Mathias Svalina:
Beginning of review:
"Kelsey produces a kind of knowledge that develops multiplicities through matrices of meaning rather than a monument built on unshakable blocks."
End of review:
"It is this feeling of assured solidity that ultimately is a part of our experience."
From Rebekah Sankey:
And there are times as readers where we're left in flight without a landing point to dream of. But Kelsey walks the line of lyric with intelligent senses and a tongue so sharp it is ultimately persuasive.
I found the reviews to be helpful and enjoyable in my continuing thoughts about "Knowldge, Forms, The Aviary." Svalina's first point about the development of "multiplicities through matrices of meaning" and Sankey's feeling of "being left in flight without a landing point" more relevant to my experience with the collection. And I enjoyed it for those reasons. I found Svalina's final point about "assured solidity" too hopeful in a reading of Kelsey's collection. I don't think that this "assured solidity" should be expected when embarking on "Knowledge, Forms, The Aviary."
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Knowledge, Forms, The Aviary
Karla Kelsey uses Plato's "Theaetetus" to imagine a separate existence in thought. When reading her poems, I could imagine and feel the collecting of knowledge through life experience. Her poems made me question my use of knowledge and the power of thought. The metaphor that runs throughout the collection of the birds in the aviary creates a pivotal point from which to expand. The imagery that Kelsey uses starts at the point of the birds in the aviary but as she continues in her poems, I felt the poet freeing the birds from the aviary.
Reading this collection of poems was a somewhat freeing experience for me. It challenged my perception of the world around me and my thoughts about the world. It challenged the censorship of thought and the asphyxiating walls that confine our thoughts. Plato's "Theaetetus" sets the precedent for the book and allows the reader to enter a mindset that is prepared for the capturing and releasing of birds.
The metaphor that runs throughout the book contrasted in my mind as I read the collection. As I was reading, I longed to capture more beautiful birds to store in my metaphorical aviary but at the same time, I felt the same longing to release the birds and transcend from the scope of the aviary. Kelsey's use of varying structure is practical in this sense. She uses long breaks and empty space in several poems, while others are written in paragraph form. In "Containment and Fracture," on page 61, she says, "aviary birds of knowledge fly captive, saved from asphyxiation." This is a powerful contradiction in my mind as the birds are flying captive and as captives, they are saved from asphyxiation. The concept of captivated flying almost seems as though the birds of knowledge are slaves to the aviaries in which they are contained. I long for the asphyxiation of the free flying world when I read Kelsey's poems.
Reading this collection of poems was a somewhat freeing experience for me. It challenged my perception of the world around me and my thoughts about the world. It challenged the censorship of thought and the asphyxiating walls that confine our thoughts. Plato's "Theaetetus" sets the precedent for the book and allows the reader to enter a mindset that is prepared for the capturing and releasing of birds.
The metaphor that runs throughout the book contrasted in my mind as I read the collection. As I was reading, I longed to capture more beautiful birds to store in my metaphorical aviary but at the same time, I felt the same longing to release the birds and transcend from the scope of the aviary. Kelsey's use of varying structure is practical in this sense. She uses long breaks and empty space in several poems, while others are written in paragraph form. In "Containment and Fracture," on page 61, she says, "aviary birds of knowledge fly captive, saved from asphyxiation." This is a powerful contradiction in my mind as the birds are flying captive and as captives, they are saved from asphyxiation. The concept of captivated flying almost seems as though the birds of knowledge are slaves to the aviaries in which they are contained. I long for the asphyxiation of the free flying world when I read Kelsey's poems.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Fence: Jose Perez Beduya
In the context of Fence, and 21st century poetry, Jose Perez Beduya questions existence in his poems. Of the four poems in Fence, I found new perspectives of life and the significance of interconnectedness between people and things. In "Breathing Exercises" Beduya proposes the existence of non-existence. By questioning the undesirable things alongside desirable things in life and challenging their existence, Beduya illustrates how important and interconnected everything really is.
