A few notes:
Ron and Chris's posts were provoking. I think I agree with both of them.
And disagree as well. I can understand too well the desire to leave
truth and integrity out of the discussion, as they are words too loaded
with hypocrisy, but I prefer to waive the better part of valour.
Betrayal is such a common commodity of living-in-the-world that it seems
to me mistaken to equate that with the refusal of expectation that poetry
explodes the world open with, leaving the reader alone (as Chris
describes). I think they're different things and that poetry is
concerned with truth.
Art is the lie that reveals the truth (Picasso)
Didn't Pound get himself in knots by demanding integrity, only to find
himself too easily conflated with a bunch of pissweak and coarse
poetasters? Just because words like love, integrity, truth, etc are the
coinage of a debased economy, does it mean that they can't be used in
richer senses, senses which call in their scope and complexities and
difficulty? A lot of poetry I like a lot does indeed do that.
I am always looking for a truth in poetry. A truth - it seems to me - is
about as far from the kind of toothpaste advertisement "sincerity" as it
it is possible to get, and perhaps is synonymous for me with an idea of
complexity. Anything that is true is textured, coloured, sensually rich,
marked with beauty and repulsion, leaves us bereft and afraid, calls up
resistance in the reader. Who wants to know the truth?
As a play I rather like says, "A lie is always more convincing." The
truth will always seem dishonest, weaker. Hence modern Western politics.
The artifice (which isn't necessarily a lie) of poetry might contain
truth. It tells you it's a lie. But if it betrays you, it betrays you
with the truth.
That is, if you think, with Kafka, that writing is the axe that breaks
the ice within. Which has always been a bit of a touchstone for me.
Cheers
Alison
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