New Poetry Recommendations

While Carrie has clearly brought the cream of the day's crop to this page, I'd like to draw attention to a poem that needs a great deal of polishing but nevertheless is on a topic that is virtually untouched in poetry today—a discussion that is urgently needed to prevent humanity from suffering the fate of lemmings.

I refer to seannelson's Pissed which resonates strongly for me. The first stanza is smoothly polished and poetic like a lot of his other poetry, but then, when he gets to the meat of this poem, it becomes haltingly prosaic. In spite of this, the topic is a crucial social necessity and needs to be encouraged in my opinion. It is not a traditionally poetic topic but it is worth working on the techniques that will allow the topic to gain clarity and lucidity along with the communicative power that poetry allows.

It seems, so far, that there are only four poems this Saturday (and they actually posted yesterday in the evening); they are mostly rather short, with one exception that is quite lengthy. In any case, they should not be too time-consuming to read through. One poem is a first by the poet, Wulfgar, (and possibly, in another sense, a first on Literotica) and another is a second by Sexually Free.

My favourite poem of the day is Intimate Friends by sassynyc. It is powerful and with wonderful lines like "and converse dread in foreign joy" and "I wear hard times like a threadbare frock", it captures and illustrates the emotions of the poet without overstatement or melodrama. I strongly suggest that you, whomever you are, read this poem.

Update:
Ten more poems have posted, so do make sure to read them all, as well. There are some interesting submissions by MickNasty (of his two poems today, I prefer Yesterday) and hmmnmm amongst them.

And of course, if there is anything you would like to say about today's poems do not hesitate to do so. Read and comment, read and comment, read and comment.

Eyes by Cal Y Pygia with its drenching images of filth-infused carnal desire is an extremely challenging poem. I have read it several times and cannot find the words to describe my understanding of what is being said. It is more a case of sensing someone's desire without actually feeling it or not having the fortitude to be able to venture into its reality that prevents me from understanding, to the point of being able to describe, the sense of this poem.

At any rate, I think it is worth looking at. There is definitely something there. Try to imagine labial eyes

Sunday, September 21

This was one of those days. Headache, too much work, neighbors above playing punk rock at pneumatic volume and my supply of both coffee and Stoli down to one shot each. So it wasn't with much enthusiasm that I took on the task of reviewing today's output of poems. But I was in for quite a pleasant surprise.

Welcome to one of the better poetry Sundays on Lit for quite some time.

Eight new ones today, and a very worthy bunch indeed. Not all are fantastic, but none are duds and all are readable. So here goes, from top to bottom...

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Cal Y. Pygia starts us off with two conversational, almost instructional pieces both set to blur certainties around sexuality and gender. Our Capistrano waxes on a thought experimwent, while Half-Life is brutally autobiographic. If nothing esle, they are an interresting peek into a not run-of-the-mill perspective.

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Next up is seannelson in a by now familiar semi-rant style. This time the title is My "Religion" and, well, guess what the theme is. A non-conformist escapade with a pretty good swagger.

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Here's definitely my favourite among many good ones today. Tokuqin is a poet that has either passed me by, or I forgot about. My loss, cause here we have eloquence, wit, style, cadence and that elusive... something that makes a poem not just enjoyable, but a damn pleasure to immerse oneself in. Slithering Dan is like a boxer on a good roll. Rhythmic, balanced, sweaty, strangely elegant and about to knock your teeth out. Everything I want from poetry.

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Now, I can't quite say that I get what it's about, maybe it's a langage reference that this non-native anglaise have missed out on, but that doesn't stop WickedEve's What Spider Are You? from being a fine read with some great lines. Maybe she just got arachnids on her mind, I dunno. As a fan of all things eight legged (like the Four Stooges), I read and like.

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MickNasty takes a stand for the simpler things in life, and especially in art. Children Again has some rather eloquent lines and a rhyming scheme that actually does a lot to bring emphasis to the poet's points. Check it out.

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Full by LadynStFreknBed is not the best I've seen from her, but still hands-on erotica of the better kind. Well penned and with good tension, although it feels somewhat...safe. She could, and have in past poems, taken more creative liberties.

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My Erotic Trail has been watching The Weather Channel. Or maybe actually written a live report from hurricane Ike's escapades from the middle of the storm. Either way, Katrina's Big Brother is full of rich, spot-on descriptions of what it looks and feels like to see the forces of nature go haywire. "A door flew open while another took flight", "tree limbs became kites" and the kicker "...as every tree in the forest began to fight" pretty much nails it. My second top pick for the day. The only thing that I don't fancy is the title. And I can't even say why.

Nine new poems posted today. All of today's new poems have strengths and are worth the read.