"No sleep.
No standing against
The horizon line.
No harm.
No knees.
No coming to an end.
No quickness.
...
No intentions.
No contrariness.
No colors coming alive only in rain.
No hypothetical states of affairs.
No forgiveness.
No echoes and echoes
Through the architraves."
Beduya uses the power of small intangible things like forgiveness and contrariness to illustrate how connected and powerful the existence of life is.
In "Sea of Tears," Beduya questions the ethics of religion and "The Absolute." He makes the absolute unabsolute and intangible. He questions the ideas of philosophers and their presence in our lives today.
In "Advances," I found Beduya's use of images and social discourse beautiful. He challenges the seeming unattractiveness of revolt and unconventional images by putting them out of context and comparing contrasting images.
"An inch per human
Milk and white vomit
A cascade of stripes in the museum
A rip waiting to happen
Down the turn-of-the-century dress"
I enjoyed how Beduya used uncomfortable images together in order to create a collective whole in the poem that questions what is beautiful and what is not. This use of imagery is powerful and tangible in my mind. Beduya uses unconventional imagery to empower his poetry.
"No sleep.
No standing against
The horizon line.
No harm.
No knees.
No coming to an end.
No quickness.
...
No intentions.
No contrariness.
No colors coming alive only in rain.
No hypothetical states of affairs.
No forgiveness.
No echoes and echoes
Through the architraves."
Beduya uses the power of small intangible things like forgiveness and contrariness to illustrate how connected and powerful the existence of life is.
In "Sea of Tears," Beduya questions the ethics of religion and "The Absolute." He makes the absolute unabsolute and intangible. He questions the ideas of philosophers and their presence in our lives today.
In "Advances," I found Beduya's use of images and social discourse beautiful. He challenges the seeming unattractiveness of revolt and unconventional images by putting them out of context and comparing contrasting images.
"An inch per human
Milk and white vomit
A cascade of stripes in the museum
A rip waiting to happen
Down the turn-of-the-century dress"
I enjoyed how Beduya used uncomfortable images together in order to create a collective whole in the poem that questions what is beautiful and what is not. This use of imagery is powerful and tangible in my mind. Beduya uses unconventional imagery to empower his poetry.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Magee Criticism
I found these sentences from "Jacket" especially relative to how I felt reading Magee.
"Puffed up with dashes, these poems make a blowhard show of associational unity — but in fact, they depend utterly upon the reader, without whom they make no sense. The reader must lend the poems an aroused and polymorphous ear, in order to create their charm for hirself. "
At first, Magee is frustrating, incomprehensible, and has no sense of direction. Magee's poems require the reader to do more than wait for the meaning to appear in front of their eyes. Each poem suggests itself differently to individual readers as if each readers brain is a search engine in itself. Magee's poem are simply the keywords, and it is the readers duty to produce results.
"Puffed up with dashes, these poems make a blowhard show of associational unity — but in fact, they depend utterly upon the reader, without whom they make no sense. The reader must lend the poems an aroused and polymorphous ear, in order to create their charm for hirself. "
At first, Magee is frustrating, incomprehensible, and has no sense of direction. Magee's poems require the reader to do more than wait for the meaning to appear in front of their eyes. Each poem suggests itself differently to individual readers as if each readers brain is a search engine in itself. Magee's poem are simply the keywords, and it is the readers duty to produce results.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Michael Magee
In "My Angie Dickenson," Michael Magee explores the possibility of unstructured structure. HIs collection of strategically placed diction and space creates a wide open array of poems. Magee's use of stanzas and lines gives the context of almost rigid structure in comparison to several other 21st century poets. His poems are outlined and spaced in a way that makes them seem that they must be read in a certain way. However, after second and third reading, the reader should find something new every single time.
In one poem, I actually found Magee commenting on structure as a whole in society. The first and last lines say,
"Faith is a prison dentist,
The most legitimate cop,
Studying a riding crop.
