen your muscles, warm up, try new moves, take chances.
Like Sheila said, things you do in prep for the real writing.?
Also, for me pieces that work usually work in one fell swoop, or, as Ginsberg said, first word, best word; first line, best line.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sheila Murphy <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 5:29 pm
Subject: thinking (a)bout compo
Dear Andrew the Inq,
Yours truly actually finds that the poems that write themselves are better
than those I force. That's based upon the responses I receive, in addition
to my own liking of the pieces as they have emerged.
Sometimes (not often), a rather difficult, labored endeavor MAY yield a
moment or so of worth (according to me), but for me, that is rare.
My solution to all of this? I write, so that I am ready for the real
writing. Sometimes it isn't there, but I'd have missed it if I had no
writing muscles. I don't release all that I do. In fact, much of it is never
seen, will never be seen. I also note that I write less these days than I
used to.
Sheila
On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 5:04 PM, andrew burke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Doug said, I wasnt sure at all,
>
> Aren't they often the best poems, later? I often feel, if I'm comfortable
> writing a poem and it just 'flows', that it is a pale wak affair, yet the
> ones where I am unsure of them but have the courage to let it out, they
> seem
> to be the better ones. Is this a common experience amongst poets?
>
> Andrew the Inquisitor
>
> 2008/6/26 Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > Thanks Nathan, Andrew, Barry, & Gerald.
> >
> > I wasnt sure at all, to tell the truth...
> >
> > Doug
> >
> > On 26-Jun-08, at 7:51 AM, Gerald Schwartz wrote:
> >
> > Doug,
> >>
> >> Great piece. Really get the sense of movement
> >> from it... from its structure and its descriptions.
> >>
> >> Gerald S.
> >>
> >> On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 11:42 PM, Douglas Barbour <
> >>> [log in to unmask]>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> the cobblestones were hard
> >>>> on horses' hooves
> >>>> on carriages whose wheels
> >>>> were just as hard
> >>>>
> >>>> now jouncing at varying speeds
> >>>> sudden stops
> >>>> for pedestrians
> >>>> & other interferences
> >>>> they remain historical
> >>>> ly hard
> >>>> tough
> >>>> on foreign feet & bodies
> >>>>
> >>>> a sense of the past
> >>>> present in every step & swerve
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Douglas Barbour
> >>>> [log in to unmask]
> >>>>
> >>>> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
> >>>>
> >>>> Latest books:
> >>>> Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
> >>>> http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
> >>>> Wednesdays'
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html
> >>>>
> >>>> In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field
> >>>> general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense
> >>>> by
> >>>> hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even
> >>>> if he
> >>>> has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he
> marches
> >>>> his
> >>>> troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a
> >>>> sustained
> >>>> ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's
> >>>> defensive line.
> >>>>
> >>>> In baseball the object is to go home!
> >>>>
> >>>> George Carlin, RIP
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> http://nathanhondros.blogspot.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
> > Douglas Barbour
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
> >
> > Latest books:
> > Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
> > http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
> > Wednesdays'
> >
> >
> http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html
> >
> > In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field
> > general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by
> > hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if
> he
> > has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches
> his
> > troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a
> sustained
> > ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's
> > defensive line.
> >
> > In baseball the object is to go home!
> >
> > George Carlin, RIP
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Andrew
> http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/aburke/
>
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