Rock Star by hmmnmm is an interesting monologue on an ambiguous meeting which seemed to inspire much comtemplation about the ilngering and fleeting turns of the power of inspiration.

SweetOblivion gives us Perfection with phrases like "the little death that is so hot, it’s chill" which makes this a must read. It's an excellently crafted poem with intriguing duality.

Remembering the Making of our Love by FaithfulNympho is this poet's first contribution. Upon reading the title, I was bracing myself for some cliché poem about love. I was pleasantly surprised. This poem is exceptional and anything but cliché.

My favorite pick for today is Mutiny by sassynyc for its relatability and solid metaphor that is stregthened throughout the poem. Anyone who participates in the creative arts is likely to appreciate this poem.

Please take the time to read and comment on today's new poems.

This Cal Y. Pygia phenomenon

The poetry of Cal Y.Pagia that I've read over the past fortnight is different to anything I've ever seen in terms of its subject matter and the poet's attitude towards his content. I've always been a little intimidated by male sexuality be it taken with men or women. I used to be puzzled by the fact that women actually seemed to enjoy the attentions of those great big rugby players who dominated my youth. Far from perceiving gay men as efféte, I've often sensed a manly sexual agression in gay men that is lacking in many straight men.

Bottom line is that stereotypes are all in the mind of the beholder and variety is the reality of life. What Pagia writes about is culturally jarring within the context of our narrow society and yet his cadences and line structures never jar. He is so good technically that one is hardly ever aware of the form he uses to so deftly convey his point of view. Even when I don't agree with his viewpoint it is still a pleasure to watch him lay it out before me.

In “Ring” (one of two new poems he posted today), he makes an argument for what defines a relationship between two men which I don't accept but the imagery he uses to argue his case fascinates for its surrender to the fulness of what is. We are completely comfortable with the familiar idea of a grand passion or an heroic love between a man and a women. Society has not allowed us to see that in the relationship of two men when it is sexual. In these lines from “Ring” Pygia manages to suggest a sense of a strong committed relationship in words that, superficially, appear extremely profane:


The second poem “Something New Under the Sun” begins with the apparently commonplace —seemingly a line of mindless drivel— that masks the lyricism of what follows. How many silly poems does this remind you of:


But that last word throws you off and soon you realize it is not simply a manipulative poetic device but a fact of the poet's life used completely appropriately. The poem then continues in a tightly structured form to speak romantically without the graphic language the first line led us to expect. When next words like “cock” and “cunt” appear in the middle of the poem they have a feel of ordinary descriptors but also the power of their common crudity which makes for an interesting dynamic within the surrounding paucity of imagery. Although, to be frank, I'm not sure about the accuracy of the last line and the title. Nature had already created creatures of ambivalent gender long before science provided a means of altering gender. This is perhaps the weakest of Pygia's recent poems but still unerringly fascinating for it's perspective that goes way beyond mere gender-bending into the realm of human dignity.

In "Accoutrements of Manliness" (posted yesterday) Pagia manages to conjure beauty through the vivid presentation of what would normally be considered crudity. The sex is graphic and yet the presence of relationship is tangible. I sense a committed devotion and the joy of giving in this stanza:


Why am I, to all intents and purposes a straight and sexually unimaginative man, so fascinated by Pygia. His poetry is accomplished and his work serves the moral purpose of showing the possibility of nobility in a relationship between two men that includes the carnal. Anything that promotes the value of human beings as Pagia's poetry does for homosexuals is a good thing; when that poetry is competent it does this work more effectively. It is quite rare to find Pygia penning a clumsy line. He improves with each reading. He is not someone to plough through when you are short of time, even if the poem seems a short one.

From yesterday's postings there is also Pearls by this poet and I have no idea what he is talking about other than there seems to be a biblical allusion and good guys and bad guys. Damn! I hate it when I'm too thick to find the key to a poem's meaning

lorencino said:

In "Accoutrements of Manliness" (posted yesterday) ....

From yesterday's postings there is also Pearls by this poet and I have no idea what he is talking about other than there seems to be a biblical allusion and good guys and bad guys. Damn! I hate it when I'm too thick to find the key to a poem's meaning

Click to expand...

The only reason those were not included in my review yesterday is because the poet doesn't want comments. I want to respect his wishes.

September 23, 2008

and it's in the low 30s here already. Brrr. It's not a good sign when it's not even October yet and I have to wear my warmest robe and slippers to sit in front of my computer and read poems.

But I digress when there are 15 new poems posted and some real gems that you should read.

