This poet sucks.

[GaYellowDawg]

It's a real comedown from Obama's speech.

[NightWatcher]

1. I'd rather one of the Haikus from the Lounge

[GodlessBiker]

2. Oh. This is a poem?

[Erin Elizabeth]

3. She's way overenunciating every. Single. Word.

Maybe she's nervous. If I could just read it as a text, it's probably a decent poem.

[joshcryer]

10. Half. The mall. Has emptied.

[Erin Elizabeth]

16. Oh. My. That's. Sad.

This. Is. Hard. To. Listen. To.

[Mrs. Overall]

14. Been to many poetry readings?

This is standard enunciation for reading poetry. Listen to some tapes of Plath, Sexton, Eliot or Frost. They read the same way.

[Erin Elizabeth]

19. Yes, I have. And no they don't.

I've listened to Frost reading his own work countless times and he did NOT read it like that.

[EFerrari]

25. It depends on what he was reading. "Finer demarcations

keener sounds" -- yes, sometimes he did. Eta: Oops, that's Stevens. Hmm -- think "After Apple Picking" or "Design".

[Erin Elizabeth]

Well his/her point was that those poets always read their

work the way this lady did. Shenanigans. They did so only when necessary, such as that line you quoted. But they didn't read their entire gotdamned poem like that.

[CTyankee]

87. It is "ghostlier demarcations..." (I used that last stanza as a preface to my

Master's thesis so I know it pretty well!). And yep, that's Wallace Stevens in one of my favorite poems "The Idea of Order at Key West."

As for Frost, I agree with you on his "Design" which I truly like. Sometimes Frost is a bit too sentimental for me which Stevens never is. I'll have to check out "After Apple Picking" again.

I like Alexander's works. I'll be conducting a Study Group on her and Kay Ryan, our Poet Laureate in the spring. Sort of a "compare and contrast" type of thing we've all done in school.

This inaugural poem was good for what it was. It is very difficult to come up with great poetry for an occasion. The really great stuff doesn't grow organically out of those situations...

[EFerrari]

89. You're right! My favorite poem and I screwed up the words AND

the authorship! LOL!

[CTyankee]

94. No, you identified it as Stevens's.

I love the meaning of that poem, which to me identifies nature, the artist and the critic (or teacher) in each one's role in the making of art. Do you think that Stevens agreed with Blake, that "without man, nature is barren." I've had interesing arguments with environmentalists with that statement!

[EFerrari]

100. Sometimes I suspect that Stevens succumbed to sound

over sense as we are seduced by melody but, he's still a great date. :)

[CTyankee]

103. He once wrote that "poetry is a quail, disappearing into a bush."

His vision is very distinct and he is difficult to analyze.

Yes, his melody does enchant, doesn't it...

[tishaLA]

91. Right. Occasional poems aren't typically great

and the ones people tend to enjoy--like Angelou's mess at Clinton's first inaugural--are pure, unadulterated bilge. I really like Alexander's poetry quite a bit. Even though she isn't Stevens...but then, who is? (see sig line)

[EFerrari]

93. Stevens (my favorite) is also a pretentious b word sometimes.

lol

And agree about "occasional" poems. They're almost anti-poems because no matter how hard you try to let go, you're involved in translating from prose.

[CTyankee]

96. Here is one of her poems that I am using in my spring Study Group

on her and our Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan.

Autumn Passage by Elizabeth Alexander

On suffering, which is real.
On the mouth that never closes,
the air that dries the mouth.

On the miraculous dying body,
its greens and purples.
On the beauty of hair itself.

On the dazzling toddler:
"Like eggplant," he says,
when you say "Vegetable,"

"Chrysanthemum" to "Flower."
On his grandmother's suffering, larger
than vanished skyscrapers,

September zucchini,
other things too big. For her glory
that goes along with it,

glory of grown children's vigil.
communal fealty, glory
of the body that operates

even as it falls apart, the body
that can no longer even make fever
but nonetheless burns

florid and bright and magnificent
as it dims, as it shrinks,
as it turns to something else.

