Here is a link to some reworked photos of mine that you might enjoy. You'll find them on my Facebook book page called the Poetry Street metro: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.245419365576984.54677.232652000187054&type=1
I hope you enjoy them!
Sunday, July 08, 2012
Friday, July 06, 2012
Can you give a kid a good reason to read?
This is a world full of video games, movies and rap music clips. You can turn on your TV and find, news, new technology, science, medicine, history, art and even sometimes literature. This gives us the impression that things are to be viewed. If we transfer that perspective to people, they become less interesting to actually meet because they are more comfortable to us when viewed with the kind of detachment we have when we are watching them in a monitor or on a screen.
We want to look at them generally rather than specifically more often and perhaps even by preference. This distancing even changes the way we think about the people we actually meet when we are with them in person because of the tendency to relate them with groups, ethnicities and movements. All this has taken place as a shift in my lifetime with the ascendency of media products such as radio and television. This is because they seem to originate within us, like all of these things were our own ideas. They are sound or sounds and images that seem to start as rather intimate personal experiences. We own them from the first moment we experience them even if we disagree with them.
Other mass media, like newspapers and magazines are, by nature, also an internal experience. It is a different experience than the audio-visual one however because it tends to be one we are easily able to separate ourselves from by doing something as simple as putting the paper or magazine down and sitting there preoccupied by our own thoughts for a few moments. Certainly these are thoughts that can somehow spring from the material we have been reading but still we find ourselves feeling kind of separate from reading and able to disengage.
All this is not to say that reading won’t be something internal, intimate and feeling like a uniquely personal thing. I know I do that too but somehow it happens best when it is on my own terms and not dictated by an ambulance full of edited together two second images shot at my optical nerve machine gun fashion. I sometimes find myself slipping into a trance like state because of something beautiful and pleasant I have been reading. Watching a rap video can also be trance inducing but for me it is more like slipping into a slightly bad dream.
I don’t know how you feel about it but I tend to think of reading and dreaming as being rather similar. Some dreams let you work out problems and, although while not the most pleasant of experiences, they certainly have a useful purpose in life. Other dreams let us experience pleasure and joy that are a much rarer bi-product of real life. They let us dance through meadows barefooted feeling the grass between our toes without even a single sticker or insect bite. They allow us to relax and regroup certain that there is pleasure and joy to come and we can find it, even look for it as we go through our busy days when we wake up.
The point is people who read, look at the world from a different perspective than those of us who have been raised on the television, the movies and the music videos that are so popular today. For better or worse, the world is a different place than the slower, more reflective one that existed before the advent of the visual mass media. So, back to the question that headlined this article: can we give a kid a good reason to read?
Answering that question means that we must come to a value judgment type of conclusion about the relative merits of the two types of experiences we have been taking a look at so far. I wouldn’t be very believable if I told you I had no preference because I am obviously biased toward the slower and more easily disengaged from experience of reading. So let’s parade out the reasons behind that bias a see if it could give us an argument we could use to convince a kid of the value of this seemingly anachronistic persuasion.
I guess I am most biased about the difference in thinking. Call me Orwellian but the visual immediacy of experience seems a lot closer to the idea of mind control than the more self-directed state of the reading experience. I can understand it is easy and convenient to let others do the thinking for you but is it safe? Another part of that same point is that reading gives you time to stop and reflect and you can decide what you really believe in moments like that. The pace of thought is too rapid when someone else is entertaining you by orchestrating your emotional response to allow you such a luxury as in time to reflect. I don’t mean to be alarmist but I see some real dangers in the visually orchestrated entertainment process. Is this an argument, however, that would be useful to persuade a kid with? No, I’m afraid not.
I guess people of my generation are stuck with being out of the fast pace until we can come up with some kind of argument for the reading experience that would seem important to modern children. Well anyway, this seems like a pretty important idea to explore. If you’ve got any suggestions, I’m sure the readers here will be interested to know about them.
Russell H. Ragsdale,
Poet and songwriter,
Author of Book of Aliases
(a poetry collection, which can be purchased electronically at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Sony, and many other outlets)
We want to look at them generally rather than specifically more often and perhaps even by preference. This distancing even changes the way we think about the people we actually meet when we are with them in person because of the tendency to relate them with groups, ethnicities and movements. All this has taken place as a shift in my lifetime with the ascendency of media products such as radio and television. This is because they seem to originate within us, like all of these things were our own ideas. They are sound or sounds and images that seem to start as rather intimate personal experiences. We own them from the first moment we experience them even if we disagree with them.
Other mass media, like newspapers and magazines are, by nature, also an internal experience. It is a different experience than the audio-visual one however because it tends to be one we are easily able to separate ourselves from by doing something as simple as putting the paper or magazine down and sitting there preoccupied by our own thoughts for a few moments. Certainly these are thoughts that can somehow spring from the material we have been reading but still we find ourselves feeling kind of separate from reading and able to disengage.
All this is not to say that reading won’t be something internal, intimate and feeling like a uniquely personal thing. I know I do that too but somehow it happens best when it is on my own terms and not dictated by an ambulance full of edited together two second images shot at my optical nerve machine gun fashion. I sometimes find myself slipping into a trance like state because of something beautiful and pleasant I have been reading. Watching a rap video can also be trance inducing but for me it is more like slipping into a slightly bad dream.
I don’t know how you feel about it but I tend to think of reading and dreaming as being rather similar. Some dreams let you work out problems and, although while not the most pleasant of experiences, they certainly have a useful purpose in life. Other dreams let us experience pleasure and joy that are a much rarer bi-product of real life. They let us dance through meadows barefooted feeling the grass between our toes without even a single sticker or insect bite. They allow us to relax and regroup certain that there is pleasure and joy to come and we can find it, even look for it as we go through our busy days when we wake up.
The point is people who read, look at the world from a different perspective than those of us who have been raised on the television, the movies and the music videos that are so popular today. For better or worse, the world is a different place than the slower, more reflective one that existed before the advent of the visual mass media. So, back to the question that headlined this article: can we give a kid a good reason to read?
Answering that question means that we must come to a value judgment type of conclusion about the relative merits of the two types of experiences we have been taking a look at so far. I wouldn’t be very believable if I told you I had no preference because I am obviously biased toward the slower and more easily disengaged from experience of reading. So let’s parade out the reasons behind that bias a see if it could give us an argument we could use to convince a kid of the value of this seemingly anachronistic persuasion.