By now I'm guessing that most of you have been reading Wicked Eve. If you have, you know what a gift any poem from her can be. Today she brings back two of her best, freshly edited: Backdoor Folk and Bullwhip Rose. I think Eve is at her best when she channels the characters of her southern gothic world. This is a pair of poems to be read together, to appreciate the downtrodden but not downhearted Backdoor Folk and terrible oppressor (and his colorful family) brought to life in Bullwhip Rose. The language, the images, the metaphors in both these poems are an incredible treat; reading them is like being given something delicious to savor. Look at this excerpt from Bullwhip Rose:

miles from unpicked clouds.
Fields waited for sons,
sons waited for Papa's swinging arm.
Texas took those sons,
and years later:

_____"Horses rocked us toward that bless-you place.
_____I bumped along on the bed
_____in chaw-spattered, church white.

_____" was hush like raw cotton,
_____unpicked in the sun.

_____Suppose other wagons came
_____just so he could crack them aside."

I might shift a few words in these poems to break lines differently or lose a few commas, but these poems, both of them, are so so good, well, if Evie doesn't submit them somewhere wonderful and give them a wider audience, I'll uh continue to bug her about them. Read them!

Ya gotta love Lorencino. I love him: he's a beautiful soul, kind and thoughtful with great insight into poetry. So I'll forgive him for prefacing his revised "A Cock, It's Me" Revisited with a long statement telling me it's the best poem he ever wrote. Lorencino, let the reader decide! (Next time, put a note at the bottom saying it's a revised version if you must, but don't tell readers what to think in advance, ya knucklehead! And don't apologize either; it's just my opinion!) Annnnnyway, it is a good poem, very erotic and I agree with Lorencino that you can appreciate its sort of elemental sexuality even more if you read it aloud. The only thing I'm not wild about is all those adverbs. Adverbs drag me down as a reader, Lorencino. The less of them, the better imho. I think you should try editing this poem and making them adjectives--they can still follow verbs; you don't need to move them around, and see what you think. It's a good erotic poem. It can be a great erotic poem.

And speaking of reading aloud, you should definitely do that with hmmnmm's sexy, alliterative Sunday Brunch. Take your time and enjoy the delicious alliterations and wordplays in this tasty slice-of-life poem that captures a moment and explores it so well. I remember when this guy first started writing poetry. He was hesitant. Man, has he come into his own! Great read.

And I very much enjoyed JohnnyNottingham's What Just Happened for its pithy rhymes and good humor. And AllAboutJane's <New poet alert!> Household Objectification although the poem doesn't quite live up to its wonderful title. Still it's literate and has some great lines. I just think it needs some paring down to get it from good to great.

I completely agree with Lorencino's assessment of Cal Y. Pigia's two poems, Something New Under the Sun and Ring. Both are very well written. I have overlooked this poet in the past because his subject matter isn't my thing, but he's really good. Read him!

That's it for me today. If you have poems that you'd like to recommend, please do so in this thread. And please read, vote and comment. There are some wonderful poems today and you don't want to miss them!

Am I the fickle admirer?

Of the three Cal Y. Pygia poems that appeared in the early hours of today, only Sucked and Fucked left me satisfied. The name rendered it the least likely to bring me to actually reading it and the opening lines:


led me to feel the equivalent of “Well fuck you, Matey.” By the last line of the poem, however, Paglia had indeed seduced me into enjoying this particular poem.

His Elegant But Redundant, though, irritated me for its callous dismissal of the "redundant" female in this picture:



There is a hint of myopic obsession with his own sexual proclivities which deminishes, for the poet, the worth of those that are different. It is true that the picture is less focused because of the woman, but the bull's head is even more distracting than the woman's body. There is a sense that the bull is patiently suffering the pleasures of the two men, while the woman's mind is elsewhere. She may be superfluous to the coitus that is taking place but she contributes to the overall reality of the picture. Read the poem and judge for yourself whether the picture conveys what the poet suggests.

Finally, The Swimming Hole is a messy disappointment of cluttered images that seem to do little more than serve as an agglomerated metaphor drawing attention to the fact that all the naked men at the waterhole have assholes. It is in fact the consummation of the obsession I referred to in the previous poem. Nothing edifying here but the lesson that even the best of poets is capable of delivering a corker. It's like the poet has gone out of his way to disabuse his readership of the notion that he is such an accomplished poet. The thing creaks with cliches and this is quite baffling considering who wrote the poem.

Perhaps it is time I took a break from my obssession with Paglia's poetry. There is no doubt in my mind, though, that Paglia has expanded my perceptions of late in a most gratifying manner. I honestly feel spiritually enhanced for having encountered him in his poetry.

Wednesday's Review

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Here we are at another Wednesday, with an offer of a dozen New Poems to savor.


