Floating around the “poetosphere” I’m noticing a good deal of debate about the validity of song lyric, especially popular song lyric, and rap in particular, as poetry. In my not-so humble opinion the debate – though well intentioned – often hits stupid levels, this is less the fault of the people on either side debating, […]
Poetry
Poetry, mine or others’
Nikki Giovanni, Bicycles: Love Poems. and Reflections on Geoffrey Hill
I often have an issue with a lot of political or revolutionary poetry, unless it’s really good, then I tolerate it or if it’s really good I praise it. Two overtly political poets, on opposite ends of the spectrum, are Nikki Giovanni and Geoffrey Hill Nikki Giovanni, Bicycles: Love Poems. I found Nikki Giovanni’s Bicycles: […]
Frederick Seidel, Poems 1959 – 2009. And Charles Upton, The Wars of Love
(direct Amazon links for you forthcoming) On Frederick Seidel, Poems 1959-2009 Joseph Beth Books just received a copy of Frederick Seidel’s massive Poems, 1959 – 2009. So I poached it off their shelves. The hardbound volume was $40, rather expensive, but Seidel’s works are hard to get a hold of in retail chains, and this […]
What Happened to Poetry (youtube video links)
How are the West, Islam, advertising jingles, passion, words, and melodrama connected? In a world of ideologues, East and West, Ad men, and complete asses in the guise of human beings – in an age of disputes about mosques on ground zero and Quran burnings by preachers, let’s look at something relevant – looking at […]