LeeAnn's Silicon Valley poetic diary

[Senna Jawa]

It is available on Internet, on-line:

    Objects of Code and Desire

by LeeAnn Heringer. Thirty poems.

I am curious about your impression.

Regards,

 

[WickedEve]

I really like the imagery in the first one "i quit my job today." Good poem.

The third one:
"day one: we take the building"
reads like a regular paragraph
with line breaks
added to make it
into a poem.

Actually several
that I've read
read that way.

 

[Rybka]

the humility of small tasks
and how they're the stakes
anchoring the blue nylon tent
of our greater dreams.

Haven't read them all yet, but I do like this image.

Regards, Rybka

 

[Senna Jawa]

I really like the imagery in the first one "i quit my job today." Good poem.

The third one:
"day one: we take the building"
reads like a regular paragraph
with line breaks
added to make it
into a poem.

Actually several
that I've read
read that way.

It's true. I was very familiar with LeeAnn's "Objects..." in 1995, when she was still working on it, at the final stage, and afterwards. I remember that in this case it was not this or that poem which counted but the total impression as the poem after a poem was developing in front of the reader, that the whole thing was able to grab me. In this and about every other way this chapbook is very different from her first one, which was true poetry-poetry. "Codes..." is a different genre. It is truly a diary.

Regards,

 

[Senna Jawa]

I really like the imagery in the first one "i quit my job today." Good poem.

The third one:
"day one: we take the building"
reads like a regular paragraph
with line breaks
added to make it
into a poem.

Yes, but be careful. There is an image after an image. This poem has good tempo. It's packed, not like so many nothing poems with cliched or nonworking images, which do not hold water. These are all real. Look at this stanza for instance:

        we couldn't order out for pizza
        so i went for a cell phone
        where they tried to sell me
        a nokia
        and i said. dude
        it's gonna be dropped. whacked.
        and stepped on with big wide feet.
        i'll take the motorola.

It's a great scene, I mean great writing. The whole poem is very good. LeeAnn is showing us a special world. That's what this diary does. The world of start-up high tech companies, engineers, vp-s, investors, competition, environment, hard work, salesmanship, PR, business cards,... It's just great. After reading so many "delicate, gentle, trembling" nothing poems "Objects..." are refreshing, free of those "magic", meaningless, "sooo poetic and clever" expressions, I think you know what I mean

Regards,

 

[Senna Jawa]

Haven't read them all yet, but I do like this image.

Regards, Rybka

You have quoted from LeeAnn's "the zen block of the broom", poem no 2:


        the humility of small tasks
        and how they're the stakes
        anchoring the blue nylon tent
        of our greater dreams.


If it were an isolated poem I would seriously consider:

        of our great dream.

As a rule (about 85% of the time ) singular is poetically stronger than plural, and simple "great" would be better than "greater". But this is not the goal here, this is not a poem-poem, but a part of a narrative, which is not suppossed to be on any high poetic orbit. The way it is in the poem is in agreement with the narration, with the total. It souns authentic this way. The quoted words present (edited but nevertheless) someone's vice, and that someone is not a poet, not even any profound thinker (while most likely he is good at his work).

Regards,

 

[Senna Jawa]

You have quoted from LeeAnn's "the zen block of the broom", poem no 2:


        the humility of small tasks
        and how they're the stakes
        anchoring the blue nylon tent
        of our greater dreams.


If it were an isolated poem I would seriously consider:

        of our great dream.

[...] The quoted words present (edited but nevertheless) someone's vice, and that someone is not a poet, not even any profound thinker (while most likely he is good at his work).

A few more words. The way it is in the poem is precise. Imagine those people talking, while they go about their mundane tasks. The tasks are small but their "dreams" are greater than those tasks. Their dream is not exaggerated in the poem. It is not about the happiness for the whole mankind but about doing a great product and getting well off (making good money) in the process. Thus the lighter "greater dreams" expression is adequate while "great dream" would be too much.

Regards,

 

[karmadog]

Well, I read 'das boot' because that I loved the movie.