LadynStFreknBed starts off with a ghazal form poem, In Sweetness. Each couplet stands alone as a jewel among a strand of jewels of a poetic necklace. On the other hand, if you're looking for something a bit more tasty, try Strawberries, a mouth-watering treat you're sure to enjoy.


seannelson gives us his view of a Washed Up "Nirvana". You can catch the spirit of the poem in these words:
and then try the rest of the vision he offers in this poem.


That's it for this week. But don't let my choices limit your reading. Check out lorencino's picks above. Or why not just go and read all of today's offerings? Whatever you choose to do, whether one or them all, remember to read, vote, comment ~ it's the least you can do. Above all, comment ~ a fair exchange for the pleasure of reading free poetry.

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The Birth of Venus redefines the homoerotic expectation

Why are Cal C. Paglia's poems appearing every night just after midnight long before all the other poems of the day appear? He is prolific with an unusually long list of both poems and stories. The poems have appeared every day for the past week or more, always early. Is he an inside job? Is he a legend in the making, the project of some Ph.D. student doing a thesis on mass hysteria and using Literotica as his laboratory?

Today's offering, (Its 2am and there is only one poem posted with today's date.) White Woman, is an abrupt change in tack from the past few days for this writer. It does not deal with men fucking, it does not deal with men and it does not deal with fucking. It deals with neither seduction nor men becoming women or intersexual beings. It is also a very satisfying poem to dwell with and contemplate, make friends with and ponder exactly what is the signifcance of the "White" in the title.

Like many of his poems, "White Women" feels lightweight and inconsequential at first before the subtle nuances and finely wrought detail begins to take hold of your consciousness. It is a nod to the creative symbolism of the Goddess and the earthly manifestations of the Goddess in sisterhoods and motherhood in the link to creation and the struggle to escape primordial oblivion– much as Michelangelo's figures struggle to escape the rock they are chiseled from or Venus' journey over the sea in a shell sailing from the void to the warm consciousness of human society. There is a peculiar rawness that Paglia incites in my mind when I don't understand what he means. My confusion and the feeling of not having one's bearings mirrors the void and the chaos that his poem describes and juxtaposes creativity and chaos, not to mention the suggestion that blind chance in the universe creating itself could lead to becoming a woman or a crustacean—a distinction that is of no consequence to the universe. Does Paglia interpret Botticelli in this poem or is he giving birth to what where mere hints in Botticelli's mind. (My God! Am I making any sense to anyone out there.)

Thursday, Sept. 25

22 new poems and about eight of them are by ramonathompson. If you're a fan, then you'll have lots to read.

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Lingerie by Remec is, of course, an erotic poem. And it's good erotica! I like a poem that gets to the point, not a lot of wasted words, and it's a polished piece, with a good sexy ending.

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When Compromise Is Her
by JohnnyNottingham

Opposites cops and slits
All of what makes for
Thieves and sluts
And crafty fucking fakes
Shoot me up with your sugar blood​

Intersting. I have some issues with some of the line breaks, but the content of the poem is good.

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a poem from a sub.
by deadenddoll77

Many "sub" poems are substandard. This one isn't bad at all. Needs work but has potential.

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There are three new poems by seannelson. He always seems to have a lot to say and it's usually very interesting. If you have time for some reading, there's quite a bit here:
Walking By the Side of the Road
I Hate Myself and I Wanna Fly
When You're Down and Out

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The Courage of Eve

Having Grown weary and deeply troubled by all the Islamophobic vitriol published recently by people claiming to hold dear the memory of the victims of the Nazi holocaust, it is deeply moving to find WickedEve's Bread dealing with the grand pathos of those ghastly times with such dignity. Ironic, isn't it, that one has to come to the hallowed halls of literotica to find such an honest emblematic portrayal of the personal day to day experience of an individual living during the seminal horror story of modern times. Ironic in contrast to the abuse of that memory in most of the respected mainstream media that tends to promote an intolerance for Moslems that borders on the historical intolerance of Jews which led to that holocaust in the first place.

In this poem, WickedEve resurrects one of the holocaust's victims, “a mere stranger” to allow us to experience the weight of the suffering with a poignant sensitivity that contrasts vividly with the sanctimonious muckraking that, to my mind, is a betrayal of the memory of those millions whose dignity was butchered along with their lives by a political regime whose existence constituted a consummation of arrogance. The current tragedy of our world is the arrogance of many who use the holocaust as an excuse to promote hatred towards the followers of Islam. Having thus gone on at length about the context of the times that the poem deals with and the modern context that the poem was created in, I look briefly at the poem itself.