[XemaSab]

99. Frost? Sentimental?

And you probably think "Road Not Taken" is an inspiring poem. :rofl:

Stevens knew how to lighten up and have fun. Frost... notsomuch.

[CTyankee]

106. I 'd love to hear a great lightened up Stevens poem!

I do know he referred to earth as his "fat girl" which I thought was a little humorous, but I don't know of another one. "thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird" seemed a little more serious, if you ask me. And I can't think of another one that is really "lightened up."

[XemaSab]

107. Bantams in Pine-Woods

by Wallace Stevens

Chieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftan
Of tan with henna hackles, halt!

Damned universal cock, as if the sun
Was blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.

Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat! I am the personal.
Your world is you. I am my world.

You ten-foot poet among inchlings. Fat!
Begone! An inchling bristles in these pines,

Bristles, and points their Appalachian tangs,
And fears not portly Azcan nor his hoos.

--------------

It's a poem about a chicken. :D

[CTyankee]

109. It is a funny poem, but who knows its "literary" references of his time?

I am not sure it is about a chicken, but it could be.

I feel it is more about his peers at the time of its writing than anything else (he had done this elsewhere).

Just my thinking on it. It just seems to me that there is nothing that stirs an artist more than a challenge to his "manhood" and that gets them going...

[Mrs. Overall]

34. Yes, he did.

I'm the editor of a national literary journal. The way she (Elizabeth Alexander) read is the standard way that many poets read their poems. I have organized numerous poetry readings where many famous poets have read. And nearly all of them read in a short, staccato style in order to emphasize line breaks and various other poetic devices.

[EFerrari]

37. I think Alice Walker read a short lyric on Amy's show this morning.

She's the side kick today. What a great choice.

[John Q. Citizen]

48. I liked her poem, i thought it was both beautiful and relevant. An it wasn't somehow

different or strange for the delivery.

[Chiyo-chichi]

45. They never had to follow Barack Obama.

[Mrs. Overall]

47. True. After an eloquent speech, the style of contemporary poetry sounds odd.

[slampoet]

104. I am a former Poetry Slam champion. THIS POEM SUCKED. and not due to it's form or lack.

i have seen Amiri Baraka, the last Poets, Rita Dove, Robert Pinsky, Allen Ginsburg, Patricia Smith, Shane Koyzan, Sage Francis, Saul Williams, Jessical Caremore, Mums the Scheemer, Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins, Jim Carrol, and many others perform poetry live.



In the last 20 years i have witnessed around 38,700 poems read live
and i can say WITHOUT ANY RESERVATION that this poem sucked.

Stop insulting the culture level of your Fellow DU'ers.


The reason the Poetry Slam was invented was specifically to discourage poets from reading to their shoes and evening poems in a way that makes you wonder if they are actually ending the poem.

BTW- THE POETRY SLAM WAS INVENTED IN CHICAGO. It's winningest champion (Patricia Smith now of MS. Magazine.) in ALSO FROM CHICAGO.


I have witnessed at least 38,700 poems read live in front of audiences in the last 20 years and that poem was horrible. The performance was worse.

This is a perfect example of WHY academic poetry sucks.


PLEASE LEARN WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON in poetry the LAST 45 years. This style of reading DIED BEFORE ROBERT FROST.



Look up the National Poetry Slam if you want some good poetry.

[acmavm]

130. No amount of 'proper' enunciation is going to be able to salvage

crappy 'poetry'.

What was that all about?

[Phoonzang]

4. God I hate poetry... hm

[WinkyDink]

27. Please don't. Here are 2 examples why not to:

Sonnet To Chillon
a poem by Lord Byron

Eternal spirit of the chainless mind!
Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art,
For there thy habitation is the heart,
The heart which love of thee alone can bind;

And when thy sons to fetters are consigned
To fetters, and the damp vault's dayless gloom,
Their country conquers with their martyrdom,
And Freedom's fame finds wings on every wind.

Chillon! thy prison is a holy place,
And thy sad floor an altar, for 'twas trod,
Until his very steps have left a trace

Worn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod,
By Bonnivard! - May none those marks efface!
For they appeal from tyranny to God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Langston Hughes - Mother to Son

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

[elleng]

5. Listen quietly.

.

