a companion to 30 in 30

[Tzara]

OK. It seems to be the thing to do to comment on one's favorites by author on the 30/30 thread. And I, slave to trends that I am, will happily join that party.

But, differently.

I'm just going to name one poem from each author. That doesn't mean I didn't like other poems, it just means I liked the poem I name the best of the thirty that author produced. This may be, as may well be the case in my selection from Neo's poems, because the poem resonated with me personally for idiosyncratic reasons.

So. Neo. First up, first to finish. I'd select this one because its subject could be me, except I see a physician most every year. It captures that I'm afraid of what s/he'll tell me angst with a little daub of the "why you need to."

It could just be that I'm due for a check up and worried about what they'll tell me. Not that I think there's anything wrong with me, but...

It's why, when you get to a certain age, your physician is both a lifesaver and the Figure of Death, personified.




I do wonder about that Cary Grant av, with the cigarette. But, my, he was yar.

 

[Neonurotic]

Thanks Tzara. I have health anxiety and even though that poem was tough to write it was a little cathartic at the time. However, that changed; the person I wrote about died couple of weeks ago. I don't know how I feel about all that now. Depressed, likely. I had someone tell me once not to worry about the "what ifs". It's not worth the wasted time and anxiety. In light of what happened to my family friend, I'm a believer now.



Noted about that Cary AV. I found a cool one where he wasn't smoking, but it was difficult to find!

 

[Angeline]

Champ faves (so far)

I am impressed that Champ (and Neo, for that matter) wrote through tough personal times. Champ you totally get a pass given what your last few months have been. And yet you wrote--

2-1
The poem reads like a prayer, intimately human but suffused with awe.

2-3
is sort of a continuation of 2-1 imho. It has a deft progression from fear to prayer and does so with few words.

2-8
Definitely one of my favorites. It's so visual--you just float that stuff onto the sky and I see it. And it's also a compact poem with a super title and no wasted words.

2-13
I'm not really sure what this is about but whatever it is, it's delicious.

2-15
This would make a great illustrated piece because all you need to do is make the sign and take the photo of it on the microwave. It's a complete poem and the title is the hub of it: when you read it with the poem it's this wonderful unfolding joke (or maybe a cautionary tale).

 

[Angeline]

It's an interesting form, and a surprisingly difficult one (for me, anyway). It makes me really miss line breaks.

You give me seventeen syllables with line breaks (not, of course, the hackneyed 5/7/5 break, but where I want to put it, even if just a single one) and I feel like I can write to that. I'm struggling a lot with no line breaks.

It ends up being like a hypercompressed prose poem.

Anyway,y'all are proceeding quite well without my input. Carry on.

First I want to say that I prefer to carry on with your input and that sounds kinda dirty but you know what I mean.

The form reinforces my belief in Ginzie's brilliance because the idea of turning a haiku into a sentence seems so American to me. It's looser and more expansive and, for me, not having a line break feels liberating. Anyway you can sneak pauses in with punctuation.

I wish there were more examples by Ginsberg online. I'd like to read them all to better understand how they are like haiku--the shifts are there and some of the examples of his I have seen look like koans. And given his Buddhist outlook and the association with Rinpoche and all, I'm sure there's a lot more to it than I am getting so far. I should probably just get that book they're in.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

I'm so ashamed of my latest "poem" - I apologize to all but I'm drained of inspiration and had nothing left to throw out there.

 

[eagleyez]

I'm so ashamed of my latest "poem" - I apologize to all but I'm drained of inspiration and had nothing left to throw out there.

Hi kid,

I thought the one about the bad blind date was priceless.

 

[greenmountaineer]

I'm so ashamed of my latest "poem" - I apologize to all but I'm drained of inspiration and had nothing left to throw out there.

Didn't seem that way to me at all. Kinda enjoyed it. 'Course, I'm not into 30 in 30. Maybe that's why.

 

[Angeline]

I'm so ashamed of my latest "poem" - I apologize to all but I'm drained of inspiration and had nothing left to throw out there.

There is no shame in poetry. It's like no crying in baseball.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

Hi kid,

I thought the one about the bad blind date was priceless.

Hey toots! Great to see ya slummin' with us inky fingers.

