I hate poetry. I'm really bad at it, and I have no patience for it. When I start reading it, I stop almost immediately because I don't understand it. Sleeping With the Dictionary was no exception. Well, it was kind of an exception. I read All She Wrote and I thought this poetry book would be different. I really liked this one because I related to it on some level. When I am put into social situations (like all of life), I usually end up doing something weird. Or, in the case of teachers, I usually abuse their trust in my character by turning in assignments late or not at all. I try really hard not to, but it always happens. I'm not an awful person, so when I screw things up, I apologize for them. My apologies, however, usually come out sounding like excuses, and that's what this poem sounds like to me. It sounds like a lot of apologetic excuses. And I guess I relate to that because I'm a sorry excuse for a person. Ha.
I thought I had good momentum after the next entry, but I hit a wall when I got to Any Lit. I hated it because I didn't understand why she thought it was a poem. I understood that the first part of the sentences started with a yoo sound because they started with the word "you"and the second parts started with an em sound because they started with the word "me." I suppose I understand its inclusion in retrospect. Ask Aden is my favorite because it was simple, I'm a simple girl, and it doesn't take much to entertain me. It reminded me of being a kid with a kind of wide-eyed wonder.
The book lost me at Black Nikes. I got frustrated because after such smooth sailing, I didn't immediately understand this one. It didn't help that when I skipped it, I encountered Blah-Blah. And every entry after it seemed to have a more ambiguous meaning than the last. I put the book down and I found out that she was an older lady. I tend to have more patience for older people because I respect their their experiences and hardships, and I think patience is the very least that they deserve. After reading the interview,with her, I picked the book back up, and I'm glad that I did because some were funny (Kamasutra Sutra), some hit home for ineffable reasons (Eurydice), and some were insightful (Exploring the Dark Continent). I think I"m better for reading these even though, for the most part, the meanings still elude me.
Great. Keep going, keep thinking about poetry and what it is doing even if it is frustrating... how can one use it in thinking about one's own writing practice, etc.
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