An Old Love Poem

When I was growing up, there was a plaque on the dining room wall that had dried flowers surrounding a bit of cursive writing. The poem was called The Rose. I asked my parents about it and my mother told me that, on the day of her and my fathers wedding, my fathers friend had given it to them as a wedding gift. My mother had always thought that his friend had had a bit of a crush on her and was a bit saddened when she went and married my father. It was my favorite poem for several years especially since it goes hand in hand with my fondness for flowers.

The Rose

A single rose
to you I give
And no one else today
This rose I hope
Will make you smile
As you go on your way

A single rose
So nice indeed
I hope will make your day
To show my love
Is strong for you
No matter what others say

Yet we know
This rose will wilt too soon
It will not last forever
But my love for you
The love between us
I hope nothing will sever

So take this rose today
Do think of me and smile
This rose will wilt, we know
But I will stay a while.

A Bit of Research on Language Poetry

During the 1930s to the 1950s, the Black Mountain College began experimenting with a new method for education; stressing greater importance on the arts. The theory was that it was essential for human understanding, when combined with technical and analytical skills as well. Charles Olson, one of the teachers at the college for a few years, came up with the term "projective verse", in which they stressed more importance in the process of a poem as apposed to the final product. Similar to modern art, this would create a lot of works that seemed to lack a description or reason, but would allow the creator to be spontaneous and not become chained down by the rules of language. Without being chained down by the rules and boundaries of the language, poets would be free to express themselves. This would all eventually lead up to the development of the Language school of poetry.

Language poetry (also referred to as L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E P=O=E=T=R=Y, if you have the time to type that out) was a movement that was developed in the 1970s that would place greater emphasis on language of the poem. In other words, rather then the poet trying to find the words to get across their idea, they would instead use words that would create their own meaning. Poets would not have to concern themselves with whether or not the words they were using would get the message across, but instead finding words that can be given new meanings. This would get the reader more involved in the writing, as humans are typically always looking for meaning or patterns in whatever they are involved in, they begin to find new ways to approach the poem so that they can give it meaning. This, in turn, would create more interest in the structure and rules of the language and how rearranging them can change how ideas are represented, formulated and transmited. This, in it's own way, was a revolution against the social polictical structure that was currently in place for the English language and would result in causing the reader to begin to see text of any type in a new light. They could see pass the definitions that were already enforced and see a new way in which the words can be interpreted.

Charles Bernstein is a poet, an essayist, and a literary scholar and is known for being one of the editors for the magazine L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E which was condsidered the starting point for Language Poetry. He has written several poems that are good examples of what Language poetry is. His poem thinkingi think i think when first read, seems to be like taking a glimspse inside a mans head; the thoughts have little to no connections with eachother and they ranch in topics from what seems to be sports headlines to snippets from books. When first reading through it, the reader will be at first, completely confused and the more they try to break down the meaning or the purpose of the poem, the more frustrating it becomes. They could try reading the first letter of every line only, reading only every other line, cutting the paper into bits and rearranging them into shapes to see if this has been some simple trick, but with any new modern art, part of the meaning can be derived from how the poem was created in the first place. In an interview with Bradford Senning, Bernstein can be quoted for saying "I want to engage the materials of the culture, derange them as they have deranged me, sound them out, as they have sounded me out." Many of Bernsteins poems, such as DearMr. Fanelli or ATest of Poetry deal with the modern world and include text that have been take from our time from places such as official documents, advertisements, articles etc. and set them up in a way that makes it seem surreal to the reader and causes them to ask questions and really think about what they have just read. In this way, Language poetry does not focus on any meaning that the writer may have been trying to get across, but instead, causes the reader to become more engaged with the text they are reading and use the words that are there to create their own meaning.

Other Language poets including Michael Palmer, Rae Armantrout and Susan Howe, also feature poems that do not seem to follow a purpose or narrative. Susan Howes poem, from Cabbage Gardenshas been interpreted in various ways; being about an individual seeking guidance, a battle by the edge of the sea or even the poet remeniscing about days gone by. Neither of these interpretations are considered wrong, and the wonderful thing about Language Poetry is it's ability to bring forth the imagination of the reader. Though most conclude that it makes no sense and is complete nonesense, readers are still able to gleam a bit of meaning on their own thus proving that the poet does not need to concern themselves in finding words to create meaning, but instead trust that meaning can be gleamed from the words that are given.

All in all, Language poetry has had an immense influence not only in the poetry world, but in the day to day lives of any person. They do not need to be professional poets or even have a lot of experience with the English language. Language poetry can be seen with all sorts of different meanings and they can still be considered correct. It does not focus on the meaning that should be there, but instead, the meaning that could exist. By ignoring the model for creating narratives, Language poets have discovered new ways in which to engage the reader. They have shown that meaning can be gleamed from something that did not seem or intended to have, meaning before. Language Poetry brings out deeper meaning from our language and allows any reader to see the world from a new perspective.

Works Cited

"A Brief Guide to Language Poetry." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

"Charles Bernstein." : The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

"Glossary Terms." Language Poetry : Glossary Term : Learning Lab : The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

"Poetry Previews: Language Poetry." Poetry Previews: Language Poetry. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

Poets who use Technology

Shane Koyczan

Animation has been around for quite a while, ever since artists discovered that they can make their drawings appear to move by creating more drawings in slightly different poses. Animation, as an art, is important in that it can move like a film, but look like a painting allowing artists to not be restricted by laws of physics or lack of funds to make everything CG. Shane Koyczan is not an animator, but a few of his works have featured animation done by fellow artists who help to establish mood and emphasize certain aspects of the poem. Coupled with the poets own voice, this creates an experience that can be very powerful as it appeals to both the visual and audio senses of the viewer as opposed to them simply reading the poem in whatever voice they think fits. An example of this would be his poem To This Day. With the use of animation and the sound recording technology of today, poets like Koyczan no longer have to rely on spacing of their words but, instead, show the viewer what the poet himself feels and sees.

