[New-Poetry] Deborah Garrison

[Suzanne Burns]

On 4/3/07, TheOldMole <Opus40-01 at opus40.org> wrote:
>
> Well, we do look to literature to be our guide to the abyss that we hope
> to only glimpse in our lifetimes, and for that flash of the unknown, I'd
> go to Plath or Thomas sooner than Garrison or Judith Viorst. I wouldn't
> go to Plath for a parenting guide, but I probably wouldn't go to
> Garrison either.


I don't particularly care about angst, nor do I romanticize those "dark"
places-- Plath is just a  better and more vital poet in every way.  She is
proof that one can be a mother without sacrificing the bite and fierceness
of one's language.  Even her most maternal poems avoid easy predictable
sentiments.

I am biased though-- I generally don't get much out of work that can be
described as sweet, domestic, sentimental, or too anchored in the backyard.
I feel like this has been waaaaaay overdone in the SofQ and it needs a
break.  But that's just me.

I agree-- I wouldn't want Plath or Garrison as a mother. One is too creepy,
the other too syrupy.  My own mother bore a striking resemblance to the
"Soccer Mom Ho" currently taking YouTube by storm (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqF1izJnK7M) with the exception that she
didn't rap (darn!). I wouldn't have it any other way.  :-)


Suzanne
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