Read my latest story, "A Tale of Two Birthdays", at 52|250.

I have two main reasons for posting one-poem reviews on this blog:

1. Discussion of poetry should center poetry. Our ideas about poetry should not be more important than our poems. This is not to say that abstractions and theories should be avoided, only that if they become unmoored from poetry, that if we never begin our thoughts about poetry with a poem, then we have given up saying something about poetry for saying something “important”. This will never result in something important about poetry, though it may in fact result in something important.

2. I want to bring more attention to work that appears online. This is for both the writers and the readers. Poets who publish online are sometimes left to wonder if people are really reading their work: even if they see statistics on how many impressions a page gets, that doesn’t tell them how many people are actually pausing to read rather than merely skimming (a common mode on on the Internet). I want poets to know that someone is paying attention. I also want to inform readers about smaller online journals they may not otherwise hear about. (I’ve received a few emails and comments that show I’ve successful on both points.)

These two goals might make it seem that I would only write positive reviews. While I do try to focus on the positive, however, I do not do so one hundred percent. Why?

• No poem is perfect. Part of paying attention is looking for the flaws and limits of a piece. (In the best poems, these flaws will be part of their value.)
• Bad poems sometimes deserve to be called out, especially if they are illustrative of a common problem or nasty attitude. In the former case, discussing the issue may improve poems later on. As for the latter, I do admit to being a touch vindictive on occasion. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• What Fun To Wreck [Language] (snarkmarket.com)
• Poetry on the march (guardian.co.uk)
• Can Keillor’s Sonnets Survive in the Age of Twitter? (takepart.com)
• Poetry After the Beep (coudal.com)
• Marianne Moore’s five-decade struggle with “Poetry.” (slate.com)
• Do collected poems provide a complete account of an author? (guardian.co.uk)
• The Kindle Celebrates National Poetry Month (kindlereader.blogspot.com)
• Spools of Poetry and Special Announcements (craftzine.com)
• Poetry for All! (readerville.com)
• My Sassy moment: Hair bands and teenage philosophy (timesunion.com)

Related posts:

1. Thursday Read Write Poem
2. Thursday Read Write Poem
3. Thursday Read Write Poem
4. Thursday Read Write Poem
5. Thursday Read Write Poem
6. Thursday Read Write Poem
7. Thursday Read Write Poem
8. Thursday Read Write Poem
9. Thursday Read Write Poem
10. Thursday Read Write Poem

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.