I guess I am most biased about the difference in thinking. Call me Orwellian but the visual immediacy of experience seems a lot closer to the idea of mind control than the more self-directed state of the reading experience. I can understand it is easy and convenient to let others do the thinking for you but is it safe? Another part of that same point is that reading gives you time to stop and reflect and you can decide what you really believe in moments like that. The pace of thought is too rapid when someone else is entertaining you by orchestrating your emotional response to allow you such a luxury as in time to reflect. I don’t mean to be alarmist but I see some real dangers in the visually orchestrated entertainment process. Is this an argument, however, that would be useful to persuade a kid with? No, I’m afraid not.
I guess people of my generation are stuck with being out of the fast pace until we can come up with some kind of argument for the reading experience that would seem important to modern children. Well anyway, this seems like a pretty important idea to explore. If you’ve got any suggestions, I’m sure the readers here will be interested to know about them.
Russell H. Ragsdale,
Poet and songwriter,
Author of Book of Aliases
(a poetry collection, which can be purchased electronically at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Sony, and many other outlets)
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Public Libraries Today
Give a helping hand to somebody less fortunate!
Most of the time when somebody says something like that to me, I get on my guard because I’m pretty sure I’m about to get asked for money. We have come to think that about the only thing we have that somebody else wants can be found tucked away inside our wallets. It’s a pretty sad modern state for most of us isn’t it?
I guess I believe that if we care enough, that is more important than any amount of money we could possibly throw at a problem. I suspect you’ve come to the same conclusion and if you still don’t believe me, you can go right now and lock your money up because I promise you I’m not going to ask you for a cent! In fact, I want to say thanks to you because you have bought my book and I’m really grateful to you for that. I believe that somebody who would buy Book of Aliases must be a nice, thoughtful person who likes art of the gentle persuasion such as is the nature of poetry. Maybe you have been reading my poetry for years already and have developed a fondness for it. If that’s the case, I’m even more grateful to you for caring enough to enjoy what I have given freely, hoping for someone just like you to come along.
So okay, you are a caring and intelligent person and that I already know. You have gone to the trouble to buy and read my book and hopefully enjoyed it, maybe even though it was pretty good. Maybe you’ve even given it as a gift to somebody you love or told a friend about it because you know that is the kind of reading they would enjoy. Thanks for that! It means more to me than you could imagine.
But what can you do for somebody else? I guess you are a pretty fortunate person, with a good education and a healthy bank account. In other words, not everybody is as fortunate as you are. Don’t get nervous now, I promised I wouldn’t ask for any money and I mean to keep that promise. What you can do is a lot simpler and much more caring than to pull out your credit card. This is a real act of love for somebody whom you will never meet and they probably will never guess somebody did this for them as an act of kindness and consideration.
Think of all the great books you have enjoyed over the years, many of which you got for free because you had a library card. You probably still have a library card and, if you don’t, that is the first thing you can do that won’t cost you a cent but might be a great boon for lots of people – so go get a library card.
You probably haven’t thought about it but in this modern, electronic age it is not only the big bookstores that are closing down … the public libraries are having problems too. It doesn’t matter so much to you because you’re all grown up and doing pretty well, not to mention the fact that you have your Kindle, Nook, iPad, Sony or some other e-reader plus a good home library as well. What about the people who really need the access to a library these days though, don’t they deserve a chance to get the advantage of free printed material, including all the new stuff that’s coming out electronically? Did you know that they can even check out e-books from the library these days? Shouldn’t libraries be there for them too just like they were for us when we were kids?
So here’s the deal! First, if you don’t already have one, get a library card. Second, call the library and ask them for a copy of Book of Aliases and some of the other wonderful books that have meant so much to you in your lifetime. They’ll probably put you on a waiting list to check them out but that’s okay, at least they will know that people that read are still out there and, more importantly, that will give them a reason to exist. Third, when it comes your turn, check them out. You don’t have to keep them long and, if they are e-books, you don’t even have to return them. What could be simpler?
We can’t let this wonderful institution called the library cease to be and, even if you don’t need one so much these days, somebody who isn’t as lucky as you sure as heck will. Think about it and make the decision to show you care. And, as I promised, it won’t cost you a cent.
Most of the time when somebody says something like that to me, I get on my guard because I’m pretty sure I’m about to get asked for money. We have come to think that about the only thing we have that somebody else wants can be found tucked away inside our wallets. It’s a pretty sad modern state for most of us isn’t it?
I guess I believe that if we care enough, that is more important than any amount of money we could possibly throw at a problem. I suspect you’ve come to the same conclusion and if you still don’t believe me, you can go right now and lock your money up because I promise you I’m not going to ask you for a cent! In fact, I want to say thanks to you because you have bought my book and I’m really grateful to you for that. I believe that somebody who would buy Book of Aliases must be a nice, thoughtful person who likes art of the gentle persuasion such as is the nature of poetry. Maybe you have been reading my poetry for years already and have developed a fondness for it. If that’s the case, I’m even more grateful to you for caring enough to enjoy what I have given freely, hoping for someone just like you to come along.
So okay, you are a caring and intelligent person and that I already know. You have gone to the trouble to buy and read my book and hopefully enjoyed it, maybe even though it was pretty good. Maybe you’ve even given it as a gift to somebody you love or told a friend about it because you know that is the kind of reading they would enjoy. Thanks for that! It means more to me than you could imagine.
But what can you do for somebody else? I guess you are a pretty fortunate person, with a good education and a healthy bank account. In other words, not everybody is as fortunate as you are. Don’t get nervous now, I promised I wouldn’t ask for any money and I mean to keep that promise. What you can do is a lot simpler and much more caring than to pull out your credit card. This is a real act of love for somebody whom you will never meet and they probably will never guess somebody did this for them as an act of kindness and consideration.
Think of all the great books you have enjoyed over the years, many of which you got for free because you had a library card. You probably still have a library card and, if you don’t, that is the first thing you can do that won’t cost you a cent but might be a great boon for lots of people – so go get a library card.
You probably haven’t thought about it but in this modern, electronic age it is not only the big bookstores that are closing down … the public libraries are having problems too. It doesn’t matter so much to you because you’re all grown up and doing pretty well, not to mention the fact that you have your Kindle, Nook, iPad, Sony or some other e-reader plus a good home library as well. What about the people who really need the access to a library these days though, don’t they deserve a chance to get the advantage of free printed material, including all the new stuff that’s coming out electronically? Did you know that they can even check out e-books from the library these days? Shouldn’t libraries be there for them too just like they were for us when we were kids?
So here’s the deal! First, if you don’t already have one, get a library card. Second, call the library and ask them for a copy of Book of Aliases and some of the other wonderful books that have meant so much to you in your lifetime. They’ll probably put you on a waiting list to check them out but that’s okay, at least they will know that people that read are still out there and, more importantly, that will give them a reason to exist. Third, when it comes your turn, check them out. You don’t have to keep them long and, if they are e-books, you don’t even have to return them. What could be simpler?
