Look! I'm spamming you with poetry!

[strange_bt_true]

Just a bit of silliness, really.

How to Read a Poem: Beginner's Manual
by Pamela Spiro Wagner

First, forget everything you have learned

Comments

[chebonne]

I love that!

"Poetry demands surrender,
language saying what is true,
doing holy things to the ordinary."

Fantastic. Also it hits me that I can only name 3, maybe 4 poets. Woe betide, I need to read up on that.

[strange_bt_true]

:D

Poetry was something that kind of scared me until very recently. I was convinced that I wouldn't get it/it would be lame/I'd feel dumb etc. But so far, I've had so much fun just exploring.

My favorite bit (so far, because I choose a new one every time I reread):

"Do not assume meanings hidden from you:
the best poems mean what they say and say it."

This. I can probably name 2? And that's just because I've read their work recently, I can't actually REFERENCE anyone or anything. But I'm looking forward to upping that number. :)

[chebonne]

Most of the poets I know are ones we had to read in class in high school, and most of them Swedish. There is a really brilliant Swedish poet, Edith Södergran, who wrote some really fantastic feminist poetry in her time, and I fucking adore her.

Funny thing is, most of the Swedish poets I can name are women. Those are the interesting ones.

[strange_bt_true]

Our high school English department was... not exactly lacking; we read plenty of decent books. It's just that poetry was always introduced to us in a way that made it sound lame. COnsequently, we all hated it. I wish I'd taken more time to lsiten. Oh well, better late than never, right? :D

CLEARLY THIS IS BECAUSE WOMEN ARE THE SHIT. Or something. *g*

[extemporally]

Hi, YES.

[strange_bt_true]

I read it and I was all &hearts_____&hearts!