Allen Ginsberg became topic on Poetics list recently. snide remarks were taken as gay bashing. I kinda think the perp was unfairly accused, for it seemed to me he was merely dumping on Ginsberg, but that's open to interpretation. AG's defenders were concerned about defamation of character, which is silly as I would declare that AG has no character left at this time. he dead. in life he surely accepted the outrage that surrounded him often. okay, blah blah, I don't mean to act that stuff out further, the problem of Poetics is that it is just act out. the dust up sent me to AG's collected, wherein I read some decent poems. his collected has sat on a shelf often in view and I would look and think of all the horrible poems in it. I have always respected Howl and Kaddish and Sunflower Sutra, but when AG does his jangly versification he sounds lame. the poem I read was a long journal sort of poem, the title escapes me. Stephen Vincent on Poetics remarked that the journal for some poets is the best form, referring to Whalen and I think also AG. he is right. Indian Journals by Ginsberg is quite nice, comfortable for him. AG is a derivationist. he wants to channel the poets he likes, but he doesn't have that skill. when he calls on Blake or Whitman, he sounds merely hopeful. he's too self conscious when he writes like that. in journals his step is confident and light. he was a darn good reader, I'll allow. he was a showman. I used to have his recording of Blake's songs. he's a little too confident declaring that he channels Blake. the moist (er, sic) thrilling moment on the lp was in Grey Monk. the singing fades out, leaving just Elvin Jones drumming. that drumming is so eloquent. Ginsberg's voice is at best an acquired taste, so when that stops, this beautiful thrash by Jones just speaks.

I wish the Poetics list existed.

funny idea that there are poetry blogs. that the subject thus commandeth. I mean, I look for poetry blogs but still wonder about the concept. I guess I need more sense of subject than whosis writing their innermost, even if poetry blogs consist of whosis writing their innermost. but that's a limited idea. and many poetry blogs have little of poetry in them. definitely could use less sports prattle. I've weaned myself from a lot of sports furor, it just doesn't seem to carry enough import for me. there is a lackof qualitative thinking going on. I mean, diligent tech matters, about who plays well and who don't, but anything beyond that seems excepted. tawdry heroism, to boot. just another opiate.

or what the hell, it's words. the idea of poetry is robust and varied and doesn't need boundaries, but then poetry becomes what the day is, the limitations we are all inside. so I don't obsess on poetry quite, and think of my reading as a machine going on. I guess I have three poetry projects at this time. a lengthy serial thing that I began in november and add to daily. an email collab that that began a year ago and to which I add several times a week. the R&S blog, which I add to daily, and which I see, in its way, as of a piece, id est it isn't a collection of poems just. it all seems to be done in little time. in fact I always feel I'm not doing enough. I definitely don't do art enough, wishing I could do it daily. so the tune is soft and redolent. I finish here, I'll meditate, then read, then sleep. I like thinking of writing as work, as daily effort, as other than inspired.

I mean, it's all poetry

my reading has changed a number of times over the years. I had a spell during which I read largely fiction, including much too much genre stuff, scifi and mysteries and such. I say much too because I was never excited about scifi or mysteries. I can say I read critically, and made use of that reading, but I wasn't getting fueled. currently I read a great deal of buddhist or philosophic texts. I never read such stuff when I was younger. I didn't have the brain to comprise the terms of such. by buddhist texts, I should say that I mean primary ones, like the Pali canon (a 4-volume edition of much of it I got free from a buddhist center. this site has the Pali canon (Buddha's words) online, and you can find there how to get the books I got here (and by the way, modest html work being done here). I also mean the modern day stuff, hoping not to be new age or self helpy. a book on Mindfulness by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana was very helpful in getting me started meditating (a month ago). I don't want to proselytize but as a writer I find times when there are just too many words in my head. I've dipped into Hegel, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Kant and so forth (Jung and Freud, too) and I don't know shit but this reading still seems to work for me. I used to read poetry constantly, and write as I did so, but I read much less poetry now. I guess I don't need the mentoring as I did when younger.

the bloggy self consciousness is not to my taste but I guess I should get it out of my system. blogs have been widely defined as places of fast frequent ruminations, talking journals, but that expectation is limiting. with R&S I am thinking merely that it's an easy website that doesn't require html knowledge. in doing R&S, I wanted the modest challege of writing at the moment, in the blogger box, not scrapping up poems to I'd written previously. there's a theme of sorts, a serial run. Ron Silliman writes chunky essays whereas Carl Annarummo exudes odd flakes of word excitement. they exhibit quite different but equally interesting blog definitions. blogging seems more like network than community. I think of community as inclusive whereas network suggests (to me) a connection among the chosen. all bloggers are prone to forget how boring they can be.

let others fiddle with the html. it takes me too much time diddling with that stuff. I'll try to get a few links on, but that will be a minor consideration. easy enough to find blogs. personally, I have bookmarked Jack Kimball's site (www.pantaloons.blogspot.com) because I like to read it and then I use his blogroll. off hand, these are some others who I regularly read and enjoy: Carl Annarummo, Nada Gordon, Gary Sullivan, Kasey Silem Mohammad, John Latta, Ron Silliman, Nick Piombino. there are others that don't jump to mind à ce moment. the above all have useful blogrolls, mine would be superfluous. MY writing blog is here

quick thinking on my part: the name Tributary already taken. hmm, could've done Tribute Tarry.