We can’t let this wonderful institution called the library cease to be and, even if you don’t need one so much these days, somebody who isn’t as lucky as you sure as heck will. Think about it and make the decision to show you care. And, as I promised, it won’t cost you a cent.
Saturday, June 09, 2012
The question’s not what but who is your dad? Think about it!
So what are you going to get the big guy for Father’s Day? Life is more than a bucket of Super Bowl beer on ice. This is the guy who taught you everything you know about life, love and family!
You have come to understand he is more than a box of candy or matching socks, tie and hanky set. There is a soul in there that has made years of sacrifices so that you could become who you have grown up to be. You can’t just give him some back-of-the-bottom-drawer gift.
Maybe he’s the guy who held your hand and went with you from house to house all dressed up on Halloween. Maybe he watched you learn to dance ballet or taught you to play softball. It was undoubtedly him who was with you when you fell or failed and he gave you that helping hand when you most needed it.
Maybe he’s the guy who invariably let you down occasionally because he’s only human after all. I know there have been times when I have let my own kids down and I have regretted doing or not doing something just like he probably has. He probably has forgiven you for your childish mistakes even though some of them were probably pretty costly and you may have come to terms with his humanness also.
What would you be willing to do for this guy, the man who was by your side all through childhood? Love is an incredibly powerful force and there are probably few, if any, sacrifices you wouldn’t be willing to make for him. I’m sure the same has been true for him.
What I’m talking about here is this: you know pretty much who this guy is and you are wondering what you can do for him on Father’s Day that is going to be really special? We all know he’d be pleased with a funny card and knowing that you are thinking about him. That would probably be enough for him, wouldn’t it?
But we also know that this is when you want to show him some small measure of what he means to you. Yes, he’s your dad but that is just what he is. If you wanted to do the same as everybody else you would also be willing to go with the all the abundance of Father’s Day merchandise that is getting stocked on the shelves to give him as a gift and then sit down for dinner with him. That’s all about what he is but I believe the question you are starting to ask yourself is more about WHO is he? That’s the question that will make what you do when you spend time with him on June 17th be the kind of experience you are really looking for.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Does he like to garden? Or would he rather have a fountain in the front of the house to make him feel like a king when he comes home? Does he like to read? Or would he like to spend a few hours in the afternoon telling fantastic stories to a bunch of neighborhood kids? Does he like to look at travel magazines? Maybe what he would really like is to learn French and spend a few weeks in Paris learning how to use Le Metro and finding out which Boulangerie in Montmartre makes the best croissants? He may have been so busy raising his kids that he really hasn’t considered doing some of the things he would really prefer. In fact, he might be approaching the age of retirement without knowing how to get on with some of the things he would really enjoy the experience of doing, being or having.
That’s one of the problems in life! We get so busy living that we don’t spend much time asking if what we’re settling for is what we really want. That’s why Socrates’ words make us uncomfortable. Most of us never even get to the point in our lives where we can speculate on whom, not what, we really are. We are like trains on a track; our course is in front of us just a little further ahead and, when we come to the end of the line, is that going to be somewhere we really want to be?
Of course that’s not something we can decide for another person, especially when he is our dad. The best we can do is follow his example and care enough to want the best for him and try to be there for him along the way. Tomorrow maybe too far away and today, God forbid may be the only option we have, which means we’ve got to start now! This June 17th has to be the day we really step out of that box of usual things and do something really loving for him.
Twenty-five years ago I got the opportunity to start finding out what I really wanted to do and had the good fortune to be able to start doing some of those things. I subsequently became a poet and changed my career to better suit the person I was discovering I really was. I was 42 when I began doing all this. That Father’s Day was pretty scary but, with the support of my wife and kids, it turned out to be something pretty wonderful. Recently I finished a book of poetry dealing with the self-discoveries, the knowledge of my many parts that were necessary for me to understand the nature of my real identity. I can’t guarantee your dad is like me but if this book opens any new door for him that would surely be wonderful.
Maybe you’ll give your dad that funny card and a copy of my book to read. It could be the start of something new and wonderful for the big guy! Here are some links you can use to find it:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book-of-aliases-russell-h-ragsdale/1110762474?ean=9781620958452&itm=1&usri=russell+h.+ragsdale;
http://www.amazon.com/Book-of-Aliases-ebook/dp/B0082FG2T8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339249844&sr=1-1&keywords=Book+of+Aliases;
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/book-of-aliases/id526074863?mt=11
Have the best Father’s Day!
You have come to understand he is more than a box of candy or matching socks, tie and hanky set. There is a soul in there that has made years of sacrifices so that you could become who you have grown up to be. You can’t just give him some back-of-the-bottom-drawer gift.
Maybe he’s the guy who held your hand and went with you from house to house all dressed up on Halloween. Maybe he watched you learn to dance ballet or taught you to play softball. It was undoubtedly him who was with you when you fell or failed and he gave you that helping hand when you most needed it.
Maybe he’s the guy who invariably let you down occasionally because he’s only human after all. I know there have been times when I have let my own kids down and I have regretted doing or not doing something just like he probably has. He probably has forgiven you for your childish mistakes even though some of them were probably pretty costly and you may have come to terms with his humanness also.
What would you be willing to do for this guy, the man who was by your side all through childhood? Love is an incredibly powerful force and there are probably few, if any, sacrifices you wouldn’t be willing to make for him. I’m sure the same has been true for him.
What I’m talking about here is this: you know pretty much who this guy is and you are wondering what you can do for him on Father’s Day that is going to be really special? We all know he’d be pleased with a funny card and knowing that you are thinking about him. That would probably be enough for him, wouldn’t it?
But we also know that this is when you want to show him some small measure of what he means to you. Yes, he’s your dad but that is just what he is. If you wanted to do the same as everybody else you would also be willing to go with the all the abundance of Father’s Day merchandise that is getting stocked on the shelves to give him as a gift and then sit down for dinner with him. That’s all about what he is but I believe the question you are starting to ask yourself is more about WHO is he? That’s the question that will make what you do when you spend time with him on June 17th be the kind of experience you are really looking for.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Does he like to garden? Or would he rather have a fountain in the front of the house to make him feel like a king when he comes home? Does he like to read? Or would he like to spend a few hours in the afternoon telling fantastic stories to a bunch of neighborhood kids? Does he like to look at travel magazines? Maybe what he would really like is to learn French and spend a few weeks in Paris learning how to use Le Metro and finding out which Boulangerie in Montmartre makes the best croissants? He may have been so busy raising his kids that he really hasn’t considered doing some of the things he would really prefer. In fact, he might be approaching the age of retirement without knowing how to get on with some of the things he would really enjoy the experience of doing, being or having.
