Sunday, November 22, 2009

Here are some questions that we can all shoot a gun at

I once read (and am now twisting into my own claim) that the job of the poet is to transcend the logical use of language. In most other contexts, the goal of language is to share information with as little ambiguity as possible. But poets are often purposely ambiguous. It is more expressive that way, as you can try to incorporate more shit into what you are saying.

For example. Metaphors. Your asshole is a flaming bag of dog shit. The information you wanted to share is "the egress of my digestive system feels uncomfortable," but rather than talking like an idiot with a cork blocking the heart from the respiratory system, you compared it to something different. This means when someone reads it, they are not just responding to one thing. They are responding to assholes, fire, dogs, shit, the act of leaving a flaming bag of dog shit on someone's porch, and the intensely hoped-for stomping of the bag. By saying one thing, you can say a lot of things.

I have had numerous conversations with people who are frustrated by the fact that poetry is ambiguous. I argue that this is typically the goal, so you should not try to read it as if the language is trying to be only logical. You shouldn't try to read it literally and understand the point, as if the poet hid a moral inside the poem. This can sometimes be the case, but more often, you will enjoy a good poem not because it makes you think something, but because it makes you feel something.

That being said, here are some questions. These are in the context of poetry and I guess flash fiction/prose poetry. Answer some or all. Whatever.

1) Do you like to write ambiguously and why or why not?

8) Do you like to write logically and why or why not?

116) Assuming your answer could be premeditated, and you had huge balls, what would you say to someone who interrupted you during a poetry reading and said, "that doesn't make any sense"

&) Why do many people not "get" poetry?

F5) When is using logical language in poetry a good idea?

Caps Lock) When is using ambiguous or figurative language in poetry a good idea?

Dog) How many different dogs have you petted in the last week?

7 comments:

  1. before i begin the quest-ee-oh-nair i will say that my roommate says he does not like poetry because it is vague (i assume he uses this synonymously with ambiguous). i told him hu cares if its ambiguous, youre gonna get something out of it when you read it and thats what matters NOW GO DO THE DISHES

    1+8=9) usually when i am writing, it starts off with an unusual if not surreal situation, but then i apply logic to see where it goes from there... sometimes the logic involves simple things like a conversation, sometimes sea ghosts are logical in a situation. the poetry i like the most has a strong amt of this second type, the more creative leap of logic that appears to be unlogic, except when its just a mess of things happening with no connections to real logic and then it feels like things have been pulled from asses.

    116) funny answer i have told friends: scoff and say "well i guess it's just too DEEP for you. heh" and smirk
    real answer: i would probably start laughing because i enjoy when people audibly dislike my work, then after class tell them not to interrupt / be a retard EDIT: because i don't want to appear defensive with my work, because i am not, and would feel better telling someone not to be so rude, its like they're a petulant 8 year old or something

    &) they don't bother trying and do not want to try because they prefer ignorance

    F5) when you need a balance with the illogic, or when it's funny

    Caps Lock) forever and ever

    Dog) 1

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1) No. I mean, I use metaphor, and I use simile, but not on a level that an average high schooler couldn't understand it. While I agree that experimentation is great, it should be deliberate. There shoud be a goal. I think any poet who claims that a poem he/she has written 'confused' themselves wrote a mediocre poem. I say this, of course, being a person of extremely sound mind who would rather use poetry as nail then as a hammer. If that makes any sense.

    8)

    Logically? That's a word you rarely hear in poetry. I suppose that, when it comes to narrative poems, I do write them in an easy-to-follow fashion. Other poems, especially free verse ones, may be less 'logical', although I have to no desire to confuse my audience and leave them feeling retarded or under-educated.

    116)
    I'd say, "Oh just wait. All of the answers you are looking for are coming at the end of this poem. When you leave this poetry reading, you will fall asleep tonight knowing all of the universe, because you told a poet his poem didn't make sense. Because poems solve problems."

    and then i'd pause.

    "Jackass."


    &) Why do many people not "get" poetry?

    I'll quote someone I can't recall right now

    "Most people doesn't get poetry
    because
    poetry doesn't get most people"

    and to quote peter davis:

    "Poetry has isolated me from the world"

    Poems do not talk about cable television and myspace and porno and the NFL. Also, many, many people suck at reading even on a basic level, and it takes some effort to get good at reading poetry. I don't think I could read poems effectively until my sophomore year of college, so imagine how a high school graduate with little to no interest in reading for leisure feels.

    Still, they're jackasses most of the time.

    F5) When is using logical language in poetry a good idea?

    Blunt humor, simple narratives. it has a place, but it shouldn't BE the place. ya dig?

    Caps Lock) When is using ambiguous or figurative language in poetry a good idea?

    All the fucking time.

    Dog) How many different dogs have you petted in the last week?

    None. Fuck.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with the things you guys said about using logical language. The best examples I can think of are Russell Edson and James Tate. They write about a lot of absurd or surreal situations, and often use logical language to describe the things that are going on. It's funny to talk about such absurd things like they are normal, and it also enhances their less common, but kickass, ambiguous or abstract lines.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1) Do you like to write ambiguously and why or why not?

    i don't feel like ambiguity is something to aim for or strive to avoid. seems like writing in a way that strives for ambiguity would hinder the writer from every making anything accessible or worth reading.

    8) Do you like to write logically and why or why not?

    i think every piece of writing has a certain logic to it. even if the logic makes no sense in terms of the REAL WORLD. so i guess i do write with a certain logic. i guess which logic of an infinite number of possible logics i end up using depends on what i'm writing at the time and how the poem or whatever's own internal logic guides me eat a dick.

    116) Assuming your answer could be premeditated, and you had huge balls, what would you say to someone who interrupted you during a poetry reading and said, "that doesn't make any sense"

    i would throw a motherfucking handful of goddamn centipedes at his bitchcunting face and show him/her wud up. then i would rape him/her.

    &) Why do many people not "get" poetry?

    why do so many people not read? seems like an even bigger question with an answer that's just as simple. if you never learn how to appreciate something, you will never partake in its many-hot-titted glory. wot i mean is poetry has many tits and all dem tits be bangin.

    F5) When is using logical language in poetry a good idea?

    when you're tao lin. or when you want to state something very plainly. actually, i'm having a hard time thinking of an actual answer to this, because i don't know what language, if any, is logical.

    Caps Lock) When is using ambiguous or figurative language in poetry a good idea?

    whenever you feel like it using it, i guess.

    Dog) How many different dogs have you petted in the last week?

    zero dogs, sadly. though, i've petted two very nice cats.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1) not to say that accessibility is the most important thing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i've been breaking out on my forehead all week

    ReplyDelete
  7. i've been break-dancing on yr forehead all week

    ReplyDelete

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