puttering away trying to read Hegel and Heidegger. can't handle a lot of either at one time, but really enjoy both. I don't read poetry so much for other than pleasure anywmore. I used to read a great deal more amongst writers I thougth I should check out. I still do so, but at this point, I am not looking for exemplars, I just want the pleasure of poetry. what I am reading definitely influences my writing. not in the sense that I regurgitate these writers, but that they place my thinking in a certain direction. I think part of my discomfort with the poetry scene is how one can become tied to that. that the scene starts dictating how yo write. not by rules but just the simple insinuating influence of what is around. there's more than a little unconscious mimicking going on out there.