Kenneth Patchen

Paint has been used as an artistic medium for several centuries. Originally, paint was made through the grinding of minerals which would be combined with oils to make, what is known today, as oil paints. The process of creating paint is time consuming and often dangerous as the dust from the minerals could cause a variety of health issues. Around the 1930's acrylic paints, which are primarily water based paints, were being developed. Water based paints were more practical as they did not dry as fast and could be modified easily just by adding water. During the 1930's, Kenneth Patchen was an American poet who often incorporated various media to create his work. Jazz music, drawings and even paints were used that would catch a person’s eye. By using paint, Patchen was able to be more expressive with his poetry and, therefore, give it more life. His poem An Interview with the Floating Man features blocks of text that are separated with what appears to be shapes of animals, as if the animals are characters in this poem.

Anatol Knotek

The typewriter was an incredibly important invention for poets as it allowed them to space words and phrases evenly without requiring them to spend vast amounts of time measuring. It also allowed to explore new creative possibilities. With the invention of the computer, these possibilities of increased tenfold. The poet can now warp words, shrink letters, change fonts, colours etc. all with a click of the mouse. Anatol Knotek is an Austrian artist who creates poetry through the use of a typewriter, newspaper clippings and computer programs that are able to manipulate text. With the computer, he can create clean, precise images and still be able to make changes very easily. His poem Countdown, for example, would be difficult to create several decades before as it would take up a lot of time to make something that may not even work. With the use of computers, it opens up new ways to explore how words can be manipulated and can inspire poets to try new things.

Stephanie Strickland

Originally created so that universities could communicate with each other, the internet has spread throughout the world allowing people to access information in no time. Many people create websites of their own when they have information of their own that they want to share with others. Stephanie Stickland, like many artists of today, has her own website which features not only information about her, but also her poems. Unlike some poets, Strickland, with the help of a programmer, creates poems that not only feature visuals and sounds, but are also interactive. Many of these poems were created before the creation of many mainstream video players such as Youtube, so being able to have visuals, sounds and still have the capability to pause and got back at certain points, was the best thing at the time. Stickland could set a mood easily with the visuals and sounds without the reader having to go through most of the poem to find out what the mood is. Errand Upon Which We Came, has visuals of flowers and butterflies as well as the sounds of birds which creates a calm and relaxing mood.

Genco Gulan

QR codes have been around since the smartphone became popular. QR codes store information that, when scanned by a smartphone, the user can read. This allows companies to create easy access points on advertisements so that passersby can go to the company’s website easily. Genco Gulan, a Turkish conceptual artist, created a poem using two letter words from different languages and then converted it into a QR code. As the artist believes in a feature that relies heavily on technology, this could represent how he believes that poetry will be presented in the future; as a tiny square that can be scanned on the go. (And since I don't have a smartphone, I don’t know what the poem says or if it has anything to do with the fact that it is contained in a QR code)

Poets sharing Poets

Found an article through a link of a fellow poetry blogger that I found interesting. Some of the readers of Robert Brewers blog were challenged to find a couple of poetry collections that they personally enjoyed. One such example  posted by Jessie Carty gives us a couple of poetry collection books that she found fun to read or even inspiring. I always like to see what other artists are inspired by cause it gives you a glimpse into how they approach their own art.

Poetry in Transit

If anyone has taken the TTC buses before and has managed to get a look over the heads of fellow commuters to read the advertisements, you may have noticed a poem. These are not just random poems that just so happen to have been plastered where a McDonalds advertisement should have been, but poems that have been written by world renowned, Canadian poets. In partnership with the League of Canadian Poets, Pattison Outdoor Advertising has reintroduced a concept that was started in 1996 where poems are featured in various public transit areas. This helps bring awareness for the various poets that exist today and can give the commuter something to do other then trying to avoid making eye contact with other people. If you want to learn more about this then I suggest you check out the link here . Or just hop onto the next TTC bus and check out some poetry.

Poems from Tumblr

Though I tend to use my tumblr account mostly for drawings,pictures or other random visuals, a poem does  happen to pop up on my dashboard once in a while. I thought I'd share the two I came across the last month cause I like them for their intensity.

http://lexysama.tumblr.com/post/65507408936/sweaty-goddess-buttonpoetry-rachel-wiley

http://ladyzolstice.tumblr.com/post/62712154284/ishipthat-shanwaters-archiescrush

Poem Recording

Sick people should not do recordings of their voices. I realized this last week after the 10th attempt of me reading a poem resulted in tears as I listened to the nasally sound of my stuffed up voice. No matter how hard you try to cover up the sniffling, you can still hear the reader choking on their on phelm.

So, after a few days of popping pills and sleeping, I managed to take back my voice and record me reading one of my favourite poems as a child, Annabelle Lee by Edgar Allan Poe. I tried to read it with my energy at first, but then I got horribly embarrassed and settled with being mediocre.

Here it is! https://soundcloud.com/acadicus/annabelle-lee