The “mere” qualifying "stranger" does not sit well with me for it is a cliched way of suggesting that there is no personal connection between this person and the speaker of the poem. The speaker is paging through an album of old photographs, turned sepia-coloured with age, and the strangers who gaze back at her whisper their reality from the simple clues that where captured in these photographs.

The "Hadassah" illusion is another irony of this poem that provokes reflection. Hadassah is an alternate name for the Jewish woman Esther, Queen to the King of Persia in ancient times who played a role in preventing a holocaust against the Jews in the Persian Empire. The thwarting of this plot against the Jews is celebrated annually in the Feast of Purim which is considered the happiest of all Jewish celebrations. The Hadassah of this poemis a victim of the unhappiest of Jewish memories.

The poem ends on a contemplative, sad note with an expression of humility by the poet. The holocaust is an extremely complex reality for Jews to deal with, but I believe that it is more than a Jewish issue. What happened in the holocaust happened to human beings, the majority of whom were Jewish. That it was a crime visited on its victims because of what they were rather than because of anything they did is not enough to restrict its significance to the majority ethnic group that it targeted. It remains a blow against all of humanity and it is in the interests of all of humanity to build a world that transcends the arrogance and the indifferent maximal viciousness that characterized the holocaust. It behoves humanity to strive to conquer that which dehumanizes any sector of the human family.

What WickedEve achieves with her poem is to restore human dignity to those who suffered before most of us where born. Of great import is that she achieves this without dehumanizing any other group of people. Above all, her poem makes clear what a Mensch she is. What is most appealing to me is that she had the guts to bring this work to Literotica and thus rendering Literotica, in my eyes, a more morally upright publication than the New York Times. And I'm perfectly prepared to save apples in celebration of this poem..


Lodz Ghetto, Poland circa 1940

Friday Sep 26, 2008

20 new poems posted this Friday, the 26th. I didn't take the time to comment on them today, I'm a little busy; I read them all (yes even Ramona's) and for the most I was struck by the quality of the submissions on today's list. Sure, there are poems out there that need editing, but these are written by poets who aren't neccessarily students of the art, instead, like so many hobbyist painters, they dabble.

Read Cal Y. Pygia. This poet's so literary and interpretive in the poetry shared here, that to deny yourself the opportunity to see an unusual take of a character in Oscar Wilde's play, Salome, and in a different poem, of the Paris of Pigalle, is like never tasting chocolate because you know someone who knows someone else who's allergic... Read and enjoy.

Sarah's Song is so damned lyrical that I'd really like to hear it set to music. There's a couple of typo errors that could be edited away, but they take nothing away from seannelson's lyric.

Xanders-Erotic is pretty darned good. I enjoyed its literary language and subject.

bronyaur67 has a terrific poem hidden inside the adjectives in his piece Dirty Things, LargoKitt feeds us some examples of Googlish found poems and Prince Thelo pens a short painting of devotion. Eve and Tihmmnmm provide the high quality we've come to expect from PoBo denizens.

A new poet/member/poster (I think he may be related to the original longhorngnu) longhorngnu2, shows off five really good pieces. I was struck by his scenic illustrations and the romantic quality of his writing.

Enjoy the poems, folks. Open 'em all, you can always backclick if the work doesn't suit. Have a good weekend.

Early this Saturday

On this Saturday, the 27th of September, there are thirty poems so far—and it is very early so there will perhaps be even more later. If that proves to be the case, I shall have to make an update, but I thought it best to get all of these done lest it become a chore if there are any more [rhyming accidental]. There are several new poets today: seeape, FyreFawn, Enygma55, sexxylatinangel, DocktorWu, and a second poem in as many days by PrinceThelo. A few notables have a number poems up today, including many from our very own poetry board master class on the ghazal by sassynyc and Safe_Bet. A full third of today's poems are by Cal. Y. Pygia, who rules the New Poems list this very Saturday.

Firstly, our non-ghazals:
Two Bitter Little Poems About Love by JakobMariaMierscheid are exactly as the title promises: but they are also excellent little poems. The imagery and idea of each is imaginative if harsh. They are not lovely or beautiful or any of those words—such words would be inappropriate the sentiment—yet they are honest and true. Well-written and beautiful are plain different things: some things ought not to be beautiful. I recommend these two bitter little poems.

Faded lace by UnderYourSpell is a lovely and a bit sad poem about looking through, as the poem phrases it, a "box of memories". There are a few copy-editing issues, such as the lack of an apostrophe in "Mother's", but they are not too distracting from the moment painted by the words. I recommend this poem, as well.

Urgent and Macro by hmmnmm are interesting poems that are perhaps too contemporary in style for me, but I think that there is nevertheless certainly something there that is worth appreciating. So, read them both and see if they are more to your taste.