That’s one of the problems in life! We get so busy living that we don’t spend much time asking if what we’re settling for is what we really want. That’s why Socrates’ words make us uncomfortable. Most of us never even get to the point in our lives where we can speculate on whom, not what, we really are. We are like trains on a track; our course is in front of us just a little further ahead and, when we come to the end of the line, is that going to be somewhere we really want to be?
Of course that’s not something we can decide for another person, especially when he is our dad. The best we can do is follow his example and care enough to want the best for him and try to be there for him along the way. Tomorrow maybe too far away and today, God forbid may be the only option we have, which means we’ve got to start now! This June 17th has to be the day we really step out of that box of usual things and do something really loving for him.
Twenty-five years ago I got the opportunity to start finding out what I really wanted to do and had the good fortune to be able to start doing some of those things. I subsequently became a poet and changed my career to better suit the person I was discovering I really was. I was 42 when I began doing all this. That Father’s Day was pretty scary but, with the support of my wife and kids, it turned out to be something pretty wonderful. Recently I finished a book of poetry dealing with the self-discoveries, the knowledge of my many parts that were necessary for me to understand the nature of my real identity. I can’t guarantee your dad is like me but if this book opens any new door for him that would surely be wonderful.
Maybe you’ll give your dad that funny card and a copy of my book to read. It could be the start of something new and wonderful for the big guy! Here are some links you can use to find it:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book-of-aliases-russell-h-ragsdale/1110762474?ean=9781620958452&itm=1&usri=russell+h.+ragsdale;
http://www.amazon.com/Book-of-Aliases-ebook/dp/B0082FG2T8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339249844&sr=1-1&keywords=Book+of+Aliases;
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/book-of-aliases/id526074863?mt=11
Have the best Father’s Day!
Saturday, June 02, 2012
School is out!
In Kazakhstan the kids were very excited on the 25th of May in 2012 because that is the day that this school year finished. You remember what that feels like – no more classes or homework – like a great weight has been lifted off of you and you can suddenly leap and run around again. Kids everywhere feel that way because the pressure to perform academically has been lifted. What started out to be the freedom of universal literacy where information is accessible to all has become a very pressing prison of you-better-do-well-or-you’ll-never-get-anywhere. It was a really generous idea that everybody should have access to the information found in print but it has turned into the nightmare before adulthood. That is why the yearly release from this drudgery was such a joyous and riotous celebration.
I just happened to be there this day at one of the places the kids picked to express their relief in a riot of activity they would not normally consider doing under any other circumstances. It is a normally fashionable fountain that has something to do with a calendar because it is divided in seven sections, one for each day of the week. On this day, some of them still wearing their sashes for academic achievement, the kids came in groups and many of them jumped in the water wearing their school uniforms. Most of the kids in the water, some with their shoes still on, didn’t come wearing sashes. The “sashes” group was more sedate and reserved seeming although some of them had bathing suits under their clothes, which they used when they got in the water with their classmates still in uniform. The “sashes” group didn’t seem inclined to abandon all decorum to celebrate as the rest of their classmates did.
I was intrigued by the social division because it was so visible and took some pictures with my phone to document the occasion. I hope you enjoy seeing what I saw.
I just happened to be there this day at one of the places the kids picked to express their relief in a riot of activity they would not normally consider doing under any other circumstances. It is a normally fashionable fountain that has something to do with a calendar because it is divided in seven sections, one for each day of the week. On this day, some of them still wearing their sashes for academic achievement, the kids came in groups and many of them jumped in the water wearing their school uniforms. Most of the kids in the water, some with their shoes still on, didn’t come wearing sashes. The “sashes” group was more sedate and reserved seeming although some of them had bathing suits under their clothes, which they used when they got in the water with their classmates still in uniform. The “sashes” group didn’t seem inclined to abandon all decorum to celebrate as the rest of their classmates did.
I was intrigued by the social division because it was so visible and took some pictures with my phone to document the occasion. I hope you enjoy seeing what I saw.
Monday, May 21, 2012
My Workspace
Saturday, May 19, 2012
It's out there like a dream that's no longer a dream!
I suppose you have dreams you'd like to see come true, I guess we all do. Well mine, as of a few days ago, finally came true. A book I've been working on for some years now is in print (in the electronic sense). Don't you just love it when things finally quit being just a daydream. Think about something you would like to realize in your lifetime and then look at my book of poetry and know you can do what you wish for.
Here's a short discription of what the book is about: This book of poetry explores the myriads of different personalities within each of us as we adapt ourselves to external and internal conditions. The concept of moods really doesn’t offer us the self-awareness we need to understand who we are. This is a collection of published works and earlier poems that fits this theme.
If you would like to see more you can Google Book of Aliases, Russell H. Ragsdale and you will find some links. It is an e-book and is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and Sony. I'll let you know of more outlets as they offer it.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Hey Poet Mom, I wanted to leave a comment fopr you on your #poetparty post but the word identification wasn't working. Here is what I want to post: I loved seeing your answers when you had a little more time to flesh them out but it sure was fun being with you on #poetparty too! Thanks so much for being part of the fun.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Here is a link to me reading one of the poems I have published in the past. I hope you will enjoy this!
sometimes a pearl
sometimes a pearl
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I hope you will enjoy this article in the Washington Post, I certainly did. I also left a comment on it you might find interesting. Click on the link or use the following address: https://fb.trove.com/fbwapolabs/me/channels/trending/content/UVExk
Enjoy!
Monday, December 05, 2011
Abu Dhabi- Marina Mall
cute sets safe anchor
in the harbor of shops
statement of fact
plus tard
in the afterbirth
of wisdom
he has the time
like it was always
her money
certainties like that
creep down the hall
of ancient rumors
spend sleepless nights
whispers among shadow
that were once lovers
she will become one
when the coin of
beauty slips into
another purse
this beautiful life
will hibernate
dreaming quietly in
the taj mahal
of remembrance
so beautifully bathed
in the moonlight
of regret
he stands
behind the door
of a shop
that sells time
looking through
the glass at
a world that
strolls past
endangered with
every step
a tv show
of wishes of those
who will watch
only after
the shop
has closed
when they meet
and marry
their small child
cries all the way
through the mall
for something wanted
in the harbor of shops
statement of fact
plus tard
in the afterbirth
of wisdom
he has the time
like it was always
her money
certainties like that
creep down the hall
of ancient rumors
spend sleepless nights
whispers among shadow
that were once lovers
she will become one
when the coin of
beauty slips into
another purse
this beautiful life
will hibernate
dreaming quietly in
the taj mahal
of remembrance
so beautifully bathed
in the moonlight
of regret
he stands
behind the door
of a shop
that sells time
looking through
the glass at
a world that
strolls past
endangered with
every step
a tv show
of wishes of those
who will watch
only after
the shop
has closed
when they meet
and marry
their small child
cries all the way
through the mall
for something wanted
Posting poetry on my blog
I so miss putting poetry on my blog for you to read. It all started because I publish poetry occasionally and editors have begun demanding that the poems we submit have never been posted anywhere before. I stopped posting poetry before it was published because of that. They, of course, want the only thing they can expect, which is to publish the poem for the first time. After that, the rights of the poem return to the poet and she or he can do whatever they wish with it. The publisher’s request seems reasonable and as if it was the least we can do for them. Still, it has been such a pleasure over the years to be able to share my poetry with you that I miss not being able to do that.
