in memory of a lost inspiration

[sideshow_cecil]

I’m sure it’s quite ridiculous to be saddened by the loss of a rock formation on the side of a mountain, but here I am. If you haven’t seen it on the news, the rock formation known as The Old Man of the Mountain, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire collapsed today. What’s left is a pile of rock that doesn’t at all represent the people of this state, no matter how long I stare at it and try to make it look like something (and I even tried looking at it magic eye cross eyed)
Anyway, it was a symbol of our state, an old man made of granite. It’s on our license plates along with our motto “Live free or die”. It was hundreds of thousands of years old and like folks around here, it seemed like only another ice age or volcanic eruption would change it. It was robert frost’s neighbor for years, and it’s fence was a mountain range. It’s been the inspiration for volumes of poetry, and now it’s gone.
Daniel Webster once said:
"Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoemakers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men." Stubborn men sure, but of granite will.

To me it was everyone's grandfather, collectively telling us all to get off the damn lawn.

 

[Rybka]

The Old Man

I was thinking of posting the same D. Webster quote, plus photo, and asking for a "picathon" from the other poets. It is indeed a tragic loss for our state.

What part of the state are you in, sideshow_cecil? I am in the lakes region, but used to drive through the Notch quite a few times each year. A geologist friend of mine was involved with the attempts at stabilization since the late 60s.


Regards,                                 Rybka

 

[Cleopatra]

I heard about this Cecil, and wondered how many people were going to miss it, and miss it more because they took it for granted.



And please, limit yourself to one or two asp puns.... *grins*

 

[pointless]

i actually wanted to see the old man of the mountain at some point. oh well, guess i never will now.

 

[CharleyH]

Me brain is back!

This is more for Senna Jawa than Pointless, but it started here, and though I'm late, (I have too many Taurus' in my life, and had birthday parties to attend since Thursday.) I thought, well, where the hell else am I gonna post this? I don't have the patience to seek out the personal site. Plus, Pointless, I think you'll get something out of it, I think others will too:

SennaJawa:

Ah! Now how, my most faithful critic so far, did I KNOW that you would comment about this even though I haven’t been here long?

Fortunately, I don’t exactly fear criticism, self-contradiction, or even my own idiocy/ idiocyncracies. My pointing out my own mistake is meant to be, at the very least humble, and, well, I laughed, hopefully Pointless did, so, I’m only happy to point out the idiocy, and share the laugh with others. It's good for a laugh!

Why? (And in POpstars tradition, maybe I should just start calling you Simon)?

Why not.

The titles, with some fixing, meet a potential poem – thanks for giving that.

You are right, yes – admittingly I did take the titles for a poem – which is a laugh! Yet, seems as if, even without reading the poems I didn’t do bad with my critique.

Often pieces of an artists’ work can be interpreted as inherently one part, or yes, paradigm across a wider body of work. Why not? Often titles are as important, or sometimes even more important than the work itself …..MADONNA EROTICA, and reverse EROTICA MADONNA. As poets, should we think about titles? Of course. Packaging? Matter of opinion, and well, Madonna is rich, so was Jim Morrison, and 'poets' are usually not! Then again, aren’t musicians poets? Jim Morrison was certainly considered one.

Even if I did make my mistake of reading the titles as a poem, what’s interesting is, as Pointless did mention, I actually picked out things that others didn’t. Well, even if they were titles – why not?

Artists of many kinds, whether poets, lets take Dylan Thomas, painters like Picasso, photographers like Mapplethorpe, filmmakers like Hitchcock, playwrites like Genet have certain obsessions, subjects, symbols, metaphors (which can include anything from sound to colour, to shadow and texture) that they use continually, that continue throughout their whole body of work, and because they continue – they MEAN something What is especially interesting to me, from this humble mistake, is that the titles of POINTLESS’ poetry can actually stand alone, and mean in their own right . . . hmmm . . . do I smell auteurism?

Too irritatingly intellectual for you I know. But God! I do love your comments – sarcastic – bitter –biting! Opinion is opinion. It is yours and yours alone. What one critic loves, well, another hates.

You said: “people will defend such nonsense, will write elaborated comments about its virtues.”

The people I have come across so far here, or on other sites, or in the commercial world, or in school don’t defend so much as they explain. . . . people want to be understood. This is why we use words, no?

Reading one poem once is a farce – reading a poem twice is whatever, reading it three or four times, then you get a better understanding of the poet. . . and over a body of poetry? Symbols come together.

People describe their experience, I think, because they want their poem to be understood, not just by themselves, but by an audience. Although certainly some people write for themselves, but most want to be published eventually. This is why I give INTERPRETATION . . . even if it was of titles . . . hmm, auterurism again? But then as all critics, the interpretation is solely dependant on their own experience.

You are certainly a cruel critic – sometimes with valid points, and as I have said – I enjoy your bitterness – but I think you could be a BETTER critic.

You said:
“And if I called it useless and junk thay would jump for my throat.”

HELLO?
You know, I haven’t read your comments except on my poem, and pointless' poems, and on my mistake of pointless’ poem – I haven’t been here long.

Personally, I enjoy your comments because they amuse me, but critically, there is no validity. If you want to be a critic and say something is shit, well then say why you think it is shit. If you can’t back up your own comment? Well, to merely state something is useless, is in itself, a useless comment that satisfies you and no one else. A good critic, a good editor, a good teacher is always one who can state, “This is shit,” at the same time they give valid feedback as to why.

You may be saying, "well fucking bitch, how are you so confident about this bullshit?"

Despite that I am in a different business now, yet write for a living, the one useful thing that my degree has done for me is made me a good critic. Despite my occaissional idiocy.

Saying something is useless and junk is not interpretation, critique, and actually not very critical – Everyone and everything has some useful or redeeming quality, even your comments, yet as a critic, you have to remove yourself from the limited universe of YOUR world . . . and enter into the world of others!

Back up your point that something is useless, and I am sure that people won’t attack you so much – because then, you’ll actually have something to say. Don’t back up your criticism with why you think it is shit, then your comments stay in the realm of useless opinion.

You say something along the lines of can’t stand “sohisticated and oh-so intellectual”

Why? Too intimidating? I am, with, of course obvious exception, but then I never pretended to be a website surfer. And well, too bad! Most writers, whether poetry, erotica or anything else are intellectual enough to write, intellectual enough to bring in symbols that stand for their emotions, for their theme, their subjects, and sophisticated enough to say, “This is shit because . . ."

If you want your comments to be taken seriously, because let me tell you, no one will listen to babbling shit . . . then get real.

Want me to look at your poetry? Your stories? Because I can rip them apart . . . as I have said to you in response to my poetry . . . cruelty is a sign of love, and rhyme, a sign of inexperience!

And yet Senna Jawa I love your banter, and I’ll say it again, you are one sarcastic, and bitter bitch (m or F)! I love it!

Charley