The Monster Under The Bed Relocated by DocktorWu is a dark and wonderfully imagistic poem that begins with the excellent line "his accordion shadow extended until decapitated by the gathered dark"; it is, to borrow the cliché, all about showing rather than telling. Do read it, as well.

And now, a few from our very own PoBo Master Class Ghazals Series, which you are obliged by proper etiquette as participants in this form to read regardless of how I feel:
sassynyc has quite a number of ghazals in today's list: Fine and Mellow, Meditation, Wild Is The Wind, and In The Meantime. They are all interesting in their own way, and it is lovely to see the master class series off to such a start; my personal favourites of her entries today are Meditation and Wild Is The Wind I think, at least for now.

Safe_Bet has a ghazal up, Our Togetherness, a paean to her marriage. It is broad in its praise and emotional but down-to-earth, addressing the whole of such a relationship: body, mind, and soul. There are a few elements that I do not care for, such as the use of the adverb "strongly" in the eighth line following the use of the adjective "strong" in the seventh and I do not care for the use of the word "together" in the final line, given the repetition of the theme "our togetherness" as part of the ghazal form.


Of course, here we come to the part wherein I exhort you all (never to be confused with extort you all) to read today's poems and comment if such is your will and whim.

[ED. Immediately after I posted this, half of the poems disappeared from the new poems list, but they shall be back in time.]

Monday, September 29th

There are 11 new poems today. How nice it was to sit with my morning coffee and enjoy today's poems.

Unhealthy Affairs by bronyaur67, a relatively new poet at Literotica, is a short poem that is not short on meaning. It's a picture of lonliness and desperation achieved in a few short lines.

A Long Shadow is a ghazal with a serious tone by the lovely Equinoxe. Though is has a couple technical errors with syllable count and the first stanza is slightly awkward, the poem is an impressive description on the hold of time.

This stanza struck me:
"Too long it is to long, threadbare years stretching—
in mind ever and holding fast a shadow."


Morning Sun by mark_j is a delightful submission from another poet new to Literotica. It's sincere and sweet without being sticky sweet.

It's amazing, yet quite understandable, how the reader's personal experience, attitude, and mood influence their perception of a poem. A good example is Remec's poem, Delectable. The poem as a whole is ever so erotic without being vulgar in the least bit. However, the implications of the last two lines left me feeling threatened and exhausted with feelings of vulnerability. Yet, someone, perhaps almost anyone else, could read those same lines and see compassionate love through those same words.

Poetry is a personal experience for the poet and each of the readers. Take some time today to read and comment on some of the new poems, whether I mentioned them or not. What may not have held special meaning or skill to me may be profound and exquisite to others.

September 30, 2008

Goodbye September. Hello October and autumn, and hello to thirteen new poems. Kind of a slow last day of the month, imo. There aren't any new poems that really grab my attention or shake up my muse. There are, however, a few I feel are clearly the best of the bunch.

I like JakobMariaMierscheid's Forbear the Silvered Grass for, in spite of its brevity, it offers a fascinating image that morphs to a comparison that might creep you out, depending on how you interpret it. I think it could be stronger if it went a bit further with the idea it seems to establish, but that's just my opinion. And whether you agree or not, do take some time to read this poem and the other works by Jakob. He's newish and quite qood.

flownogard is a new poet, and resurrective frenzy his first offering at Lit. It's an ambitious freewheeling, freeform poem that ties a sexual act with an ever-widening pool of images that suggest two souls together again and again and again. Like I said, ambitious. Maybe too ambitious because I can see immediately that some judicious pruning could help the poem convey its message more powerfully. But maybe that's just me. You'll need to read it yourself to see if you agree. Either way, there's a lot of interesting phrasing that flies by in a warp speed kinda read.

The other poems did not excite me sufficiently to recommend any of them. However you may not share that opinion, so please read, vote and comment, and if you find poems you wish to recommend, do so here. Merci and happy poeming.

With apologies to all you poetry lovers, for yesterday I was too busy obsessing on politics, peripheral to the poetry, to even think about the day's crop of new poems. There is one from yesterday, technically somewhat prosaic but with a message that deserves to be considered. The poem, 'You Can't "Win The War" ' by seannelson is more than just another antiwar poem even as it alludes to all the antiwar sentiments of John Lennon et al.

What the poet is saying in the title and within the poem is that war is a pointless endeavour. There is no security to be derived from war, be it the wars that Israel fights to win security for Israelis, or the wars the the US fights to bring security to it's citizens. No military power in history has been able to sustain itself indefinitely. If you insist on warring there will come a day when you are defeated. The only solution is a peaceful one and the moral superiority of that choice is beside the point. The point is that only peace is a viable proposition if life is to be worth the living of it.

