First, would a few line breaks be so hard? The format makes the poems terribly hard to read, which detracts from the experience.
I found the poems to be disconnected - I couldn't find a theme from one thought to the next. For example, here is an excerpt from As for we who "love to be astonished"
You spill the sugar when you lift the spoon. My father had filled an old apothecary jar with what he called "sea glass," bits of old bottles rounded and textured by the sea, so abundant on beaches. There is no solitude. It buries itself in veracity. It is as if one splashed in the water lost by one's tears. My mother had climbed into the garbage can in order to stamp down the accumulated trash, but the can was knocked off balance, and when she fell she broke her arm. She could only give a little shrug. The family had little money but plenty of food.Sooo...sugar, then a jar with sea glass, and her mother climbing in the garbage can, then no money. It sounds like random musings. Maybe I connect poetry too much with prose, expecting it all to be about the same thing, or maybe I just can see the connection but there is one.
Hey Angela,
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with you about Lyn Hejinian's excerpts from My Life. I felt a little lost amongst the lengthy lines and lack of line breaks as well. But once I managed to get over that (mainly by shrinking my browser window until the lengths of the lines were comfortable enough to read), I found a lot of emotion and tension throughout her pieces that compelled me to continue reading. I also agree that the poems seemed disconnected. It was hard finding a thread woven throughout the poem to transform it to a cohesive piece. However, it's a little inspiring. I have to admit, my thoughts on a daily basis generally resemble what Lyn's done here, so to write about it might be interesting but very challenging at the same time.
Thanks for your thoughts! It was refreshing to see that I wasn't the only one that struggled with this reading assignment!
Lindsey
Hey Angela,
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with you about Lyn Hejinian's excerpts from My Life. I felt a little lost amongst the lengthy lines and lack of line breaks as well. But once I managed to get over that (mainly by shrinking my browser window until the lengths of the lines were comfortable enough to read), I found a lot of emotion and tension throughout her pieces that compelled me to continue reading. I also agree that the poems seemed disconnected. It was hard finding a thread woven throughout the poem to transform it to a cohesive piece. However, it's a little inspiring. I have to admit, my thoughts on a daily basis generally resemble what Lyn's done here, so to write about it might be interesting but very challenging at the same time.
Thanks for your thoughts! It was refreshing to see that I wasn't the only one that struggled with this reading assignment!
Lindsey