That is why I have decided to start putting original and first-time poetry occasionally on my blog. I am currently in Abu Dhabi and they are celebrating their 40th anniversary as a country. I was at the Marina Mall last night and had a wonderful time. The poem I wrote while I was there is what I will post now with the hope you will enjoy seeing this place through my eyes. The poem is comprised of some selected impressions and pictures of things I saw while I was there and the feelings and understanding the experience left on me. It will appear just above this post and I hope you will enjoy this experience with me.
That is why I have decided to start putting original and first-time poetry occasionally on my blog. I am currently in Abu Dhabi and they are celebrating their 40th anniversary as a country. I was at the Marina Mall last night and had a wonderful time. The poem I wrote while I was there is what I will post now with the hope you will enjoy seeing this place through my eyes. The poem is comprised of some selected impressions and pictures of things I saw while I was there and the feelings and understanding the experience left on me. It will appear just above this post and I hope you will enjoy this experience with me.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Using Rubrics for Tesol learner autonomy
I have a practice that I often use in class. I start by teaching my students to create rubrics (assessment tools that are easily understandable) so that they know what will be expected of them on an assignment. When a teacher does this, students have already begun the process by which they are beginning to think about how they can have a better impact on both their educational activity and their grades.
If it is a progressive assignment such as drafts of an essay, for example, they get to try their hands on improving their grades by making specific decisions about what they must teach themselves to do to get a better grade. The information should be right there on the rubric so they can decide exactly what their writing should look like and do in order for them to get the kind of grade they want.
My experience with the use of rubrics is that it makes the students more comfortable with the assignment if they have been part of the process of setting the ground rules on how their work will be evaluated. They start work on the task with more assurance because they know what will be expected of them and why it has to be that way. When they finally get down to work, they actually have come to have a better understanding of the task by figuring out how to grade it. This obviously starts them on a path to more productive self-evaluation.
The next step is to give the students an opportunity to assess each other (peer evaluation). Most of us are doing these activities in the classroom already but maybe not with such a coherent plan or process. You can immediately see, however that it would be much more effective to have the students use the same criterion to evaluate each other as the activity will be more focused. I remember seeing these peer evaluation forms for assignments but they often do not use exactly the same evaluation criterion that will be applied when the teacher makes the summative assessment in the end. These peer evaluation forms are often simplified so the student, who isn’t of course the teacher, can use them.
This is a mistake, in my opinion. The students should understand the assignment starting from the way they will eventually be assessed and should know it so well that the part of the authority which they are capable to take in the educational process should be transferred from the teacher to them as early on in their studies as is possible. This is an end forward process and seems to me to be the best way to establish learner autonomy. That is why I maintain that they should start the process by creating the rubric they will be graded on at the end of their task, thereby understanding the assignment from the perspective of the teacher. This better enables them to study productively by themselves. Grounding them well in the process of rubric creation, additionally can make them better students in all areas of their future education
If it is a progressive assignment such as drafts of an essay, for example, they get to try their hands on improving their grades by making specific decisions about what they must teach themselves to do to get a better grade. The information should be right there on the rubric so they can decide exactly what their writing should look like and do in order for them to get the kind of grade they want.
My experience with the use of rubrics is that it makes the students more comfortable with the assignment if they have been part of the process of setting the ground rules on how their work will be evaluated. They start work on the task with more assurance because they know what will be expected of them and why it has to be that way. When they finally get down to work, they actually have come to have a better understanding of the task by figuring out how to grade it. This obviously starts them on a path to more productive self-evaluation.
The next step is to give the students an opportunity to assess each other (peer evaluation). Most of us are doing these activities in the classroom already but maybe not with such a coherent plan or process. You can immediately see, however that it would be much more effective to have the students use the same criterion to evaluate each other as the activity will be more focused. I remember seeing these peer evaluation forms for assignments but they often do not use exactly the same evaluation criterion that will be applied when the teacher makes the summative assessment in the end. These peer evaluation forms are often simplified so the student, who isn’t of course the teacher, can use them.
This is a mistake, in my opinion. The students should understand the assignment starting from the way they will eventually be assessed and should know it so well that the part of the authority which they are capable to take in the educational process should be transferred from the teacher to them as early on in their studies as is possible. This is an end forward process and seems to me to be the best way to establish learner autonomy. That is why I maintain that they should start the process by creating the rubric they will be graded on at the end of their task, thereby understanding the assignment from the perspective of the teacher. This better enables them to study productively by themselves. Grounding them well in the process of rubric creation, additionally can make them better students in all areas of their future education
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Frustration
PART 1
I'm just a guy who likes to teach people how to do things they want to know how to do. This doesn't translate into me being a teacher at a university like I am now doing however because somehow this process has gotten too complicated. I have to assess and judge how my students have done, in the first place. That means I have to decide what they are supposed to be learning.
As a TESOL teacher, that should be obvious shouldn't it, so what's the problem? There is, however a big problem because we test students on not only how well they speak English (that would be a placement exam) but on how well they can perform certain incremental skills in using the English language. We are trying to piece the language together from small parts and somehow that seems to function poorly on the scale of learning a language.
If we look at grammar (which is an incomplete science of the language) we can supposedly identify all the elements (in this case, many of them) about how the language works in practice. The real experience though is that people who know the grammar rules cannot necessarily speak and / or understand the language. They may get to that point eventually but they have had to learn two separate things.
Now why would I make such a stupid assertion as this? It is because I have observed that people who speak a language fluently often are not able to tell you the grammar rules they seem so competent at using. This leaves me with the conclusion that, although a scholar or writer may need to know grammar rules, ordinary people do not have to know them in spite of being fluent and perhaps even being talented in expressing themselves. Fortunately language instruction has mostly abandoned the slavish reliance on grammar instruction.