“Try it more pissed” — —
Goons taping a gurney
Roots from the Attorney.
...
What’s a democracy?
Some tepid Hind in the ebbs,
Licking heavenly true celebs,
As totally as a star — —
Ritalin for you kids,
And Zoloft for you are — —"
Magee shares his harsh thoughts about the social structures of religion, law, politics, and medicine. He uses language that paints an elliptical portrait of conventional society and undermines it with language like, "The most legitimate cop," "Goons taping a gurney," and "Some tepid Hind in the ebbs." Magee mocks structure by using it on broad, unconnected words that are left to the readers imagination to make coherent.
Magee is successful in using his poems to tease readers into imagining words in different contexts than they are conventionally seen. I was struck by Magee's poetry in the meaning that I would find in poems after several readings. In most if not all cases I left the poem with a different emotion than when I first read it.
In one poem, I actually found Magee commenting on structure as a whole in society. The first and last lines say,
"Faith is a prison dentist,
The most legitimate cop,
Studying a riding crop.
“Try it more pissed” — —
Goons taping a gurney
Roots from the Attorney.
...
What’s a democracy?
Some tepid Hind in the ebbs,
Licking heavenly true celebs,
As totally as a star — —
Ritalin for you kids,
And Zoloft for you are — —"
Magee shares his harsh thoughts about the social structures of religion, law, politics, and medicine. He uses language that paints an elliptical portrait of conventional society and undermines it with language like, "The most legitimate cop," "Goons taping a gurney," and "Some tepid Hind in the ebbs." Magee mocks structure by using it on broad, unconnected words that are left to the readers imagination to make coherent.
Magee is successful in using his poems to tease readers into imagining words in different contexts than they are conventionally seen. I was struck by Magee's poetry in the meaning that I would find in poems after several readings. In most if not all cases I left the poem with a different emotion than when I first read it.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Sleeping with the Dictionary
Harryette Mullen has composed a well thought out collection of poems in, "Sleeping with the Dictionary." Mullen uses playful language in strategic ways to create meaning in the meaningless. The somewhat childish jumble of words sparks the readers imagination. However, the childish language usually does not lead the reader through a childish maze and political and social conflicts often jump out unexpectedly. Mullen successfully illustrates a poetic environment that brings readers into a linguistic maze, but the end is often unexpected.
The diction of Mullen's poems often requires extra attention. In the poem, "Kirstenography," Mullen uses indirect language to tell her story as if she is hiding the meaning in a code. The third paragraph starts, "It shook a few ears until they cold talc to gather, tall yolks, shear sacreds, heave a conversion or a dish cushion." This use of language prompts the reader to either turn the page or keep rereading until meaning is found. If the reader chooses to search for meaning, the reward is even greater and the meaning is more meaningful. However, looking for something concrete in Mullen's poetry seems to be a lost cause. Mullen's poems do not have concrete solutions, but rather abstract queries.
The abstract and sometimes playful language, makes it difficult to reach a concrete meaning in Mullen's collection. However the poem, "X-ray Vision," gives an ironic commentary to her hard to reach poems.
"You don't need X-ray vision to see through me.
No super power's required dto penetrate my defense.
Without listening to your mother's rant
you can tell that my motives are transparent.
A sturdy intuition could give you
the strong impression that my logic is flimsy.
Before the flat lady sang the first note of the book,
you knew that my story was thin."
This poem lends commentary to the meaning of her collection as a whole. The last stanza is a powerfully thick statement. The story-teller tells as that the story in the book is thin and lacks meaning. It basically says that the book was over before it began. While this may seem to be the case because of the way that Mullen's poem go round and round in sometimes incoherent language, this poem ironically contrasts the seeming lack of meaning in "Sleeping with the Dictionary."
