By: Poetic Justice,
on 4/2/2015
Every year to celebrate Poetry Month, we select 32 poets to battle it out in a competition for the ages: Poetry Madness. This year, we decided to do things a little differently: instead of choosing the players ourselves, we asked four awesome poets — Saeed Jones, Andrea Gibson, Robert Lashley, and Hajara Quinn — to [...]
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By: Jama Rattigan,
on 4/18/2008
"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."
~ from The Mourning Bride (1697) by William Congreve
If you're one of those perfect people who is always on time, this post might not be for you.
But if you find yourself occasionally, or (gasp), habitually late, here are two poems to consider. In "Compulsively Allergic to the Truth," Jeffrey McDaniel takes the "dog ate my homework" alibi and gives it a darkly comedic poetry slam dunk treatment. His engaging, conversational style is street-wise myth served up with a twist:
I'm sorry I was late.
I was pulled over by a cop
for driving blindfolded
with a raspberry-scented candle
flickering in my mouth.
I'm sorry I was late.
I was on my way
when I felt a plot
thickening in my arm.
I have a fear of heights.
Luckily the Earth
is on the second floor
of the universe.
(Rest here.)
~ from The Endarkenment by Jeffrey McDaniel (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008)
The poem ends with a reference to the minotaur, a creature that was part man and part bull, who lived at the center of the labyrinth of Greek myth. This led me to Ted Hughes' verse letter poem, "The Minotaur," which describes one of Sylvia Plath's rages. It seems he, too, was late. But he doesn't make any excuses. In an exceedingly powerful poem that reveals Hughes' role in unearthing Plath's feelings for her father (the minotaur), and which ultimately inspires her best poetry, we are witness to the destruction not only of physical objects, but of Plath's sanity:
Deep in the cave of your ear
The goblin snapped his fingers.
So what had I given him?
The bloody end of the skein
That unraveled your marriage,
Left your children echoing
Like tunnels in a labyrinth.
Left your mother a dead-end,
Brought you to the horned, bellowing
Grave of your risen father
And your own corpse in it.
(Complete poem here.)
~ from Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes (Faber, Faber, 2002)
Minotaur bust, National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Al Alvarez, ex-poetry editor of the Observer and a friend of this volatile couple, says in his autobiography, Where Did It All Go Right? (William and Morrow, 2000):
I had always believed that genuine art was a risky business and artists experiment with new forms not in order to cause a sensation but because the old forms are no longer adequate for what they want to express. In other words, making it new in the way Sylvia did had almost nothing to do with technical experiment and almost everything to do with exploring her inner world -- with going down into the cellars and confronting her demons. The bravery and curious artistic detachment with which she went about her task were astonishing -- heartbreaking, too, when you remember how lonely she was. But when it was all over, I no longer believed that any poems, however good, were worth the price she paid.
I found it interesting to compare McDaniel's contemporary rap with Hughes' searing diatribe. The labyrinth of human relationships, as well as the labyrinth of the human psyche, inevitably involve navigating dark corridors to arrive at truth. Most of the time, it isn't about being late.
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Well Read Child.
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 2/26/2008
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 2/23/2008
“Here is a preview of page three of Fury of the Venom Legion our all-new color LadyStar web comic. Fury of the Venom Legion updates every Thursday.”
“This is a preview of page 18 of The Varcarel Jade the free LadyStar web manga. The Varcarel Jade updates every Monday with a new page.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 2/18/2008
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 2/8/2008
“It’s a new Varcarel Jade comic page!”
“I love those borders with the calm colors.”
“It’s Page Sixteen!”
“Nice!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/26/2008
“Z-bot to Hana. Detecting a Varcarel Jade Web Comic Update. Transmitting coordinates.”
“Outstanding, Z-bot. Page fifteen verified. I love a good hockey game. Acey out.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/23/2008
“Time for another web comic update!”
“Yay! It’s Varcarel Jade Page Fourteen!”
“Roller hockey game! That was the one at the Sports and Crafts fair.”
“Yep. Good game too. Hayashi even cheered.”
“Oh my goodness…”
“We got lots more updates, minna! Visit again soon! Ja!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/18/2008
“Shannon-sama!”
“I know! I know! We have a new Varcarel Jade comic page up, and it’s in color!”
“Slick.”
“I knew we’d have the best update today. Have fun minna! Ja!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/15/2008
“Another page, huh?”
“Yep! It’s Varcarel Jade Page Twelve!”
“And don’t forget to jump back and check page four for a nice introduction to our official charity. Rock Camp is win.”
“We’re going to have articles to go with all of our comic pages soon. Don’t miss the next page. I hear it’s going to be super cool! Have fun everyone!”
“Ja!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/13/2008
“Did you know that our comic site has extra sites where there’s lots of stuff and even sample pages? There’s even a site called The Web Comic List where we gots two pages!”
