Poetry Reading.

[bronzeage]

I've invited to a newly formed poetry circle. To be more specific, a poetry and song round table. It's a facebook deal, and so far there are going and two maybe's. We shouldn't need a very big table.

It will be interesting. This group meets in an Italian restaurant. The last time I was involved in this kind of thing, it was in a coffee house. Coffee house poetry circles tend to fill up with poets in rehab and half-way houses. Rehab is a time for self reflection and writing bad poetry. By bad poetry, I mean really really bad poetry. One guy had only three poems in his notebook and alternated the same two, week after week. After a while, I thought I could recite it from heart.

I enjoy this kind of attention, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Angeline]

Best of luck to you, Bronze. Sounds like fun.

 

[bogusagain]

One guy had only three poems in his notebook and alternated the same two, week after week. After a while, I thought I could recite it from heart.
.

A British politician once read a page of his speech twice and was just starting to read the page a thirdtime when a journalist pointed out he had already read the damn page twice. He said, I know, it's a particularly good and important page.

 

[twelveoone]

I've invited to a newly formed poetry circle. To be more specific, a poetry and song round table. It's a facebook deal, and so far there are going and two maybe's. We shouldn't need a very big table.

It will be interesting. This group meets in an Italian restaurant. The last time I was involved in this kind of thing, it was in a coffee house. Coffee house poetry circles tend to fill up with poets in rehab and half-way houses. Rehab is a time for self reflection and writing bad poetry. By bad poetry, I mean really really bad poetry. One guy had only three poems in his notebook and alternated the same two, week after week. After a while, I thought I could recite it from heart.

I enjoy this kind of attention, so I'm looking forward to it.

Perhaps an Irish Bar might be better...

 

[bronzeage]

Perhaps an Irish Bar might be better...

That's an idea.

It turned out to be a nice experience. There were six present, including myself. It was not the best possible environment for a poetry reading. The place is more of a cafe than a restaurant, and we were up front, near the door. The gelato display case compressor kicked on every seven minutes or so, and rattled for a few seconds before settling down to a dull hum. One person brought a small wireless microphone sound system. He is a Phd candidate in music and played a couple of his compositions for us. Apparently all the music in the world has been played and Phd's now must explore sounds beyond the natural borders of music. At one point, the wireless microphone picked up some interference and he apologized profusely. I couldn't tell the difference.

I read three of my pieces. I felt a little bad. I picked through my entire catalog, spanning 30 or so years, and they read from notebooks(pen and ink), I-phones, and laptops, all stuff written earlier in the afternoon. One young woman claimed to have written one piece in the car while driving over. I asked it that was easier than texting while driving.

I'll be back next Thursday. It's easy when you have 30 years of material.

 

[Angeline]

That's an idea.

It turned out to be a nice experience. There were six present, including myself. It was not the best possible environment for a poetry reading. The place is more of a cafe than a restaurant, and we were up front, near the door. The gelato display case compressor kicked on every seven minutes or so, and rattled for a few seconds before settling down to a dull hum. One person brought a small wireless microphone sound system. He is a Phd candidate in music and played a couple of his compositions for us. Apparently all the music in the world has been played and Phd's now must explore sounds beyond the natural borders of music. At one point, the wireless microphone picked up some interference and he apologized profusely. I couldn't tell the difference.

I read three of my pieces. I felt a little bad. I picked through my entire catalog, spanning 30 or so years, and they read from notebooks(pen and ink), I-phones, and laptops, all stuff written earlier in the afternoon. One young woman claimed to have written one piece in the car while driving over. I asked it that was easier than texting while driving.

I'll be back next Thursday. It's easy when you have 30 years of material.

Darn. I couldn't find the "like" button. Tis a brave thing you're doing there in the shade of the gelato machine.

 

[twelveoone]

He is a Phd candidate in music and played a couple of his compositions for us. Apparently all the music in the world has been played and Phd's now must explore sounds beyond the natural borders of music. At one point, the wireless microphone picked up some interference and he apologized profusely. I couldn't tell the difference.

Priceless

Btw the technical term for that is

playing to the ambiance

for Rap

it would be

praying for the ambulance

 

[bronzeage]

Week 2 of the poetry circle.