I thought the imagery of software being like the inside of a submarine was a little forced and overdramatic for a mundane world. But then, I don't know enough about programming to know if that's true.

But anyway you look at it, she's a good writer. Everything is very crisp. There are no wasted words, so, on balance, I liked it.

How come she doesn't write my damn computer manuals?

 

[Rybka]

S.J. wrote:

If it were an isolated poem I would seriously consider:

of our great dream.

I agree with what you have said in large part. If I were going to develop the metaphor I would probably change the "blue nylon tent" (What are the tent poles?), into a hot air ballon. Thus making the mundane tasks of life that which tethers us from drifting off on flights of fancy.

Regards, &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Rybka

 

[Angeline]

Good Stuff

I liked this very much SJ. LeeAnn writes with a voice that sounds authentic--which I suppose it is, lol. It gives the poems an intimate feel, I think, which works very well with the sort of quiet commentary of their content.

Thanks for sharing them.

 

[Senna Jawa]

Re: Good Stuff

I liked this very much SJ. LeeAnn writes with a voice that sounds authentic--which I suppose it is, lol. It gives the poems an intimate feel, I think, which works very well with the sort of quiet commentary of their content.

Thanks for sharing them.

I wish her earlier chapbook was also available on-line. It is interesting to see that the same writer can write in different styles. "Objects..." if you think about it, has quite a bit in common with what is associated with Buk and his followers, even if this would be perhaps the last thing that LeeAnn would think of. LeeAnn's background is not city but country side. She has a deep feel for Nature and it is guiding her poetry. So, we have an interesting combination of a country girl turned into a high tech Silicon Valley super software engineer, which on the top of it has her way with words.

Perhaps I will ask her to allow me to reproduce a few of her other poems, in particular two which I would include in any collection of great poems. (At the moment I simply can't because I left my things, including my copy of her first chapbook, in Florida).

Regards,

 

[Senna Jawa]

Well, I read 'das boot' because that I loved the movie.

I thought the imagery of software being like the inside of a submarine was a little forced and overdramatic for a mundane world. But then, I don't know enough about programming to know if that's true.

Let me quote the poem:

        whoa, dave
        you're mixing your metaphors
        and you've got the wrong movie
        our engines are strong
        we've got fuel in the tanks
        we're alive and still on target.

It made me smile.

I think that the whole metaphor was great. There is nothing mundane about the intensity characteristic for start-up companies or even established but still dynamic Silicon Valley companies. A comparison of a start-up with a space ship is great. It gives you the feel for the double-full days inside the company, with much less of any contact with the rest of the world except for the professional meetings. Indeed, to view such a small company is like viewing a tv program about a space ship, day in and day out. The same actors every day, the roles are distributed, etc. Except that it is much more exciting to observe a start-up. Small start-ups can be wild! And outside advanced technical environs like Silicon Valley, they tend to be outright crazy, I mean it. I have stories to tell .

How come she doesn't write my damn computer manuals?

She could but LeeAnn is too good for this, she won awards and acclaim for her technical achievements. She also helped technically ASGP at its early stages.

Regards,

 

[Senna Jawa]

S.J. wrote:



I would probably change the "blue nylon tent" (What are the tent poles?), into a hot air ballon.

Funny (may be), but not true. In many other cases yes.

(BTW, "ballon=balloon" ).

Regards,

 

[Rybka]

(BTW, "ballon=balloon" ).

Well, pardon my French!

Just finished reading the rest of LeeAnn's collection. Like everyone else I thank you for pointing her work out to us. It is a very good read.

Regards, Rybka

 

[karmadog]

SJ, 'spaceship' = 'submarine'

'Das Boot' was a German movie about the crew of a German submarine trying to survive during wartime.

You should check it out (the unabridged version) it's long, but excellent.

 

[Senna Jawa]

SJ, 'spaceship' = 'submarine'

'Das Boot' was a German movie about the crew of a German submarine trying to survive during wartime.

You should check it out (the unabridged version) it's long, but excellent.

Than you, Karmadog,