At any rate, that is the idea I sensed behind all the images and statements in seannelson's poem. It is an important message because the normal human response to violence is vengeance, but vengeance will be our undoing.

I just wish seannelson would polish a little more so that more people are likely to pay attention to what he has to say.

Wednesday's Review

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Here it is, another Wednesday and the 1st day of October {what happened to the rest of the year }. There are seventeen New Poems up for your consideration today. Of these, I've chosen four for your reading pleasure.


vampiredust leads off with The Ventriloquist, adorned with a little . From the way he describes it, it sounds like she's got it bad (in a good way, I guess).


Equinoxe offers up Sparrows flit, a tanka form poem that is done so well in such skilled hands. Thankfully, the elemental level of syllable count is not followed. Whether it is the haiku, senryu, zappai, or tanka, I consider the syllable count to be the training wheels of these forms. Reading this one, you may come away with a certain kind of emotional response, depending on your inner feelings today. Tomorrow, you may feel differently. So go ahead and enjoy.


hmmnmm has an interesting poem in village shift-change. This one is really loaded with imagery. The title gives you a suggestive push as to what's transpiring in the poem. Go read it a few times and marvel at how much is loaded in this poem with so few words. This is really a good one.


Finally, today is truly complete with a new poem from WickedEve, Mourning After Morning. Since she's gone ahead and dedicated it to smithpeter, I went and bumped the thread with selections from his {and his various alts} poems. Enjoy this little piece so filled, it seems, with melancholy. You can feel the work that Eve put in this one, so treasure it.


That's it for today. Check out the others; perhaps you'll find something I passed over that's more to your liking. In the meantime, remember to read, vote, comment ~ it's the least you can do. Above all, comment ~ a fair exchange for the pleasure of reading free poetry.

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Sorry I'm just now getting to the review. I may not be able to finish since my time is limited on the computer. I must blame my Hugo for this.
Anyway, feel free to post your favorites for Thursday.

hmmnmm's Nature is Revolting is a poem to sink your teeth into. It's not a quick bite. So give it a read and a ponder.

WickedEve said:

Sorry I'm just now getting to the review. I may not be able to finish since my time is limited on the computer. I must blame my Hugo for this.
Anyway, feel free to post your favorites for Thursday.

hmmnmm's Nature is Revolting is a poem to sink your teeth into. It's not a quick bite. So give it a read and a ponder.

Click to expand...

OK! I'm just trying to help out here:

(Be warned: I'm in total subjective mode today—nothing reflective should be expected)

There's a whole lot of poems on this busy day. There's a whole lot of BabyGirlPrecious's cheeky stuff that only a precious little tease can write with such accomplished ease. Check them all out HERE. She only joined Literotica yesterday so all her poems are spanking new and she definitely seems to be having a good time. Welcome to this heavenly place, BabyGirlPreciious. I wish you joy here and hope you find far more than what you came here for.


And, yes, hmmnmm's Nature is Revolting is a lot of fun and quite accomplished to boot. I spent quite some time with this one, pleasant time.

seannelson's poem "May the Stock Drop" has a delightful rawness about it that's almost spoiled when he rhymes. His cussing in this poem is quite poetic and he rants and raves and then says some undeniably true little snippets like kissing your sores to make them better. Believe me, once you get over the shock this can actually grow on you.

Thick Tool (Purging Gay Semen) by JohnnyNottingham is a most voluptuous romp in the sack that is a reward for dedication to a friend and all the anguish and angst that is part of awakening to your gaiety in an unforgiving puritanical heterosexual society.

Equine Sublime by new arrival to the poetry kingdom mark_j is some kind of form poetry (please forgive my ignorance of the multiplicity of forms found here at Literotica so I cannot identify what the form is, it just seems to follow a pattern.) with clean lines that match the stallions beautiful form.

Not sure if "Solipsistic Tips for Men-2" by Tokugin is meant to be ironic or simply an encyclopaedic celebratory paen to ConsumerMan Unbounded. It is quite long, so you'll need stamina, but there are astonishing little rewards all along the way.

"I danced with the Moon," which has to do with our relationship to nature and ultimate meanings, references the Ancients of the American continents in some sense. Another poem with some formal structure by another recent arrival in the Kingdom of Literotica, JTallon this poem is worth a thoughtful read. (Am going to have to go back and look at the rest of the contributions from these new folk.)

Finally the two poems by another recent arrival, cupatea, hold some surprises.

I spoke too soon about how many poems posted to the new poems list. I'll finish reading and be back with the review.

New (to Lit at least) is Sharvanem brings us 3 South African flavoured poems. She writes of experiences that only exist in political climes and environments far outside of my ken. Spend a moment.