Didn't seem that way to me at all. Kinda enjoyed it. 'Course, I'm not into 30 in 30. Maybe that's why.

Next time? You betcha! But I've done (nearly) my time.

There is no shame in poetry. It's like no crying in baseball.

Oh! but this was a no hitter *pretends to know baseball*

Thank you all, you're very kind.

 

[Tzara]

Desejo

I really like Desejo's poems. Especially those about life in Africa.

So that Shake-Shake one was really tempting to pick. But I didn't. Pick it.

We're talking about the poem she wrote that I liked the best. That was Washing. Not sure why. Seemed to me to be the most evocative, I guess.

Really good poem (as was that other, but you know, I'm only picking one).

 

[todski28]

I really like Desejo's poems. Especially those about life in Africa.

So that Shake-Shake one was really tempting to pick. But I didn't. Pick it.

We're talking about the poem she wrote that I liked the best. That was Washing. Not sure why. Seemed to me to be the most evocative, I guess.

Really good poem (as was that other, but you know, I'm only picking one).

Damn you stole my Desejo pick, good thing there are plenty of awesome poetry by Desejo to choose from

 

[Desejo]

Damn you stole my Desejo pick, good thing there are plenty of awesome poetry by Desejo to choose from

It's interesting that you both liked that one. I wasn't sure it was really poetry when I posted it.

Did you wash at midnight? That is my ultimate test of success!

And Tzara...I am encouraged that you like my Africa poems. I will have more, trust me.

 

[Angeline]

todski faves

1-4
This has a wonderful flow and the perspective of the narrator addressing the cat barely wavers (no pronoun shifts). The ending is strong and I like how it pulls the narrator into the narrative.

1-8
Any poem that can make you incredibly uneasy as you read it is imho a really good poem. The rhyme at the end is excellent, pulls the whole poem together without telling the reader, "here's the ending."

1-9
I find this poem interesting because it sustains its metaphor well and conveys a careful, watchful tone.

1-13
Just a really sweet poem with some subtle rhyming. The whole piece has a gentle, loving feel.

1-20
This poem feels very personal and raw to me. I think it needs to still really come together (hey, it's live writing...), but there are some absolutely arresting lines and the subject is clearly powerful.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Congratulations Tess, you made it

 

[Angeline]

Congrats PoetTess.

 

[Tsotha]

Third time is a charm

Congratulations, Tristesse.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

Congratulations Tess, you made it

Congrats PoetTess.

Congratulations, Tristesse.

Thank you all. I'm wrung dry.

 

[butters]

Thank you all. I'm wrung dry.

*hands tess her chocolate medal and wraps a space blanket round her shoulders*
sit down, girl. breathe.

 

[Neonurotic]

It's taken awhile to recover from this 30 in 30 (but it's not all that, have other things going on) to have another look at the thread then comment on others work. I must say the revival of this thread is/was a success and sincerely appreciate its jump start, which I hope poets will continue to take the challenge.

I have one other request and that is if you have to remove poems from 30 Poems in 30 Days challenge thread, please replace it with another poem. You can use the same poem for all that you remove if you want. I just want to keep the thread about the poems and pretty since the old one was riddled with ugly empty posts. It was the reason I re-created the thread.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Nice to see an Englishman (Cary Grant) being called cool

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Wow Ange on your 2-8 you just made me want to write better

 

[Angeline]

Wow Ange on your 2-8 you just made me want to write better

Thank you Annie, I am besotted with the form. You can just focus on those few words that take up 17 syllables. I like that a lot!

 

[butters]

remec, you're such a little lurker -> digital tears nicely used!

 

[Tsotha]

remec, you're such a little lurker -> digital tears nicely used!

Very cool, indeed!

But this:

Digital tears seem
so appropriate for
a relationship that
began and ended,
any only seemed to
exist--for you, anyway,
virtually.

A typo for "and"?

 

[Remec]

Very cool, indeed!

But this:

Digital tears seem
so appropriate for
a relationship that
began and ended,
any only seemed to
exist--for you, anyway,
virtually.

A typo for "and"?

*squints*
*muttering to self* Darn, stupid almost non-functioning bifocals...yep, sure looks that way.