de-spiriting

I've been trying for some time - months, it seems - to write something. Not just the occasional, but something. I get a run on, then realise that ain't working, put it away, start somewhere else, have 'grand' ideas for 'projects', and, by jingoes, it just doesn't work, none of it.

It's nothing to do with 'writer's block' - by crikey, I'm writin' and the thumbnail dipped in tar is wearin' out.

It doesn't help that I've been reading these rather dispiriting posts, starting with Ron Silliman's reference to a US poet called Bill Knott who wants most poets of a 'certain age' to go and off themselves. Now, I don't know this bloke's work (tho' all the US comment-box responders seem to) and I wondered if he was bunging it on (hey, just saying what it seems to me, no assumptions - the cove could be making a serious suggestion - as I said, I don't know him from a bar of ... but wish him all the best with his work and life, nonetheless).

And I was also looking at this rather odd US phenomenon called Foetry. Geez, there's some seriously ticked-off people on their forums. True. I'd advise a once-only visit, if at all, notwithstanding that I recently heard some mildly disturbing things about processes relating to a poetry prize. No, that way madness lies.

And in the end (not that I'm quoting The Beatles), it's got me out of myself - or at least up and dressed and onto my third coffee - with the thought that ... what ... something will work, at some stage, eventually.

I'm also in a clean-up mood and am thinking of heaving out a whole lot of old stuff. All that yellowing paper with drafts that go nowhere are not a good look (I'm giving a recent heap the evil eye as I type). Cleaning up, I know, is avoidance behaviour but it does make your endorphins do a little dance for a moment. There's also a possible storm coming. I hope it rains.

Comments

Jeff Davis said…
Knott's work can be interesting, though the man does have some .. er, well ... unusual obsessions. He dislikes music, for instance. Really dislikes it. In a comment to a post I did in late summer, he wrote:

"compare [Walter Pater's situation] to our current experiencing of music, how it ubiquitously presses in us relentlessly from every medium, my god you can't make a phonecall without being assailed by it, every store you go into blasts your ears with it, every street is boomboxed and car-stereoed to death with its intrusive noise. . .
there is no escape from it. It greases the gears of consumer capitalism as much as the oil our government is currently killing Iraqis to gain control of. ."

That's certainly loading music itself with a lot of other baggage.
The whole post is here.

Still, for one who started his career as "a virgin and a suicide", he's proved durable, and his work is still lively. Most of his poems are posted on his blog, and he'll provide PDFs of his current collections if you drop him an email.

You must have made a new year's resolution to write like crazy, Jill. Our good fortune!
09/01/2007, 18:16
Jill Jones said…
Hi Jeff,

Well, thanks for the heads up on Mr Knott. I'll wander over and check him out.

Poor music, getting a bashing. There was a silly blog going here in Sydney on which some jaded journalistic hack (all of 41 years old) was claiming he hated music as well. You expect poetry to get this kind of flack, not music.

I don't know if I'll be writing like crazy. I had a bit of early year rush of blood. As I said in another post, I feel a bit at sixes and sevens with writing poetry, but maybe the blog is a good outlet.

Thanks for stopping by.
11/01/2007, 21:37
Post a Comment

Popular Posts

vale Jackson Mac Low 1922-2004

Belatedly, wanting to acknowledge the passing of Jackson Mac Low last week. There's an obituary at The New York Times and here's more info on Mac Low . The poem below is from his series of Light Poems. 1ST LIGHT POEM: FOR IRIS -- 10 JUNE 1962 The light of a student-lamp sapphire light shimmer the light of a smoking-lamp Light from the Magellanic Clouds the light of a Nernst lamp the light of a naphtha-lamp light from meteorites Evanescent light ether the light of an electric lamp extra light Citrine light kineographic light the light of a Kitson lamp kindly light Ice light irradiation ignition altar light The light of a spotlight a sunbeam sunrise solar light Mustard-oil light ...
Read more

the smell of rain

I went out for a brief walk this afternoon. It was raining, but not so hard you needed an umbrella (I hate umbrellas anyway). And so very strong, the smell of rain. I remember once reading out a poem of mine and having someone come up after the reading and note that I'd used the phrase 'the smell of rain'. I couldn't tell if he liked it or was simply taking the mickey (the latter, I suspect, as he was a very 'cool' poet and I am, manifestly, not). I wondered about the smell. To me it's always been obvious. But today I decided to go and find, and here , via the ABC and CSIRO, is some hard data. The common rain smell comes from a gas called petrichor. Apparently, volatiles evaporate from plants and are absorbed by rocks, concrete etc. When the rain hits the rock, the volatiles are released into the atmosphere. That's why I can particularly smell it wandering along concrete paths and past sandstone walls. If it's good enough for CSIRO, it's good eno...
Read more

connecting poetry and TED

As well as taking part in events at the Sydney Writers Festival next week, I'll also be doing a quite different gig in Sydney on Saturday 22 May, at the Carriageworks. I will be part of some readings organised by The Red Room , at an event called TEDx, which is taking place in Sydney at CarriageWorks on Saturday 22 May 2010 and featuring, as the website claims, a selection of Australia's leading visionaries and storytellers showcasing their Ideas Worth Spreading LIVE to a group of thinkers ... as well as ONLINE to the world at large"." It's part of something called TED which is described as "a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design" . As for the poetry part it will include Johanna Featherstone from the Red Room making a presentation about the role of poetry in Australian society. To complement Johanna's talk will be rea...
Read more