Read the new poems because I know there are some really excellent examples there. If you feel there's poetry that you'd like to review or mention, please share that with us on this thread.

Have a good weekend.

champagne1982 said:

. . .

New (to Lit at least) is Sharvanem brings us 3 South African flavoured poems. She writes of experiences that only exist in political climes and environments far outside of my ken. Spend a moment.

Read the new poems because I know there are some really excellent examples there. If you feel there's poetry that you'd like to review or mention, please share that with us on this thread.
. . .

Click to expand...

I accept Carrie's offer to intrude here on her review day to say a few words about what I think may prove to be an exciting new presence in the poetry section of Literotica. Having joined Literotica today, Sharvanem has posted three poems "without further ado."

At first glance the poems seem quite mundane, with the occasional clichéd turn of phrase. Then once the sense of the poems had turned my world upside down, it dawned on me that the simplicity and lack of adornment was perfectly suited to the content. The poems are all about suffering in South Africa as intimately experienced by the poet. Responding to her personal experiences, the poet tells you about her feelings without contextual/ideological/political analysis. I will provide a brief political context that help in understanding the poems, with a caution that the poems must be understood on the personal level to be fully appreciated.

Apartheid was a cruel social, economic and political indignity visited upon all people in South Africa except those classified as "White." A fraternity of the oppressed struggled against Apartheid under the umbrella of the African National Congress which was a signatory to a relatively egalitarian document the "Freedom Charter" When the struggle between oppressor and oppressed reached a stalemate a compromise deal was struck that surrendered political power to the Black majority but left economic power largely in the hands of whites.

When apartheid ended two forces conspired to sour the fruits of the struggle for freedom:

1. Focussing solely on racism as the distinctive evil of apartheid, the ANC essentially delivered South Africa up to economic globalization. Today, a small elite of Blacks are wealthy or at least comfortably well-off (and no longer feeling the need to be united with their "brothers and sisters" in the ANC) while the vast majority have become economically worse off than they had been under Apartheid. South Africa has three of the largest 30 mega-slums on the planet. Think of the squalor and poverty in the slums of Mexico City, Mumbai or Gaza to understand what is going on in South Africa.

2. South Africa has the highest aids rate in the world and the recently resigned President Mbeki was filled with crackpot ideas about the nature of aids and the solution to the pandemic.

With more than 50% unemployment in many major centres there is very little by way of securing a means of livelihood. Social disruption means that traditional values that bind communities together have evaporated. Weird ideas find currency like the idea that if an aids infected man has sex with a virgin, he will be cured. This idea has resulted in the raping of babies in order to ensure that one was fucking a virgin.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission which is admired around the world was supposed to end the conflict between Black and White without recrimination so that the two groups could join together to build a new just society. For many blacks who lost family members to police brutality in addition to the economic disadvantages that Apartheid visited on them, the commission proved to be little more than a way of letting criminals off the hook while providing no reparations to the victims of Apartheid. Thus truth is, if nothing else, a vain reference to an elusive reality.

And that is what this reviewer thought of while reading Sharvanem's "Truth." Given the harsh reality of South Africa, the optimism in this poem is truly remarkable. It has the ring of innocent naivity which, given the impossibility of the author actually being naive, elevates the poem to the spiritual in a far more meaningful way than the cant we hear locally about the "truth shall set you free."

"South Africa," by way of contrast, has no optimism at all. It shows a state of total resignation to an uncaring reality where the young are cast out into an emotional wildnerness bereft of communal ties. The plight of these youths should be of concern to everyone who has been a part of a loving caring family.

Finally, "Stolen" is a poem to turn your world upside down. At least that is what it should do. Again there is a naif sensibility in the cadences of the words and the juxtapositions within stanzas that are completely disarming. It is enough to leave your soul lying open and bleeding. No sonnet form could possibly arise out of this harsh desert of human experience.

There is only one new poem so far this Saturday, which makes my job quite easy. I shall have to check again this evening and see if that has changed, but, unless and until that happens, there is no need for a review.

Update:
There are seven more poems today, but nothing that particularly jumps out at me.

But as always, read if you like and feel free to voice your own thoughts.

Sunday Oct 5

Four poems today,

Cal Y. Pygia muses on the theme of tits. At a distance, in Cleavage, and up close in Nipples. It's pretty obvious that they're supposed to be read together, themes and phrases echo between them. And as a pair they're bigger than the sum of its parts.


Sharvanem is a new name to me, but one that shows some promise. Keen perspective on things, and a nice flow in the language, is a good foundation for a poet that aspires to grow. Let's hope we'll see more from this one in the future. Two poems today, The Race and Africa, one existential and one political. Check em out.