[New-Poetry] What I witnessed

[Halvard Johnson]

Just so. As for me, I always write only the best work
I am capable of.

Hal

"Oil separation is natural."
	      --Anon.

Halvard Johnson
================
halvard at earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard/index.html
http://entropyandme.blogspot.com
http://imageswithoutwords.blogspot.com
http://www.hamiltonstone.org
http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard/vidalocabooks.html




On Jul 2, 2008, at 9:13 AM, browning wrote:

> So we just have to be good readers/critics, as always. And as poets,  
> we should apply our highest standards to all our poems, as always.
>
>
> **
> Sarah Browning
> Co-Director
> Split This Rock Poetry Festival
> c/o Institute for Policy Studies
> 1112 16th Street, NW, Suite 600
> Washington, DC 20036
> browning at splitthisrock.org
> www.splitthisrock.org
> 202-787-5210
>
> From: new-poetry-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu [mailto:new-poetry-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu 
> ] On Behalf Of John Jeffrey
> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:08 AM
> To: NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News & Views
> Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] What I witnessed
>
>
> -- "Now, was that applause for me, for the poem, or for the  
> sentiments in the poem? You know, applause can be so ambiguous."
>
> THAT is what (at least) I am talking about, that sentiment makes  
> many people raise their opinion of a poem, praising flabby, bland  
> poems to the status of "powerful" if they agree with the point of  
> view put forward by the poet.
>
> John Jeffrey
>
>
>
> --- On Wed, 7/2/08, David Graham <grahamd at ripon.edu> wrote:
> From: David Graham <grahamd at ripon.edu>
> Subject: [New-Poetry] What I witnessed
> To: "new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu & Views" <new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
> Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 9:00 AM
> I haven't read CD Wright's book & have no opinion on it as poetry,  
> journalism, or anything else. I confess her work has left me cold  
> for some time, but I also haven't kept up with it.
>
> The Poetry Of Witness, though, is a phrase that I find interesting,  
> in part because of its basic ambiguity, coupled with the fervor with  
> which it often is deployed, both by fans and by skeptics.
>
> Back in the late 1970s I witnessed a wonderful moment at a reading  
> given by Robert Francis. This would have been inAmherst,  
> Massachusetts, at the Jones Library. After reading a number of his  
> charming, simple-seeming lyrics to the polite murmurs of the  
> audience, Francis then recited a fairly strident anti-war poem--to  
> enthusiastic applause.
>
> The poet stood there, looking quizzical for a long moment (I am  
> aware how studied his performance may have been), waiting for the  
> applause to subside into smug silence. Then he very delicately  
> inquired, "Now, was that applause for me, for the poem, or for the  
> sentiments in the poem? You know, applause can be so ambiguous."
>
>
>
>
>
> ========================================
> David Graham
> grahamd at ripon.edu
>
> Home Page:
> http://web.mac.com/drjazz
>
> Poetry Library:
> http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
> ==========================================
>
>
>
>
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