[EFerrari]

She did a fine job. Her voice is lovely.

[nyc 4 Biden]

6. I want the violinist back. eom

[BattyDem]

7. Her words are very nice. Her delivery is terrible.

:-(

[davidpdx]

8. I had ran to the bathroom after his speech and was in a rush

to get back to see if I missed anything else. I guess I would have been better off staying in the bathroom.

[gauguin57]

9. Wow ... what is wrong with you folks?

She is encapsulating all that Obama is about!

And I LOVE how she's reading.

[Lex]

28. exactly

nt

[JSK]

36. Ditto

You nay-sayers sound like Repukes. :)

[GaYellowDawg]

44. LOL...

"sound like Repukes" - a highly ironic turn of phrase after titling a post "Ditto."

[eShirl]

43. we're certainly not alone in our reaction

just something to think about

[fishwax]

53. I agree -- I thought her poem captured the historical moment quite well

:applause:

[eShirl]

I would have lived to hear Maya Angelou again

[Frosty1]

95. I Agree

:shrug:

[Erin Elizabeth]

11. Lord it gets more painful as it goes on.

I'm sorry, but I'm glad that's over now. Maya Angelou!!!! She read an original poem at Clinton's inauguration.

[Minimus]

12. Yeah - it doesn't even rhyme!

[Lex]

17. exactly

jesus, some people :eyes:

[Lex]

13. No, it's not. You're just not able to appreciate it.

nt

[eShirl]

20. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Lex]

When's American Idol on again!

That's really entertaining!

[eShirl]

29. Maya Angelou, now there's a poet

[Fire1]

110. I thought about her too!

[GaYellowDawg]

38. FWIW

I have never watched an episode of American Idol. Never. I despise it.

Williams' composition was very nice, and very well performed. Warren's invocation was rambling. Obama's speech was great. Lowery's benediction was touching and heartwarming. The poet sucked. What she read was - as I said - pedestrian, and if you thought of that as some sort of high art requiring intellectual appreciation, then you simply have no taste or appreciation for good poetry.

[Erin Elizabeth]

23. Oh please.

The words were delivered so sharply and harshly (as. One. Word. At. A. Time.) that the meaning of the lines were lost a bit in those long pauses.

On edit, if she had read it with a bit more prosody, a tiny bit of rythym (not even a LOT, just a teeny tiny bit) then the delivery would have been MUCHO better.

[GaYellowDawg]

30. It's pedestrian. But thanks for attempting to appear intellectual.

:hi:

[Lex]

32. Sorry you're upset

but have a nice day.

[GaYellowDawg]

41. Amused, not upset, but you have a nice day, too.

:eyes:

[JohnnyLib2]

15. Betcha it speaks to our very bright President!

[Doremus]

18. The words were nice but the delivery was lousy.

[w4rma]

21. Yup. Everyone where I work was watching intently until a bit into her poem.

The poet does suck.

[Sisaruus]

22. I thought she was great.

Her words were powerful, meaningful, relevant - and her delivery was appropriate to the message.

[Lex]

26. She was.

It was.

[GaYellowDawg]

42. She wasn't.

It wasn't.

Too bad.

[John Q. Citizen]

51. It was good for me and bad for you. Better luck next time.

[Lex]

52. LOL.

:thumbsup:

[Mrs. Overall]

54. And you are a literary critic?

I'd love what you'd say when Yo-Yo Ma plays contemporary atonal music.

[GaYellowDawg]

58. No - but I know pedestrian when I hear it.

I'd love what you'd say when Yo-Yo Ma plays contemporary atonal music.

I don't say a thing. I listen in bliss.

[Mrs. Overall]

64. Do some research on Elizabeth Alexander.

The woman is far from pedestrian and her delivery of her poem was standard for current poets.

Who is a contemporary poet that you've heard who, in your opinion, is not pedestrian? Let's have some names so that we can measure her performance against them.

[GaYellowDawg]

68. Didn't say the poet was pedestrian. The poem was.

Yusef Komunyakaa, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Nikki Giovanni, John Ashbery, Sharmagne Leland-St. John... is that a good enough list for you, or shall I give you more?