The diction of Mullen's poems often requires extra attention. In the poem, "Kirstenography," Mullen uses indirect language to tell her story as if she is hiding the meaning in a code. The third paragraph starts, "It shook a few ears until they cold talc to gather, tall yolks, shear sacreds, heave a conversion or a dish cushion." This use of language prompts the reader to either turn the page or keep rereading until meaning is found. If the reader chooses to search for meaning, the reward is even greater and the meaning is more meaningful. However, looking for something concrete in Mullen's poetry seems to be a lost cause. Mullen's poems do not have concrete solutions, but rather abstract queries.
The abstract and sometimes playful language, makes it difficult to reach a concrete meaning in Mullen's collection. However the poem, "X-ray Vision," gives an ironic commentary to her hard to reach poems.
"You don't need X-ray vision to see through me.
No super power's required dto penetrate my defense.
Without listening to your mother's rant
you can tell that my motives are transparent.
A sturdy intuition could give you
the strong impression that my logic is flimsy.
Before the flat lady sang the first note of the book,
you knew that my story was thin."
This poem lends commentary to the meaning of her collection as a whole. The last stanza is a powerfully thick statement. The story-teller tells as that the story in the book is thin and lacks meaning. It basically says that the book was over before it began. While this may seem to be the case because of the way that Mullen's poem go round and round in sometimes incoherent language, this poem ironically contrasts the seeming lack of meaning in "Sleeping with the Dictionary."
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Reviewing Zirconia
I found Cole Swensen's review of Zirconia much more productive and relative to the meaning of Minnis' poetry. Swensen's commentary went much deeper into functionality of Minnis' poems while Arielle Greenberg just seemed to glaze the surface of Zirconia. Greenberg's description of the extended ellipses was troubling to me. I never felt the "wave of pinpricked text" or the effect of "part stutter part studded" as Greenberg describes and quite frankly I do not understand what she is trying to describe. Swensen's commentary on the "hyper" ellipses is much more understandable and relative to the poetry. Swensen states, "These ellipses also constitute an ambient hum, as murmuring voices in the background that both cause and complete those long blanks. They create a suspension, which in turn becomes suspense, paralleling the gentle menace that lurks throughout this book." This description of the ellipses makes much more sense in the context of Zirconia.
I also enjoyed Swensen's thoughts on the conflicting imagery presented in the collection. I felt the violence in several poems being swayed and pulled towards beauty with the use of language and unconventional structure in the ellipses. Swensen comments on the idea of Minnis' approach toward conventionality saying, "perhaps because she demands a true response of herself, not a conventionally acceptable one." This is one of the things I enjoyed most about Minnis, her sincerity and consequential unconventionality.
Swensen's idea about the role of direction in Zirconia was especially interesting. She comments on the recurring color red throughout the collection and how this stands for intensity. However, the direction of the intensity and the objects in which the intensity is manifested is often directionless. This is largely because of the use of the ellipses but also the way that the objects are presented. Swensen comments on how the objects are not tied down to metaphors or similes but rather left open to the discretion of the reader. This direction, or lack thereof, is a strong aesthetic component of Minnis' poetry. Instead of linking objects to images, the objects are left independent to resonate in the context of the reader.
I also enjoyed Swensen's thoughts on the conflicting imagery presented in the collection. I felt the violence in several poems being swayed and pulled towards beauty with the use of language and unconventional structure in the ellipses. Swensen comments on the idea of Minnis' approach toward conventionality saying, "perhaps because she demands a true response of herself, not a conventionally acceptable one." This is one of the things I enjoyed most about Minnis, her sincerity and consequential unconventionality.
Swensen's idea about the role of direction in Zirconia was especially interesting. She comments on the recurring color red throughout the collection and how this stands for intensity. However, the direction of the intensity and the objects in which the intensity is manifested is often directionless. This is largely because of the use of the ellipses but also the way that the objects are presented. Swensen comments on how the objects are not tied down to metaphors or similes but rather left open to the discretion of the reader. This direction, or lack thereof, is a strong aesthetic component of Minnis' poetry. Instead of linking objects to images, the objects are left independent to resonate in the context of the reader.
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