Obviously we can't use grammar as the basis for testing and certainly not for placement. So what are these small components of language that we use to measure the academic work of our students? Would they be able to be used as some kind of placement instrument? Since I know of no reputable modern placement instrument that relies on them, I must conclude that they are not a way to measure language acquisition. Therefore we must be using them purely for the purpose of generating convenient scores on which to assign the grades given at the end of each class. This sounds to be not only artificial but perhaps quite inaccurate as well.
I am left questioning whether my students will be learning English while I am being so busy at making meaningless measurements of their supposed progress?
I'm just a guy who likes to teach people how to do things they want to know how to do. This doesn't translate into me being a teacher at a university like I am now doing however because somehow this process has gotten too complicated. I have to assess and judge how my students have done, in the first place. That means I have to decide what they are supposed to be learning.
As a TESOL teacher, that should be obvious shouldn't it, so what's the problem? There is, however a big problem because we test students on not only how well they speak English (that would be a placement exam) but on how well they can perform certain incremental skills in using the English language. We are trying to piece the language together from small parts and somehow that seems to function poorly on the scale of learning a language.
If we look at grammar (which is an incomplete science of the language) we can supposedly identify all the elements (in this case, many of them) about how the language works in practice. The real experience though is that people who know the grammar rules cannot necessarily speak and / or understand the language. They may get to that point eventually but they have had to learn two separate things.
Now why would I make such a stupid assertion as this? It is because I have observed that people who speak a language fluently often are not able to tell you the grammar rules they seem so competent at using. This leaves me with the conclusion that, although a scholar or writer may need to know grammar rules, ordinary people do not have to know them in spite of being fluent and perhaps even being talented in expressing themselves. Fortunately language instruction has mostly abandoned the slavish reliance on grammar instruction.
Obviously we can't use grammar as the basis for testing and certainly not for placement. So what are these small components of language that we use to measure the academic work of our students? Would they be able to be used as some kind of placement instrument? Since I know of no reputable modern placement instrument that relies on them, I must conclude that they are not a way to measure language acquisition. Therefore we must be using them purely for the purpose of generating convenient scores on which to assign the grades given at the end of each class. This sounds to be not only artificial but perhaps quite inaccurate as well.
I am left questioning whether my students will be learning English while I am being so busy at making meaningless measurements of their supposed progress?
Monday, July 12, 2010
ഹാപ്പിനെസ്സ്?
I'm the kind of person who wants to be happy as often as possible in this life. Most people would say they are of the same disposition. If you were to ask me specifically what I want from life in order to be happy, however, I would be in serious trouble. I suspect most people are like me, in that respect. For example, I know that I often confuse pleasure with happiness and that makes me wonder about what it actually is -- this thing called happiness?
Since happiness is a state rather than a circumstance, it is necessary to understand that it is something which is intensely personal. It may have something to do with objects or people or some other external factor(s). It might be a result of a process or perhaps just a side benefit, like having written a poem brings me a sense of pleasure, for example.
I do not write poetry because it is fun, however because I find the actual experience stressful. I actually don’t write poetry because I am feeling happy, either. I start to have the feeling as if something is exciting me, not necessarily in a pleasant way. I have a sensation rather akin to discomfort, which I actually realize is not going to get any better until I have done some writing. It isn’t out of a sense of relief either that I begin to experience pleasure.
As I sit there looking at the completed work (as complete as a poem ever gets) it is neither the page nor the words on it that arouses that feeling of happiness and pleasure but it is a very personal sensation of something beautiful and real existing not only where I first saw it but also somehow resident within the thing, the poem, that is trying to hold it. This is also how I experience pleasure and the sensation of being happy when I read the poems of others.
The sheer intangibility of the experience and virtually everything that is associated with it makes it such a difficult thing not only to describe but even to simply understand. So what is happiness for you? A woman once told me that happiness for her was to be lying in a tub of hot, soapy water at the end of a long hard day. Although that sounds good, I suspect most of what she was describing was about physical pleasure and emotional relief. By that I mean to say that endless days of sitting in a hot bath would be boring. The physical experience of pleasure is not enough to qualify for comprehending this most intangible of intangible sensation.
Since happiness is a state rather than a circumstance, it is necessary to understand that it is something which is intensely personal. It may have something to do with objects or people or some other external factor(s). It might be a result of a process or perhaps just a side benefit, like having written a poem brings me a sense of pleasure, for example.
I do not write poetry because it is fun, however because I find the actual experience stressful. I actually don’t write poetry because I am feeling happy, either. I start to have the feeling as if something is exciting me, not necessarily in a pleasant way. I have a sensation rather akin to discomfort, which I actually realize is not going to get any better until I have done some writing. It isn’t out of a sense of relief either that I begin to experience pleasure.
As I sit there looking at the completed work (as complete as a poem ever gets) it is neither the page nor the words on it that arouses that feeling of happiness and pleasure but it is a very personal sensation of something beautiful and real existing not only where I first saw it but also somehow resident within the thing, the poem, that is trying to hold it. This is also how I experience pleasure and the sensation of being happy when I read the poems of others.
The sheer intangibility of the experience and virtually everything that is associated with it makes it such a difficult thing not only to describe but even to simply understand. So what is happiness for you? A woman once told me that happiness for her was to be lying in a tub of hot, soapy water at the end of a long hard day. Although that sounds good, I suspect most of what she was describing was about physical pleasure and emotional relief. By that I mean to say that endless days of sitting in a hot bath would be boring. The physical experience of pleasure is not enough to qualify for comprehending this most intangible of intangible sensation.
Monday, June 28, 2010
സ്ടുടെന്റ്റ്
The university asked me to pen a quatrain about student life for some promotional material they intend to distribute. I ruminated about the age old thought that students are too self-indulgent and spend far too much time just having fun. I don't believe there is merit in that criticism so I decided to try to answer it as honestly (and lyrically) as I could. Those of you, who are familiar with my writing, know that I seldom write things that are both metrical and rhyming in form. I thought, hey, what the heck, it's for a good cause and I enjoy that kind of stuff so I went ahead and did it. Here's what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it!
Student life quatrain
I’ve seen it all around the world,
Students sitting on benches, boy and girl.
Time wasted? I don’t think so.
Rather time gathered in which we grow.
Student life quatrain
I’ve seen it all around the world,
Students sitting on benches, boy and girl.
Time wasted? I don’t think so.
Rather time gathered in which we grow.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
എബൌട്ട് "വെ ഓള് തീര് വൊഇകെസ്"
I had a wonderful experience reading We All Hear Voices by Sam Taggart. It is a warm and compelling book filled with all the gentleness of character that one would expect from a book about a loved and respected South. It is an iUniverse Publisher's Choice book and you can find it by contacting http://www.iuniverse.com or perhaps your local bookstore. The ISBN is 978-0-595-44184-6 and the cover price is $15.95 (US). I have a tendency to read a good book in a rush and this was more like an avalanche.
