On Fri, 19 Jun 1998, Ernest Slyman wrote:
> But consider that many of those attempting to write poetry are not so much
> writing poetry, but merely making record of their inner spiritual life,
> personal problems, love affairs, grief, self-absorbed rumors of the skull.
- Yes, and in earlier times such self-absorbtion was wonderfully evidenced
in the richnesses of diaries and personal commonplace books. Private
documents, their value - their sincerity - intact through their very
closedness, the question of "good writing" irrelevant. When the desire
comes to whack such work onto "the public" (real or imagined) it seems to
me that other desires - ego, or "Ancient Marriner's Syndrome" - get in the
way of this directness. OSISTM. So that, if it's "not so much writing
poetry, but merely making a record" it would seem misleading to allow
onesself to appear under the heading of "poetry".
Again, this is about professionalism - the need to consider what you say -
in poetry or prose - before you "publish", rather than just spouting off
and using the AUTHENTIC rubber stamp in oder to excuse the
ill-achievedness of it. This sounds tough, put thus, but again, my
memories of people starting the craft of writing lead me to suggest that
one does no favours by endorsing the "self-absorbed rumors of the skull"
(lovely phrase) where one should be opening out from that selfness to
other possibilities of writing (or text-based art, or performance, or
whatever one wants to call it). And my memories of people wrestling with
big experiences (of grief or loss or whatever) suggest that they won't be
fooled by being told that their neccessary and valuable self-purging is
already fully achieved, when they know full well that it's only a first
step on a long path.
RC
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