I want to be friends with these people and this requires some restraint and discretion. This means I smile and listen patiently while someone reads from a book titled "Award Winning Haiku."

 

[Angeline]

Week 2 of the poetry circle.

I want to be friends with these people and this requires some restraint and discretion. This means I smile and listen patiently while someone reads from a book titled "Award Winning Haiku."

Well you get props from me for the patience. I used to have deep wells of restraint and discretion regarding others' poetry (or their opinions about poetry), but not so much anymore. The longer I'm around this place and compare it to other poets' groups, both on-line and in my local world, the more appreciation I have for the (mostly) honesty and ability that comes from the denizens of this little corner of the web.

 

[bronzeage]

Well you get props from me for the patience. I used to have deep wells of restraint and discretion regarding others' poetry (or their opinions about poetry), but not so much anymore. The longer I'm around this place and compare it to other poets' groups, both on-line and in my local world, the more appreciation I have for the (mostly) honesty and ability that comes from the denizens of this little corner of the web.

I once took a page of tanka quartet poems to a poetry reading, and realize syllable count poems do not transfer well to the spoken word. It just sounds like talking. Now, I feel I should apologize in advance for reading a syllable poem, because if I don't identify the form, who would know. I tried to run the award winning(the award was $150) haiku through my mind and couldn't get the count to come out right.

It left me thinking, if that was $150, I ought to be able to get at least $250 for a tanka.

 

[Angeline]

I once took a page of tanka quartet poems to a poetry reading, and realize syllable count poems do not transfer well to the spoken word. It just sounds like talking. Now, I feel I should apologize in advance for reading a syllable poem, because if I don't identify the form, who would know. I tried to run the award winning(the award was $150) haiku through my mind and couldn't get the count to come out right.

It left me thinking, if that was $150, I ought to be able to get at least $250 for a tanka.

Yeah well you have to get a group of people to agree on what a tanka is first, I guess. I'm thinking of writing an Amish Romance novel, myself. I hear they're very popular these days, and it'd be nice to earn money for my own writing instead of for fixing other peoples', you know? I don't even think I'd hate myself in the morning.

I never before considered the syllable issue with reading aloud, but I see what you mean.

 

[bronzeage]

Yeah well you have to get a group of people to agree on what a tanka is first, I guess. I'm thinking of writing an Amish Romance novel, myself. I hear they're very popular these days, and it'd be nice to earn money for my own writing instead of for fixing other peoples', you know? I don't even think I'd hate myself in the morning.

I never before considered the syllable issue with reading aloud, but I see what you mean.

Maybe there is a deeper meaning for syllable poetry in Japanese, but I see them as practice pieces. The form forces one to scour their brain for different words and different ways to express the same thought. So much of the haiku I read seems more like words chosen at random because they match the count and it becomes a "green eggs and ham, Sam, I am," kind of work, where it's there because it fits. It's my own prejudice, but I want a poem to communicate a "who, what, and where," with the poet free to choose any two.

 

[Angeline]

Maybe there is a deeper meaning for syllable poetry in Japanese, but I see them as practice pieces. The form forces one to scour their brain for different words and different ways to express the same thought. So much of the haiku I read seems more like words chosen at random because they match the count and it becomes a "green eggs and ham, Sam, I am," kind of work, where it's there because it fits. It's my own prejudice, but I want a poem to communicate a "who, what, and where," with the poet free to choose any two.

Both Senna Jawa and Rybka said, on various occasions, that the syllable thing in short Asian forms is less important than the visual and sonic qualities of the poem overall and the adherence to the nature theme. I seem to recall SJ also saying that because we (most here, anyway) are writing in English (as opposed to Japanese, for example), we've already corrupted the form so why put too much emphasis on getting the syllable count perfect?

See, I agree with you that nothing is more important than content. This is why I, too, write form poetry mainly for the practice and discipline I get from it (which I hope transfers to the way I conceive free verse lines). Mostly though I don't like like having to twist lines around or not do what I think sounds best because the forms says "do X." With some forms (e.g., the dread sestina), I feel more like I'm doing a word puzzle than writing poetry.

Otoh, I would write a syllable perfect tanka in a New York minute if I thought it would win me some dough.