Writers Unbound

I won’t even mention that m-word. I know how many would-be poets shrink away from it like Smiegel on acid. I will say, however, that it involves scansion, caesura and such, it is a vital tool in crafting excellent traditional poetry and this article will help you understand it.

The Lecture

See that tail peeking
from behind the podium?
Surely pretensile.

Research & Development

Humanity is
simply the Devil’s test run
of hypocrisy.

Conversation With A Coroner

He died instantly.
His heart just collapsed. A shame…
Care to explain, Miss?

Arcade Woes

Hands entwine beyond
those bright pinball cabinets.
Hers and mine? Funny…

At Midnight

Your fingers seduce,
skitter down my spine like an
electric spider.

Let us take a moment to remember the writers who’ve recently left this world. They might not be alive physically, but their words are immortal and pulse with an inspiring vitality.

William Styron - DIED NOVEMBER 2, 2006

Most books, like their authors, are born to die; of only a few books can it be said that death has no dominion over them; they live, and their influence lives forever.

Molly Ivins - DIED JANUARY 31, 2007

Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - DIED APRIL 11, 2007

Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?

In my time as a poet, you can be sure I’ve seen plenty of theatrics acted out on the paper-stage. Well, not quite theatrics, more like parlor tricks really: gaudy, fiendish little things designed to bamboozle the reader, to make it seem as if a poem is more profound, more artistic than it actually is.

These tricks are cheap, offensive and, most of all, unconvincing to the savvy reader.

Let’s take a look at one of these tricks and then tear it to shreds.

LINE / BREAKS

Now, quite obviously, line breaks themselves are not the enemy here. They’re absolutely necessary in poetry. They affect the rhythm of the piece and the clarity of the ideas presented. Without them, a poem would simply be an absurdly long line that is truly tiresome to read.

That being said, all line breaks are not created equal. Abusing them for purely aesthetic reasons or sprinkling them around indiscriminately are most heinous deeds.

Let’s experiment:

And I don’t even care to shake these zipper blues…

A line from 1979 by the Smashing Pumpkins.

Watch me butcher it by adding random line breaks:

And
I don’t even
care to
shake these zipper
blues.

See?

Jarring, start-and-stop rhythm and no enhancing of meaning, just obfuscation.

Also, these line breaks isolate “blues” at the end, presumably for a more powerful poetic punch, but there’s nothing in the lyric to indicate that “blues” itself can stand alone without its intriguing modifier, “zipper.”

The lesson here is simply this: don’t break your lines haphazardly. Consider what effects a break will have on the rhythm of the piece and whether or not the break will undermine your attempts to communicate certain concepts (like “zipper blues”).

Infinity forks out in fractals
from a near-empty tumbler,
stretching out in
dumbfounding combinations,
a branching tree
of cosmic possibility.

A gymnast quarter,
somersaulting
from the flick of my thumb,
keeps the surrounding stares
drowning
in the dream of brew.

It lands
in a dwindling puddle of whiskey,
Washington in profile.

Damn.
Next round’s on me.

Your mouth is curled into
a curve of mischief.
Sticky-sweet syllables
drip from your lips:
I want to pounce,
lick them up,
a desperate diabetic.

But there’s already winter
laying frost along my veins -
I can’t take the chill
of an ice-water revelation.
One truth would burst the dam:

She was here.

Then, and only then,
would the flood begin.
But a wall of water
wouldn’t matter;
I’m drowning in silence.

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.

To remember and honor the victims of those tragic events, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support.

The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Memorials
• Communication expenses
• Comfort expenses
• Incidental needs

If you plan to give, please click the link below:

A time, according to the American Library Association:

…to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries, librarians and library workers and to promote library use and support.

Today, April 19, happens to be Support Teen Literature Day. Personally, I haven’t been that impressed with the young adult market’s products, but better a few disappointing books than no books, eh?

So get out of your chair, go to your local library and support the preservation and dissemination of literature!

If you haven’t heard, CRAM Magazine is an excellent online publication with interesting articles in every issue.

issueTwo, available at the link above, features a polemic, but rather funny tirade about the American book market penned by yours truly: The Death of the American Novel - Part One.

Take a look and make sure to read the other articles and issues. If you like what you see, let a friend or two or ten know about the magazine!

There’s a certain peculiar divide in the world of writing. It’s a lot like a cut scene from Tarantino’s masterwork, Pulp Fiction, where a seductive and bob-sporting Uma Thurman does a little classifying:

My theory is that when it comes to important subjects, there’s only two ways a person can answer. For instance, there’s two kinds of people in this world, Elvis people and Beatles people. Now Beatles people can like Elvis. And Elvis people can like the Beatles. But nobody likes them both equally. Somewhere you have to make a choice. And that choice tells me who you are.

This might be a bit of a stretch, but let’s just say that Elvis is genre writing, with his appealing swagger and bold presentation, and the Beatles are literary writing, with their highly refined lyrics and their subdued effect.

(We’re talking Beatles pre-LSD and -Sgt. Pepper’s, that is.)

Now then, that having been said, it’s incredibly difficult as a writer to be both Elvis and the Beatles, to both be popular and possess literary merit, whether on a grand scale, talking about one’s oeuvre, say, or a tiny scale, within the lines of a single poem.

A writer in this day and age just might have to make that choice Ms. Thurman mentioned, the choice between Elvis and the Beatles, between genre writing and literary writing. The American literature market is becoming increasingly homogenized, dominated by workable formulas and direct, Wealth of Nations-esque competition (e.g. diet books, self-help, the “thriller”). It’s beginning to mirror, in some ways, the American political system.

However, while the choosing might be inevitable, both choices have their consequences. For instance, working in genre fiction can undermine one’s literary authority. Consider the case of Stephen King. An amazingly popular author, yes, quite successful and beloved by a number of readers, but, unfortunately, due to his being branded as a horror writer, not a very respected figure at all when it comes to literary theory and practice and, consequently, not likely to become immortal in the sense of Joyce, Faulkner and the like.

Perhaps the best advice is to simply follow one’s instincts.

If you’ve a knack for thinking up compelling plot lines and exciting situations, you might be destined for genre writing and, of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. By all means, pursue it. Don’t deny your natural talents. You’ll still have everything a writer truly needs: readership and, along with it, a sense of accomplishment in that you’ve reached and influenced people in some fashion.

If you’re more of a stylist, concerned about turn of phrase and the inner conflicts of character, you might be destined for literary writing and, again, perfectly alright. You might not become as immediately popular as the genre writers, but there’s the chance you might live longer (metaphorically speaking).

The important thing to remember is that, no matter the path the writer chooses, she must not take it leisurely. She must make a run for it. Dedication and focus are the keys. In other words, energy can be everything, unless it’s everywhere.