But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. And while I hope that my finite mind can one day appreciate the gravity of some poetry, I have to admit that I was incredibly frustrated, confused, and highly disappointed this week. And yet...
Gertrude Stein. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY?!
And yet, that's exactly what she wants her reader to feel, to question. In her poem "Patriarchal Poetry" Stein plays with the order of words and uses words that sound similar or have dual meanings in order to create a rhyme or alliteration. She wants people to be frustrated at her poetry, because she wants people to be frustrated with the common and accepted order of things and ask questions like "WHY?" Why do we accept the order of a sentence. Why do we accept the Patriarchal way of life?
Brilliant.
"For before let it before to be before spell to be before to be before to have to be to be for before to be tell to be to having held to be to for before to call to be for to be before to till until to be till before..."
Seriously. Come ON. Aren't you just frustrated and confused trying to read this? At first it was frustrating, then it was funny, then 10 pages in, it was SUPER frustrating. I would read a sentence of a paragraph and just say "No. No. NO." This, I believe, was her intended reaction.
The lack of sentence structure and coherence is seen also in Evie Shockley's poem "Canvas and Mirror" Rather than just quoting an excerpt, here is the poem in entirety:
"self-portrait with cats, with purple, with stacks
of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee,
with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait
with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring,
painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self-
portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at
last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie,
with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard
head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self-
portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait
surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political
protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self-
portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna
larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait
with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers,
with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild
mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self-
portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with
half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self-
portrait with a night at the beach, with a view
overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self-
portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of
sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with
a way with words, with a propositional phrase."
While Shockley's poem has a bit more coherence, there really isn't much more than in Stein's poem. And once again, I'm left quite frustrated and confused and thinking "What is this?" The chaotic structure, random pauses and words broken mid-pronunciation aid in the confusion and frustration, the same way Stein breaks up her words into small syllables and then repeats them 10,000 times in a different order.
I would have probably challenged the status quo a little differently, okay, MUCH differently, but that's the beauty of diversity.
self-portrait with cats, with purple, with stacks of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee, with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring, painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self- portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie, with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self- portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self- portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers, with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self- portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self- portrait with a night at the beach, with a view overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self- portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with a way with words, with a propositional phrase. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22038#sthash.73zfqTnv.dpuf
self-portrait with cats, with purple, with stacks of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee, with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring, painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self- portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie, with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self- portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self- portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers, with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self- portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self- portrait with a night at the beach, with a view overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self- portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with a way with words, with a propositional phrase. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22038#sthash.73zfqTnv.dpuf
self-portrait
with cats, with purple, with stacks
of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee,
with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait
with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring,
painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self-
portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at
last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie,
with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard
head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self-
portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait
surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political
protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self-
portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna
larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait
with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers,
with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild
mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self-
portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with
half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self-
portrait with a night at the beach, with a view
overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self-
portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of
sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with
a way with words, with a propositional phrase. - See more at:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22038#sthash.73zfqTnv.dpuf
self-portrait
with cats, with purple, with stacks
of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee,
with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait
with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring,
painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self-
portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at
last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie,
with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard
head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self-
portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait
surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political
protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self-
portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna
larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait
with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers,
with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild
mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self-
portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with
half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self-
portrait with a night at the beach, with a view
overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self-
portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of
sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with
a way with words, with a propositional phrase. - See more at:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22038#sthash.73zfqTnv.dpuf
self-portrait
with cats, with purple, with stacks
of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee,
with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait
with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring,
painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self-
portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at
last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie,
with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard
head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self-
portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait
surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political
protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self-
portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna
larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait
with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers,
with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild
mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self-
portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with
half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self-
portrait with a night at the beach, with a view
overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self-
portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of
sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with
a way with words, with a propositional phrase. - See more at:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22038#sthash.73zfqTnv.dpuf
self-portrait
with cats, with purple, with stacks
of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee,
with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait
with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring,
painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self-
portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at
last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie,
with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard
head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self-
portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait
surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political
protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self-
portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna
larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait
with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers,
with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild
mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self-
portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with
half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self-
portrait with a night at the beach, with a view
overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self-
portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of
sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with
a way with words, with a propositional phrase. - See more at:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22038#sthash.73zfqTnv.dpuf
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