Mark's comments (member since Aug 28, 2007)

Mark's comments from the ¡ POETRY ! group.

Great advice Jim. I'm seen similar statements. At a journal I read for a few years ago, one frustrated poet dared us to publish one of his poems. This did not go over well. While his poems were not particularly strong or interesting, his cover letter just made it even less likely to get any kind of serious read.

It really does help to talk to other writers about submitting, even if you just ask if they have anything out and where. A few of my friends and I had a submission party, which didn't result in too many stuffed envelopes/e-mail attachments, it was at least a way to acknowledge the process of researching journals, suggesting journals to each other and so on.

I try not to sent out the same poem to too many journals, though it's more the case of trying to make sure the poem has gone through many drafts, not tracking how many times a piece has been submitted. I definitely keep tinkering with work that is out as well.

As a fund raiser and to get more poetry into the hands of readers, Copper Canyon Press is giving away a free book of poems for a minimum $5 donation. It's a great way to get one of their books at a bargain and help out a small(er) press. http://www.coppercanyonpress.org/giveand...

(Sorry not having a good linking morning apparently.)

Not sure I would put Sharon Olds under new.

Thanks Ruth for the reminder. They also have a free poetry month poster for educators/ people who can convice them they educate. This year it's a line from Prufrock “Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?” written on fogged glass.

Poetry Daily also usually has a poem a day during April, though only pre-twentieth century poems, introduced by contemporary poets.

Thanks, I missed your posts on this until now. William Logan doesn't seem to care for very many poets or poems.

I still hope to check out Lowell's Notebook

Thanks for sharing this. I seem to recall you sharing another altered book piece. Do you mostly use different books or have you ever used more than one page in a book?

Here's a few I've used/consulted in the last few years:

Richard Hugo Triggering Town- probably my most reread craft book that covers where/how to find inspiration, making individual lines interesting, and some essays about being a poet.

John Drury Creating Poetry- I used this fairly early in my writing, but also lately when I teach creative writing, but still flip through it now.

I also agree with others, Kowit's book is excellent.

Thanks for this discussion as well. I had a chapbook length collection, sent it out a few times. In many ways a chapbook is about the length of a section from a book. I've noticed in a few cases some younger poets will publish a chapbook and large parts of it will make it into their first book as well. I'm on the fence about submitting to more chapbook contests instead of full length book contests.

Even though chapbooks have been around for awhile, it seems like they are making a comeback. Especially well establish poets like Charles Wright, Tony Hoagland and others publish a chapbook after several full length collections. I just wish they were reviewed more.

I think it's fine to query by e-mail even if they don't like e-mail submissions because they're not the same thing. That is if you can find an e-mail address on their website. Like Ruth I usually do remind them what I sent specifically and when.

I use the same process when I have to withdraw a poem that has been accepted elsewhere.

Gina, Thanks for pointing out the Mister poem, it does sound a bit like Ammons.

Thanks David, Gina, others. I would like to track down his first book, but for now am going to read Brink Road.

I guess when someone says it doesn't matter which book you start with when reading a certain poet, it suggests that they are a static poet, say like E. E. Cummings.

I could see while Ammons might be considered a successor to Williams. I'm not reading him for any particular love of the Black Mountains. I mostly admire his writing about nature and I don't write anything like him. Someone on a Poetry Magazine Podcast compared his writing about nature to Gary Snyder and Asian Poets, which had never occurred to me.

I will check out Bronk too, thanks.

Any suggestions for what Ammons's books to start with? I have a few anthologies, and read his posthumous book “Bosh and Flapadoodle.” I would normally go to a selected/ collected, but there is a fairly old one from the 80's then their is David Lehman's more recent one. I might start with whatever collection the library has.

Has anyone else discovered poetry foundation's podcasts:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/... I'm glad their doing something besides printing full cover photos on the cover of Poetry.

I have to agree with Ruth, it's mostly just abstract.

The phrase and most variants of “My Love” is just about ready to be buried in the poetry graveyard.

Have you read anything by Vladimir Mayakovsky? His poem, ”A Cloud in Trousers,“ and others manage to do interesting things with love poetry, something that is difficult to do.

No problem. I give you props for posting something you wrote from 13. I cringe at what I wrote at 18, 19 and sometimes yesterday.

Isabella, I like the the metaphor that this poem considers.

With the current title you don't need to say soldiers again in line one or just soldiers but not soul. Or, you could just start line one without either and move dying up to the end of line one.

It would be nice to see some description of these soldiers. You could think of the different divisions of the military (air force, navy, army, etc.) to play with dreams, hopes, and wishes to get more specific and continue into some examples of dreams, hopes, and wishes. We all have those, but how about some examples from the narrator's life?

What does it feel like when your life-force runs out? Life-force is a abstract. Why not imagine a cut or worse? Think of specifically how a solider my get injured in battle?

Basically keep doing this throughout the poem with Trauma and life blood. Finally in the last stanza what will look like when you and your soldiers win? If you're going to use an extended metaphor, you need to push it further.


Mark

I will admit that the topicality of Turner's work (his experience as a soldier in the early year or so of the second Iraq War) are the selling point of his first book. I think "Here, Bullet" is geared towards the average American who sadly doesn't read much poetry or know much about the Middle East. I taught it in an introduction to poetry course last fall and it went over well, but we for the most part focused on the war poems.

Great idea, though what do you mean age wise when you say young?

I love Cate Marvin's work. I taught her first book "World's Tallest Disaster" or parts of it and it usually goes over well.

I don't know about half the names in this list, I will have to check them out. I would add Tony Tost, Sarah Manguso, Maurice Manning, Bryan Penberthy, Brian Turner, Kristi Maxwell,


I was underwhelmed by Katie Ford's first book. It had a few solid poems, but on the whole it isn't a book I would recommend or want to loan to a friend.

I have to say that I wonder if like in other mediums/genres if a poet's first book can get too much acclaim. For example I really didn't like Tost's second book. It fell hard into language and constraint poetry, both of which typically annoy me for their opaqueness and look at me I'm clever tendencies. I was also not as excited by Manguso's second book, it had so many prose poems that ended up being Edson knock offs. Still, I would check out both poet's future work.

I read somewhere that it is much more difficult now to get a first book published that by the time a poet gets her first book published, it is often more like a hybrid of a first and second book.

Why not post your poem in a different part of this forum?