[Mrs. Overall]

70. And what, specifically makes this poem pedestrian?

Anyone can google poet names. What is your specific critique?

[GaYellowDawg]

75. It bored the shit out of me. That's critique enough for now.

Besides which, you know as well as I do that you have to have the text of a poem in front of you for repeated readings to apply a specific critique. And I don't care how sniffy you get about it.

"Anyone can google poet names." Can anyone tell you that their favorite poem by Ashbery is "Into the Dusk-Charged Air"? Or that they like Nikki Giovanni because she's a Southern poet who grew up less than an hour from where I did? If you want to probe someone, I suggest yourself - with a broomstick, you pretentious asshole.

[Mrs. Overall]

77. Proudly pretentious, I am. Poetry is my job and I will defend a good poet and a good poem.

You are well read. Your original post title didn't do you justice. I apologize for my tone if it attacked you personally. I am haughty about poetry, however.

[GaYellowDawg]

81. You make me feel bad. I am sorry for my harsh words.

I am going to post again.

[EFerrari]

84. GA, I posted the text downthread if you want to run eyes over. n/t

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8115108&mesg_id=8116691

[GaYellowDawg]

86. Thank you.

Very nice of you.

[Mrs. Overall]

88. Hey, I'm on another board right now with a bunch of poets and

I just told them I was told to shove a broomstick up my butt! They are going to love it! I actually think it's great that a poem can cause a passionate discussion.
Don't feel bad...I love this sort of real, honest, brutal dialogue.
And I am a pretentious bitch sometimes and I thank you for calling me on it!

On Edit: There is a lot of negative buzz out there about her delivery of the poem. I thought she did fine, but others are being very critical. You're probably more on target with this than I am!

[CTyankee]

98. Someone once said that the realm of art was "high stakes and bitchy."

Oh, so true.

I think you and I and others who love poetry must give a pass to people who don't "get" it (poetry, that is). It's not their fault entirely. They just never had the gene to really love it. It's okay, I never got the algebra gene...

There is nothing I like better than taking apart a poem to divine what it means (I don't mean crucifying it, I mean interpreting it). I do this with Emily Dickinson all the time and also Wallace Stevens. Good stuff there.

Do you like Kay Ryan's works?

[GaYellowDawg]

102. I should be honest...

... the anger was about my ego. Again, you shame me - this time, for giving me too much credit. I should save passion for things like poetry that deserve it. I would never have said something that pungent to you in person. I hate that I'm so much more of an asshole on the Internet. I honestly do feel bad about it. If we'd had that conversation in person, I would have found a better way to express my opinion.

[CTyankee]

108. Hey, that's ok! You sound like a good person!

Could I offer you another poem by Elizabeth Alexander? Maybe we could discuss it? Here it is:

Autumn Passage by Elizabeth Alexander

On suffering, which is real.
On the mouth that never closes,
the air that dries the mouth.

On the miraculous dying body,
its greens and purples.
On the beauty of hair itself.

On the dazzling toddler:
"Like eggplant," he says,
when you say "Vegetable,"

"Chrysanthemum" to "Flower."
On his grandmother's suffering, larger
than vanished skyscrapers,

September zucchini,
other things too big. For her glory
that goes along with it,

glory of grown children's vigil.
communal fealty, glory
of the body that operates

even as it falls apart, the body
that can no longer even make fever
but nonetheless burns

florid and bright and magnificent
as it dims, as it shrinks,
as it turns to something else.

[Barack_America]

24. I thought it was beautiful...

And nicely complimented the themes of Obama's speech.

[willing dwarf]

116. Me too! I loved it!

[derby378]

31. It's still better than Maya Angelou's 1993 inaugural poem

:hide:

[GreenPartyVoter]

50. Oh no you didn't!

[JimDandy]

60. Delete

[JimDandy]

62. Are you kidding? "Still I rise" to say you're entitled to your incorrect opinion. n/t

[MadBadger]

33. Tough Crowd

[Political Tiger]

35. I thought it was lovely! n/t

[progressoid]

39. Would have been better with some bongos Dadio!!

[XemaSab]

101. Homie looks like Rick Warren

:hide:

[Starry Messenger]

112. Good catch!

Yikes.

