The Cash Only Line
“If only one line in a poem has energy, then cut the rest out and leave only that one line. That one line is the poem.” William Carlos Williams to Allen Ginsberg
Poetry is like wine. We start out drinking Ripple, then move on to Mateus, and then graduate to something much better, I hope. Even though I’ve acquired a taste for a variety of poetry and understand more of it than I used to, I still go for the short poems when faced with a whole book of them. I do this with the same logic that causes me to choose a short line when I’m in a store waiting to check-out. But there’s another logic to my short poem inclination. Poetry, by its nature, is condensed, a shorthand of language that, if it’s any good, has a potency best taken in small doses. Maybe I have a touch of Attention Deficit Disorder, because the overuse of language shuts me down. But I think it has more to do with the fact that long winded-ness bores me, especially if it’s over-intellectualized. ~ From The Cash Only Line, “Muses Like Moonlight” by Colleen
In Gratitude of Short Poems
All in one piece
and easy to swallow
They hardly need editing
and aren’t temperamental ...
Who is your favorite poet?
Comments
and i thought i was the only one who thought this way concerning poetry...i get lost in the overly long ones too...
one of my favorite poets is Frank Stanford :)
Posted by: Lu | November 29, 2005 11:57 AM
Richard Brautigan :-)
Posted by: Janet | November 29, 2005 2:39 PM
Lu and Janet, I knew both your favorites already!
Posted by: colleen | November 29, 2005 4:15 PM
You know, I am embarrassed, but I have been away from poetry for some time, and, while I could have given you a name or two in a minute years ago, I see that I need to make time for poetry in my life again. I also used to write 'poetry' at least my version. Maybe, once I retire I will get back into that.
Posted by: Tabor | November 29, 2005 5:17 PM
e e cummings is my favorite and I studied the English romantic poets in school and liked them all. A few others who come to mind: Wm. Carlos Williams, Edna S. Millay, Robert Graves, Khalil Gibran.
Posted by: kenju | November 29, 2005 6:14 PM
I do not have a favorite. I normally find a few words in a poem that speak to me. The long winded ones lose me and once i'm lost its hard to get me back. Same with a movie..LOL Its why I do not watch much TV.
Posted by: Ivy | November 29, 2005 6:18 PM
I too get lost when there are too many words. I especially find this to be true when using the internet. Perhaps it has something to do with my computer screen but I also think we web surfers are a bit of a fickle lot.. and tend to get bored easily. Too many words and we tend to click on to the next page.
Posted by: Simply Coll | November 29, 2005 8:22 PM
I love my daughter's poems, they make me laugh.
I love Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, & Carl Sandburg.
Posted by: srp | November 29, 2005 8:35 PM
Maya Angelou
Posted by: Mayberry | November 29, 2005 9:11 PM
All of the above...
According to my "about me bio" I like Brautigan and Rumi, which I do. I also like Billy Collins, Natalie Goldberg and William Carlos Williams. I love my son's poetry and my Floyd friend Will's. Like Ivy, I like so many lines in poems or a few poems in a whole book of them.
I'll think of more later that I wish I had listed here.
Posted by: colleen | November 29, 2005 9:14 PM
Tess Gallagher and Linda Gregg are two of my favorites. And Eugene Field's "Little Boy Blue" always makes me cry. I can't read it aloud without sobbing.
Posted by: Jeanne | November 29, 2005 10:19 PM
As a poet,I am never disappointed by the power of words and their ability to captivate one's soul!
Posted by: Paul | November 30, 2005 5:33 AM
Sometimes poets stand out, sometimes individual poems. Marge Piercy, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Mark Doty come immediately to mind. Joseph Payne Brennan's 15-line poem "When Tigers Pass" provided the impetus for a short story that developed into the trilogy I'm currently trying to sell.
As for poem length -- I loved Homero Aridjis's novel-length poem Persephone.
I identify with Jeanne -- there are poems I can't read aloud because even just thinking about them brings tears to my eyes.
Posted by: Elissa Malcohn | December 2, 2005 12:28 AM