Modern poetry, meaning and irony

[Truerenigma]

I think the real irony is that often people who claim to be using it actually have no idea what it is.

But yes, there are a hell of a lot of poems out there that say nothing at all, but use interesting enough words to convince the easily-impressed Philistines that there is something more going on. If there's no key, there's no point to having it locked up.

I like to say nothing in as many words as possible, as a matter of typing exercise.


Btw her I would recommend her book Life on Mars to anyone who loves poetry. She has an interesting way of attacking syntax, most of her poems move very quickly.

And there's something about her word choice. On a first glance almost every word in a given line can look almost identical. She likes to group together words with similar shapes and sounds. Simple sentences, complex lines.

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http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/201...d=tw-share

This makes so much sense to me - yet it seems she's a voice in the wilderness.

On the course I'm doing, I'm expected to offer critiques on the chosen workshop poems. There have been two so far that I just can't make head nor tail of, and so have just kept my big mouth shut (for a change)

Yet others have commented in the most glowing terms. It leaves me with the 'emperor has no clothes' feeling.

Any thoughts?

Yes. The videos are good. Take the workshop with a grain of salt. Most of the people over there are in between terms and out to have a bit of fun.