[Captain Lance Bass]

40. ALL poets suck....no offense n/t

[BrotherBuzz]

46. Hey, all poets suck except Ogden Nash

His poetry is something I really enjoy. I share them with my son and we really enjoy them. But then, we like playing Mad Libs®, too. :)

[Forkboy]

49. Tell that to Muhammad Ali.

:)

[BeyondGeography]

61. Anyone who has ever read Edward Thomas would never say that

Or many others.

[EFerrari]

85. For some of us who love poetry, that's like hearing someone say that all sex sucks.

:)

[Bluenorthwest]

55. Love her poem

and others too. Not a great reader of her own work.

[JimDandy]

56. Soooooo disappointing. What a let down.

She sounded wonderful on NPR last week. What happened? :shrug:

[fishwax]

57. It was a great poem

and she's a great poet and scholar. I did think the delivery was awkward, but the poem itself was a great inaugural poem.

[shayes51]

59. I loved it.

[Maeve]

63. To be fair, the President's speech was a tough act to follow

I love saying that...the President, Mr Obama!

[-..__...]

65. Poem!?!...

You wanna hear a poem?

I got your fucking poem right here!!...

[MadHound]

66. Actually I rather liked it.

A nice way of capturing the mood. However as with all the arts, to each their own.

[alwysdrunk]

67. Yeah that shit was awful

Where did they find her?

[Mrs. Overall]

69. She is a well known contemporary poet, scholar, and writer:

http://www.elizabethalexander.net/home.html

[GaYellowDawg]

72. Doesn't mean we have to like what she did today.

Everyone has an off day.

[-..__...]

71. I hope she's not actually paid...

to write that dreck.

[Sisaruus]

73. Yale and Harvard

She's a Yale professor and a Radcliffe Institute fellow at Harvard.

[ShortnFiery]

127. Yes, they should have hosted an Irish Limerick.

:evilgrin:


P.S. I love this GUY that leads the sing-along. :loveya:

http://media.smh.com.au/?rid=43627

[vaberella]

74. That thought crossed my mind. ~sigh~

At least he's in.

[EFerrari]

76. I can't find the text. If anyone has it, please post it!

Thanks!

[fishwax]

79. here's the text

as transcribed by the literary blogger at about.com: http://contemporarylit.about.com/b/2009/01/20/elizabeth-alexanders-inaugural-poem.htm

[EFerrari]

82. Thank you, fishwax! I was too excited to think of it!

:applause:

[EFerrari]

83. Praise song for the day.

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others’ eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer consider the changing sky; A teacher says, “Take out your pencils. Begin.”

We encounter each other in words, Words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; Words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, “I need to see what’s on the other side; I know there’s something better down the road.”

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”

Others by "first do no harm," or "take no more than you need."

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

[weezie1317]

124. Thanks for posting that. In much of the text, she's trying to give a portrait of America, but...

it's just a pencil sketch. It isn't full or complete -- something the great poets can do in this short of a poem. I still think it reads like a children's book.

[EFerrari]

133. The form is African and it's filled with American images, sort of like Obama is.

lol

It's not ornate, that's very true. It's in the tradition of plain style. But it's a very sneaky poem that doesn't announce itself to you. It goes from noise to concerted song, from many to one voice, from any day to this particular day, from scarcity to abundance. While it honors Whitman.

Maybe it's a poem only poetry freaks can love. :silly:

[XemaSab]

134. For something titled "Praise Song"

she sure read it like she was delivering Aunt Enid's eulogy while wondering about the contents of the will. :hide:

[bkcc]

78. It was just a bad place to have her speak.

I was no fan of her poetry reading, but I think the reception would have been much different had it come BEFORE the inauguration rather than immediately after.

[Posteritatis]

80. It sounded like Palin in an ESL course (nt)

[EmilyAnne]

90. I liked it.

[Blue-Jay]

92. The poem was random and boring.

It was almost like an online poem-generator.

