Scott’s 10 Favorite Scott Woods Poems from 2010
(...because if you don’t like your stuff, why should anyone else?)
I had a good year with poetry. My output isn’t pound for pound what it used to be but the quality was certainly a notch above my norm. A couple of these I really dig because they exemplify what I’m always telling poets about slam poems: you can write competitively and still be good at You, still retain a true sense of yourself. you don’t have to sound like someone else to be good at it.
In no order:
1) “Exceptional Service” (from the Library Haiku Cycle)
This one doesn’t get the biggest laugh out of this cycle (close though), all humorous, but it’s the one I laughed the hardest at while writing. There is no reaction on earth like the one you get from reading these haikus to a group of librarians.
2) “Everything You Need to Know About Prince in 13 Songs”
I’m really into poem cycles and epics. This one is a bit of both. It can be read as 13 separate poems, but to me it’s one poem in 13 parts. I’ll be taking another crack at it, which is why I haven’t performed any of it anywhere since the 24-hour reading in April. It’s a great idea that deserves more attention to make it really pop.
3) “Flotsam”
The only poem that came to me complete in a dream by imagery, and only the third time a poem woke me up out of sleep to be written. A short love story in a dust bowl town.
4) “#40 - Jesus Parable: Exorcises demons into pigs” (from The Bible in 50 Haikus)
Another haiku! This one always gets the biggest laugh out of that collection.
5) “The Abortion” (from the 30 poems/1 day exercise)
Of the 30 poems I wrote that day in April - each utilizing a separate poetry form - this alphabet poem was the most chilling. I didn’t know where it was going when I started it, but in 26 words it easily became the hardest poem to read I did all year.
6) “Method Man”
You always have to have one that you like and no one else seems to. This hate letter to Kanye West is a poem I think most people ain't feeling but I simply loved writing and enjoyed reading. The poem has about three lines about rapper Method Man and two pages of material about how to kill Kanye West with a corndog stick and hand lotion (if it comes to that). I think I’ve done it twice. I put it on the Sunset Clause CD that came out earlier this year for posterity and kicks.
7) “Lynchings”
By now most people know how I feel about poets who perform their work and mime lynchings on stage. If not, this poem makes it abundantly clear. What surprises me is the number of people who hate it but never say anything. I mean, if you’re a poet, know that a LOT of your peers think this is lame. If I can’t make you stop doing it, think about your friends who are being too nice to you to say anything. Based on my math there is a 89% chance your friends think this is lame too. So save your friendships and move on to something else, like jazz hands or DJ fingers.
8) “6 in the Morning”
My best persona piece this year, maybe in a number of years. This was based on a short story I wrote many years ago, but was too long to do anything real with. It knocked around my skull for about a decade or more, and one day I finally decided my artistic mission lined up with what this piece was trying to say. Voila.
9) “The Sunoco Station”
I don’t often do “real”. I do “honest”, but I rarely do “real”. This poem was real, meaning aside from the time travel device of me talking to myself, it happened and its feelings are honest to me as the writer. I like performing this, even though it leaves me naked. THAT’S saying a lot. Despite my big mouth, I’m a shy guy. My only regret about this piece is that I didn't write it in time to get it on the Sunset Clause album.
10) “What the Black Poets Will Kill Me for Telling You”
Performed only once, at my co-feature with Kevin Young in New York at the Page Meets Stage series. I tried writing this poem over a period of months but only locked it right before this gig. Having the kind of poet the poem describes nearby will get your pen moving quick, son.
- Honorable mention: “Mating Season”, a poem I wrote on my way to New York about deer. I like it because it’s so DIFFERENT for me, yet still sounds like something I would write. I could publish this after another edit, I think.
I had a good year with poetry. My output isn’t pound for pound what it used to be but the quality was certainly a notch above my norm. A couple of these I really dig because they exemplify what I’m always telling poets about slam poems: you can write competitively and still be good at You, still retain a true sense of yourself. you don’t have to sound like someone else to be good at it.
In no order:
1) “Exceptional Service” (from the Library Haiku Cycle)
This one doesn’t get the biggest laugh out of this cycle (close though), all humorous, but it’s the one I laughed the hardest at while writing. There is no reaction on earth like the one you get from reading these haikus to a group of librarians.
2) “Everything You Need to Know About Prince in 13 Songs”
I’m really into poem cycles and epics. This one is a bit of both. It can be read as 13 separate poems, but to me it’s one poem in 13 parts. I’ll be taking another crack at it, which is why I haven’t performed any of it anywhere since the 24-hour reading in April. It’s a great idea that deserves more attention to make it really pop.
3) “Flotsam”
The only poem that came to me complete in a dream by imagery, and only the third time a poem woke me up out of sleep to be written. A short love story in a dust bowl town.
4) “#40 - Jesus Parable: Exorcises demons into pigs” (from The Bible in 50 Haikus)
Another haiku! This one always gets the biggest laugh out of that collection.
5) “The Abortion” (from the 30 poems/1 day exercise)
Of the 30 poems I wrote that day in April - each utilizing a separate poetry form - this alphabet poem was the most chilling. I didn’t know where it was going when I started it, but in 26 words it easily became the hardest poem to read I did all year.
6) “Method Man”
You always have to have one that you like and no one else seems to. This hate letter to Kanye West is a poem I think most people ain't feeling but I simply loved writing and enjoyed reading. The poem has about three lines about rapper Method Man and two pages of material about how to kill Kanye West with a corndog stick and hand lotion (if it comes to that). I think I’ve done it twice. I put it on the Sunset Clause CD that came out earlier this year for posterity and kicks.
7) “Lynchings”
By now most people know how I feel about poets who perform their work and mime lynchings on stage. If not, this poem makes it abundantly clear. What surprises me is the number of people who hate it but never say anything. I mean, if you’re a poet, know that a LOT of your peers think this is lame. If I can’t make you stop doing it, think about your friends who are being too nice to you to say anything. Based on my math there is a 89% chance your friends think this is lame too. So save your friendships and move on to something else, like jazz hands or DJ fingers.
8) “6 in the Morning”
My best persona piece this year, maybe in a number of years. This was based on a short story I wrote many years ago, but was too long to do anything real with. It knocked around my skull for about a decade or more, and one day I finally decided my artistic mission lined up with what this piece was trying to say. Voila.
9) “The Sunoco Station”
I don’t often do “real”. I do “honest”, but I rarely do “real”. This poem was real, meaning aside from the time travel device of me talking to myself, it happened and its feelings are honest to me as the writer. I like performing this, even though it leaves me naked. THAT’S saying a lot. Despite my big mouth, I’m a shy guy. My only regret about this piece is that I didn't write it in time to get it on the Sunset Clause album.
10) “What the Black Poets Will Kill Me for Telling You”
Performed only once, at my co-feature with Kevin Young in New York at the Page Meets Stage series. I tried writing this poem over a period of months but only locked it right before this gig. Having the kind of poet the poem describes nearby will get your pen moving quick, son.
- Honorable mention: “Mating Season”, a poem I wrote on my way to New York about deer. I like it because it’s so DIFFERENT for me, yet still sounds like something I would write. I could publish this after another edit, I think.