Having been a professional chef for almost 20 years, I must confess I was a little dubious about a medical doctor writing about cooking. If there is one thing I hate, it is to eat food that is prepared like a health recipe. However, surprisingly Sam very fully understands taste and its principle components of drama, texture (layers) and smell. But this is not a book about cooking, rather it is a book about characters and this is Sam's gift to us.
The characters in this story are often kind and posses a type of honesty and dishonesty that can only be found in small towns. The book itself becomes a character you will cherish. I can't say this any more strongly: GO OUT AND GET THIS BOOK - YOU'LL LOVE IT!
Having been a professional chef for almost 20 years, I must confess I was a little dubious about a medical doctor writing about cooking. If there is one thing I hate, it is to eat food that is prepared like a health recipe. However, surprisingly Sam very fully understands taste and its principle components of drama, texture (layers) and smell. But this is not a book about cooking, rather it is a book about characters and this is Sam's gift to us.
The characters in this story are often kind and posses a type of honesty and dishonesty that can only be found in small towns. The book itself becomes a character you will cherish. I can't say this any more strongly: GO OUT AND GET THIS BOOK - YOU'LL LOVE IT!
Sunday, March 07, 2010
ഗര്ബഗെ ലെട്ടെര്സ്
I've been enjoying listening to Blog Talk Radio on the internet. They have some very interesting programs for poets and I suggest you check them out. You'll find them at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ or click on the title (which seems to be a bunch of garbage letters, no matter what I type). What is going on with blogger?
Friday, December 25, 2009
Season's Greetings!
the snow is bright
in the morning light
the yard echoes shouts
as kids go about
the precarious business
of falling downhill
we must take care
with the air we breathe
it's been laced with joy
since Christmas eve
in the morning light
the yard echoes shouts
as kids go about
the precarious business
of falling downhill
we must take care
with the air we breathe
it's been laced with joy
since Christmas eve
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Sea Trails: the Virtual Tour. Starting at The Thirteen Blacbirds. Don't Miss This!
Sea Trails is out and has full sails. Enjoy this Virtual Tour by a contemporary poet you don't want to miss! This post's title is a link to take you there - just click on it!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
alone
(for Debbie)
i have a day
i thought was lost
you were in the mirror
when i looked the first time
after that you were gone
everyone knows
they don't want
to be alone
to know the tragedy
that life is
when it is
theirs alone
mine was about yours
until i got our pronoun right
i have a day
i thought was lost
you were in the mirror
when i looked the first time
after that you were gone
everyone knows
they don't want
to be alone
to know the tragedy
that life is
when it is
theirs alone
mine was about yours
until i got our pronoun right
Thursday, August 06, 2009
January's "Got poetry" campaign
(You will find this post in the comments of the blog you go to when you click on the title of this post.)
January, I'm glad you came back to this issue with some new information and some more thoughts. I think back to Edna St. Vincent Millay and her trips across the country doing readings to huge crowds and wonder where poetry has lost all the popular appeal it once so apparently enjoyed.
On the subject of self-promotion, I definitely agree with both you and Collin on this issue. Additionally, I think we must also jump on each other's bandwagon, so to speak and relentlessly promote other people's poetry that we find important to us as well.
If you look at the difference between the indie and the large publishing house, you immediately see that the latter focuses on a small number of writers and promotes them professionally. Please don’t mistake me for thinking badly of indies, I publish all of my writing there currently and am extremely grateful for their existence. What I am trying to illustrate is that about half the reading public goes to a handful of large houses and the other half goes to a group of indies that is only slightly less numerous than the readership it serves. Among the indies, the promotion ranges from none to rather professional and they don’t repeat-print works (first timers only, please) although that is beginning to change. The net result is a very diffuse and huge group of near nameless poets for whom little or inconsistent promotion is generally applied and for whom the per capita sales of each author are rather small. When compared with the big houses, we can see how effective is their concentration on a small number of name-recognition level writers and strong promotional support for each of those names.
Still, the interest in those names doesn’t seem to approach the level of popularity of Millay, Frost, and a handful like them. It seems to me that something has happened to the perception of poets as interesting, odd, exciting people worthy of, perhaps for lack of a better word, gossiping about. I guess poetry now is about ordinary, if slightly eccentric, people living ordinary lives and legendary figures of immense popular appeal are not to be found in this group anymore. Maybe I’m just trying to take a poke at a windmill here as I really can’t seem to put my finger on why poetry has slipped out of the popular view. If it was just about professional marketing, wouldn’t the big houses already be so successful that the indie market would never have even been able to assert itself? I’m obviously missing something here and would be deeply indebted if someone would be so kind as to point it out.
I hope others will have something to say about this topic and so I’m going to post it to my blog and refer them to yours where this all started. Thanks again January for continuing your discussion of this important issue.
January, I'm glad you came back to this issue with some new information and some more thoughts. I think back to Edna St. Vincent Millay and her trips across the country doing readings to huge crowds and wonder where poetry has lost all the popular appeal it once so apparently enjoyed.
On the subject of self-promotion, I definitely agree with both you and Collin on this issue. Additionally, I think we must also jump on each other's bandwagon, so to speak and relentlessly promote other people's poetry that we find important to us as well.
If you look at the difference between the indie and the large publishing house, you immediately see that the latter focuses on a small number of writers and promotes them professionally. Please don’t mistake me for thinking badly of indies, I publish all of my writing there currently and am extremely grateful for their existence. What I am trying to illustrate is that about half the reading public goes to a handful of large houses and the other half goes to a group of indies that is only slightly less numerous than the readership it serves. Among the indies, the promotion ranges from none to rather professional and they don’t repeat-print works (first timers only, please) although that is beginning to change. The net result is a very diffuse and huge group of near nameless poets for whom little or inconsistent promotion is generally applied and for whom the per capita sales of each author are rather small. When compared with the big houses, we can see how effective is their concentration on a small number of name-recognition level writers and strong promotional support for each of those names.
Still, the interest in those names doesn’t seem to approach the level of popularity of Millay, Frost, and a handful like them. It seems to me that something has happened to the perception of poets as interesting, odd, exciting people worthy of, perhaps for lack of a better word, gossiping about. I guess poetry now is about ordinary, if slightly eccentric, people living ordinary lives and legendary figures of immense popular appeal are not to be found in this group anymore. Maybe I’m just trying to take a poke at a windmill here as I really can’t seem to put my finger on why poetry has slipped out of the popular view. If it was just about professional marketing, wouldn’t the big houses already be so successful that the indie market would never have even been able to assert itself? I’m obviously missing something here and would be deeply indebted if someone would be so kind as to point it out.