“Yeah, the first page is for the book side, which is this site, and then there’s another page for our web comic.”
“And they both have number buttons! Looky!”
“Hey, we used to have that one over on the left side next to the vote button didn’t we?”
“Yeah! That’s the button for our book site, and it says which rank we are from aaaaaaall the comics on the whole Web Comic List site.”
“Wait a second, there’s almost 11,000 comics on that site.”
“Guess we’re in there slugging then, because we’re almost in the top 1500!”
“Yay for us! Then we gots a whole different button for the comic site, even though it looks the same.”
“Coming along, isn’t it? We’re getting there, sports fans!”
“Our friends can go and vote for us too. Add our sites to your favorites list and help us get higher in the rankings. We have two pages on the Webcomic list, The Magical and Mysterious World of LadyStar and LadyStar: The Varcarel Jade.”
“Slick.”
“We also got a page on a site called ‘Comicspace’ where we listed both sites again. It’s LadyStar on Comicspace and people on that site can add us to their friend list. We already got 13 friends!”
“More coming up too. I hear we’ve got a new listing coming up on a big site, and we still have our Buzzcomix Vote Button.”
“We got 35 votes!”
“Yeah! And the more votes we get the higher in that list we go too. We’re going to be the best web comic because of all our friends that visit us. Be sure to vote for us if you can! Ja ne minna-san!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/12/2008
“Check out Goofy with all the introductions to our books!”
“She’s the new spokesgirl.”
“Yay! We gots a comic update! Varcarel Jade Page Eleven is new!”
“There’s always something new on our site.”
“Sure is. Have a great weekend everyone!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/12/2008
LadyStar is the story of a group of girls who each have a powerful weapon they wear disguised as a priceless jeweled treasure. With their magical weapons, Jessica Hoshi and her friends can transform into the Ajan Warriors, champion defenders of the enchanted realm of Aventar!
“Hi! I’m Jessica Hoshi! If you like stories about action and adventure and discovering magical treasures and fighting evil monsters, you’ll like our new web comic the best! It’s the story of when we fought some yucky monsters called liches! Me and my friends have lots of exciting adventures together! You can read LadyStar: The Varcarel Jade for free! Right in your browser! The comic is updated twice a week with new pages! So tell all your friends and come visit us as much as you want! There’s always something fun happening at the Magical and Mysterious World of LadyStar!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 1/8/2008
“Did you see? Talitha-chan put a button on aaaaaall the comic pages that links to the first one so people can start reading from the beginning of the story if they want to. It’s the cute little green button that looks just like the cover with the lantern on it. It’s at the top of all the Varcarel Jade pages.”
“Sweet. LadyStar Varcarel Jade Page Ten is up. Mega-shout to the sisterhood!”
“Heheee.. Ja minna!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 12/27/2007
“Looky minna-san! We published page eight of our web comic which is called LadyStar The Varcarel Jade! You can read all the pages on our web comic site! Ja!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/30/2007
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/30/2007
“Report.”
“Web comic update in progress, Commander. Page Three completed.”
“Affirmative. Fashionable warriors, huh? I like it. Check back, folks. It’s Tuesday, and that means a new Varcarel Jade page is on the way!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/27/2007
“Report.”
“Varcarel Jade updates underway, Commander. Varcarel Jade Page One and Varcarel Jade Page Two now complete.”
“Outstanding, Z-bot. Report as each page is completed. Acey out.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/26/2007
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/23/2007
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/19/2007
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/19/2007
“Hey LadyStar readers! We’ve got us a double-update on the growing Legends of Aventar Gallery. Z-bot found four great upcoming pages from the Varcarel Jade Web Comic, and we’re going to add all of them as we update our profiles on the various web comic directories. Keep looking for clues and see if you can help Cici find our friends. Acey out.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/19/2007
“Z-bot to Hana.”
“Hana, Acey here.”
“Confirming multiple updates to The WebComic List pages for LadyStar and Varcarel Jade. Proceeding to Legends of Aventar Gallery update. ETA four minutes.”
“Acknowledged, Z-bot. Hey folks, if you’re a member over at The Webcomic List, add my pals to your favorites and vote for us! Don’t miss our comic update later today! Hana out.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/18/2007
“Hey LadyStar readers! Acey here. Z-bot just reworked the comic page a bit and re-added the Buzzcomix button. It’s below the panels on every page. If you click that button you can vote for my pals over on Buzzcomix, so jump on over there and give us a thumbs up! Acey out.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/16/2007
“Okay Z-bot, I want to make sure we don’t lose Cici. If she lets out a yell, I want the Hana over there with weapons charged before the echo dies, understand?”
“Affirmative, Commander. The ship is on full autonomous combat readiness. Sensors, battle computer and perimeter defense systems are on maximum alert.”
“Acknowledged. Here’s our first update, folks. We have a new Varcarel Jade web comic page for you over on the comic side
