On cloudy mornings
I pluck big,
bursting
fruits of your
name
off of my fingers.
I let the juice of
them
drip down my chin.
Let the pulp of
what-was
dry on my skin.
And then I wipe
you off.
I make myself
bare,
again.
I have grown very
good
at cleaning myself
up.
You helped me with
that.
After you I had no
choice.
-Lora Mathis
"The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person."
- Czeslaw Milosz
Here are some goals I have for you this semester:
1. To find out if you truly like poetry, or only write it to “express” yourselves.
2. Find out what your aesthetics are, the limits of your aesthetics, and how these may be expanded.
3. Learn to be responsive to language both as written and performed text.
4. Gain exposure to major poems without having to take a lecture class.
5. Have a learning experience with your own minds and with the teacher far more concentrated than is usually possible in a class that consists of lecture, papers, exam.
6. Learn to write daily, rather than waiting for the last minute. This means you are not feeling you are doing a lot of work, but are, in fact, doing far more—minus bibliography, and all that formal stuff.
How to Workshop a Poem
Hopefully you had a chance over the past few weeks to work on some drafts of your poems and consider what it means to workshop. Please be reminded that a large part of your grade in this class has to do with the quality of feedback you provide your classmates. Please take this process seriously.
Directions: Comment, in writing, on each poem that you are workshopping. Initial each comment. You will lose points if you fail to comment constructively on a peer’s paper. The creative writing environment relies heavily on input. Workshopping is a form of publication, and it is a time for you to receive feedback from others about your work. Consider the following when reviewing a peer’s work:
o Is the diction (word choice) appropriate for the topic?
o Does the poem have a rhythmic feel to it? Does it flow? Why or why not?
o Is there something that isn’t clear or that you don’t understand? o Is there enough detail? o Not enough detail?
o Is the language descriptive?
o Is there too much description?
o Is the language used effectively? Why or why not?
o Is the pace too slow? Too fast?
o Is the voice clear?
o Is the spelling correct?
o Are there grammatical errors?
o What words, lines, or stanzas move you? Why?
o What words, lines, or stanzas puzzle you?
Read through the poem a couple of times until you get a sense of what the poem is trying to do. Some things you can look for (in terms of suggestions): places where what the author is trying to say is unclear, places where the phrasing is awkward and needs to be reworded, places where you think a better word might be appropriate, line breaks that interfere with comprehension, places where you think more description or detail is needed, or anything else you feel the author should be aware of. Some things you can look for (in terms of letting the author know what’s working): strong images, effective similes or metaphors, effective line breaks, fresh or imaginative descriptions or details, moving or insightful ideas, or anything else you liked about the poem. You should also make use of the “Holding the Poem in Question” handout, which is a list of questions you can ask yourself when trying to generate feedback for a poem
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