finding your own wilderness...
The only real language is one that is stripped of agenda. To write a truth – in poetry, for example – a poet must give up any sense of audience. The poem will find its own audience – no mistake about that. Poetry is its own purpose, and shouldn’t be forced into this or that track. That would limit or maybe even destroy whatever force was present at the first moment. It makes its own path.
6 comments:
Hi Sam, I like this. A poet must give up a "sense of audience" - give birth to "language" in private - then allow the poem (offspring)to "seek its own audience." Brilliantly put. Best, Helen
This has been running through my head for some time. I'm reading a lot of Stafford these days - and, no doubt, there's some of the fuel. Thanks for the comment, Helen.
Sam: Thanks soo for this and for the earlier Stafford posting. I'm reading Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin's chap Patriate and she's big into Stafford, the thread, little epigraphs, etc. from him. Dude, you're so totally psychic, once again! I'm now going to delve into his works, his answer in the mountains (which I also find amazingly appropriate).
Plus, I just really needed this as sound advice. Aye, you are *the* poetry guru!
Poets talk about "finding their voice" quite a bit. As do presidential candidates! It really is an ethereal thing. Which I guess makes it easy to talk about without really getting to the heart of the matter. It seems no matter who you are, if you are writing, you will eventually let go of a lot of the excess you write for superfluous reasons. I know that in the 10 plus years I've been writing I feel less burdened when I sit down to write. On good days! It seems that learning to meditate is a lot like learning to write poetry. Letting go of all that baggage is a difficult thing and is never complete.
Good words to write by, Sam. Thanks for posting this.
Nicole, if you've not read these two Stafford books - Even in Quiet Places and My Name Is William Tell, you should. Quiet Places, in particular. Both books collect a number of his chapbooks, and they are amazing.
And Chet, letting go of the baggage is tough. In fact, finding the baggage that needs to let go of can be the most difficult part.
Thanks for the read, Collin.
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