I hope others will have something to say about this topic and so I’m going to post it to my blog and refer them to yours where this all started. Thanks again January for continuing your discussion of this important issue.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
FIRST PUBLISHED VS. POPULAR ALREADY
The 'previously unpublished' versus the 'piece that is becoming popular' question is a big issue for me. This is something poets and publishers need to actively discuss because I believe that a wrong choice here can diminish the chance that a poem which has attracted some public interest will ever achieve the distribution and therefore exposure it would have experienced under the older print media system (which had its own flaws, let me hasten to add).
Much of the current electronic publication activity is, at best, counter-productive for the success of poetry in general (we need readers who are recreational and not just other poets). The small presses are struggling with minimal interest on the part of the consuming public and therefore are in perpetual financial difficulties. Many of them react to this situation so conservatively and narrowly that, believing they are serving their own best interests, they further limit the possible interest of the larger consuming public that poets and publishers used to enjoy in the past.
People (poets and non-poets) like to have their current favorite works available to read multiple times. Furthermore, they like the reassurance that others are just as excited about those works as they are. The more places in which their favorite poems show up, the more they feel as if their personal preference is justified. They like the critical interest generated by popular poems because they better learn how to understand them by reading what scholars are saying about their favorites. These issues are key ones to those who do not already possess educated specific background in poetry and poetry writing. The perilous inaccessibility of some modern poetry which demands deep technical understanding and considerable intellectual aesthetic attention is an understandable putt-off to people who already have no clue as to why MFA poets write the way they do.
I can’t think of a process more alien to this than our current small press activity. Are the current trends for publication in them actually endangering the growth of a real group of public readership (which would really be in the best interest of them specifically and modern poetry in general)?
Much of the current electronic publication activity is, at best, counter-productive for the success of poetry in general (we need readers who are recreational and not just other poets). The small presses are struggling with minimal interest on the part of the consuming public and therefore are in perpetual financial difficulties. Many of them react to this situation so conservatively and narrowly that, believing they are serving their own best interests, they further limit the possible interest of the larger consuming public that poets and publishers used to enjoy in the past.
People (poets and non-poets) like to have their current favorite works available to read multiple times. Furthermore, they like the reassurance that others are just as excited about those works as they are. The more places in which their favorite poems show up, the more they feel as if their personal preference is justified. They like the critical interest generated by popular poems because they better learn how to understand them by reading what scholars are saying about their favorites. These issues are key ones to those who do not already possess educated specific background in poetry and poetry writing. The perilous inaccessibility of some modern poetry which demands deep technical understanding and considerable intellectual aesthetic attention is an understandable putt-off to people who already have no clue as to why MFA poets write the way they do.
I can’t think of a process more alien to this than our current small press activity. Are the current trends for publication in them actually endangering the growth of a real group of public readership (which would really be in the best interest of them specifically and modern poetry in general)?
Monday, April 13, 2009
On writing for NaPoMo
I'm not much of a 'write for contests' kind of guy, preferring to commit to art rather than things which would produce some kind of personal recognition but I have participated, for the first time, in National Poetry Month because it is, in part, about something in which I believe. For any of you who are unfamiliar with it, this is an American event created to specifically promote poetry and increase public awareness of poetry and poets, in general. What is asked of us during the month of April is to write a poem each day of the month. I begin to be a little uncertain here, wondering if some quantitative value is going to do anything worthwhile for poetry but, what the heck; it’s for a good cause so I can tolerate a portion of sloppy logic to go with the good intentions.
I’m used to external discipline as it is applied to learning. I’m a teacher and I try to do this for my students all the time as I also help them with the process of learning how to do that for and by themselves (called learner autonomy). In my life as a poet, I frequently find I need to learn more about my art. How does W. C. Williams bring that larger context along with that object, The Red Wheelbarrow, with such a simple, short poem? How does Basho find the soul of something physical and familiar to us? How does a sonnet or sestina work? I must learn from these external things so I can do what the art of poetry demands of me.
When I seek to gain knowledge from external sources I am practicing learner autonomy in my own life. If a poet acquaintance like Robert Lee Brewer takes upon himself to post a daily prompt for each day of National Poetry Month for use by hundreds of poets on the internet, this is another form of external discipline because now I must write not only daily (which I already do) but on a specific theme. Sometimes a thousand or more poets respond and post their themed results on an internet location where they can be collected and judged. I am the kind of poet that likes to revise and this regime gives no time for that activity to take place. In essence, we are being asked to produce the best work we can with rather short notice and with very little opportunity to revise before submission. This is so far away from the writing regime I have been using for years but I find I am learning some unplanned lessons in areas I usually don’t even think about by participating in this experience.
We are nearly half way through and it is not too late to pick up your pen and join in the fun. If, like me, you would never consider doing such a silly (although well motivated) thing like this, I invite you to give it a try. After all, being a holy person in the isolation of living on a high mountain is one thing but coming down and trying to be pure in the city with its myriad temptations is a whole ‘nother. Join the crowd!
I’m used to external discipline as it is applied to learning. I’m a teacher and I try to do this for my students all the time as I also help them with the process of learning how to do that for and by themselves (called learner autonomy). In my life as a poet, I frequently find I need to learn more about my art. How does W. C. Williams bring that larger context along with that object, The Red Wheelbarrow, with such a simple, short poem? How does Basho find the soul of something physical and familiar to us? How does a sonnet or sestina work? I must learn from these external things so I can do what the art of poetry demands of me.
When I seek to gain knowledge from external sources I am practicing learner autonomy in my own life. If a poet acquaintance like Robert Lee Brewer takes upon himself to post a daily prompt for each day of National Poetry Month for use by hundreds of poets on the internet, this is another form of external discipline because now I must write not only daily (which I already do) but on a specific theme. Sometimes a thousand or more poets respond and post their themed results on an internet location where they can be collected and judged. I am the kind of poet that likes to revise and this regime gives no time for that activity to take place. In essence, we are being asked to produce the best work we can with rather short notice and with very little opportunity to revise before submission. This is so far away from the writing regime I have been using for years but I find I am learning some unplanned lessons in areas I usually don’t even think about by participating in this experience.
We are nearly half way through and it is not too late to pick up your pen and join in the fun. If, like me, you would never consider doing such a silly (although well motivated) thing like this, I invite you to give it a try. After all, being a holy person in the isolation of living on a high mountain is one thing but coming down and trying to be pure in the city with its myriad temptations is a whole ‘nother. Join the crowd!
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