[dem629]

111. Most of them are.

[Vattel]

97. It didn't quite succeed

in using the commonplace to reach something more profound. Here's a poem that (IMHO) succeeds in doing that ("What Gets Noticed" by Jo-Anne Cappeluti):

The confidence of flies at barbecues, radio static, funeral processions, the taste of blood, limp cereal, wet mail, paper blown against a chainlink fence, aging necks, bad teeth, fallen leaves, smoke, the blindness of angry eyes

stepping stones halfway across a vacant lot, footsteps at night, headlights on driveways, the sky before it rains, mushrooms or raisins in anything, the stranger sitting next to you or in front of you in a theater, the size and shape of pickles, buttons, doorknobs, empty swings in schoolyards, babies' hands, crumbs on white linen tablecloths, red hair, long hair, people who wear wigs, skinny women in sleeveless blouses, fat men in knit shirts, what people do with their hands when they talk, accents, ladders leaning against houses, stray dogs, rain puddles, hallway mirrors, new carpeting, stained carpeting, dreams in color, the blind familiarity of waking up, the wind that picks up after a sunset, faces in candlelight, Christmas lights, travelers taking pictures, florists' trucks, open windows, postcards, stars, planets, the moon, silence, the blind smiles of people waving goodbye.

[XemaSab]

135. I like that one better

Probably not appropriate for an inauguration, but it uses simple images to tell a story and evoke a mood.

[RoadRage]

105. Not my cup of tea...

I'm not a poetry conisseuer, so I only speak from a very non-poetic place when I say that I didn't like it. Dr. Suess I can get into. This, I can not. It just seemed to drab on.. and I finally had to put it on mute.

I assume poetry is suppose to be enjoyable? That to me, was not.

[TK421]

113. I wanted it to end about a minute into it.......boring

uninspiring....not worth my time

Yeah, it sucked

[northernlights]

114. well, now that I've actually read the text

(and thank you for posting it)
I can say, as a non-professional nobody (but former promotionall wirter), I like the writing. But the delivery sucked...big time. I was embarrassed and had to force myself to sit still. Wanted desperately to get up and run.

I don't care if that's how they read at poetry readings. This was not a poetry reading. This was a momentous occasion and a celebration. It probably would have been better read by an actor.

I'm sure part of it was that she was nervous, so she really overdid the poetry reading style, but I doubt that was all.

She needed to just forget that she's a "poet" and is "supposed" to read it like a poet.

She needed to let it flow.

Taken at a normal pace, with rhythm and cadence and appropriate pauses, it does transform the mundane into the extraordinary. This is a new day and a new beginning. It does capture that.

But her reading....oy!

[CTyankee]

131. But what actually "is" the right way to read any poem?

Every era has its own style along with its own poetry. The poetry that lasts is the great poetry and who is to say what will last? Emily Dickinson, our greatest American poet, wrote totally out of her era's style, which was hortatory and stentorian. She and Whitman developed their own styles, ideosyncratic, out of step with other writers of their day. I doubt if either of them could have delivered their own poetry (if they had even wanted to, which I doubt) to anyone's liking!

I think Alexander found her poetic "voice" at the end of the poem, which illustrates to me why it is so hard to start a poem. You almosthave to start with writing down words and phrases that come to you at the oddest times...

[Odin2005]

115. The poem sounded like incomprehensible word salad.

That is what passes as "poetry" these days? Frost is rolling in his grave.

[Zomby Woof]

117. At least she doesn't post in the Lounge

I'll give her some credit for restraint.

[XemaSab]

136. .

:spank:

[avaistheone1]

118. That poem was a real let down.

[ShortnFiery]

128. Same here. But to each his/her own. That THING has now topped the best seller list.

:wow: :crazy:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/21/obama-poet-alexander-bestseller

I would have preferred to be tied down to a chair and forced to view "river dance" to such a snore fest - but such is "the uncultured" one's opinion. :silly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xkw8ip43Vk

[ddeclue]

119. Maybe they could have skipped the poet and went straight to the closing prayer...

after all, it at least rhymed...could have gotten 2 for 1...

:rofl:

[Sultana]

120. I Agree

[file83]

121. I disagree - I thought that poem was beautiful!! Did you actually LISTEN to it?

And apparently, Obama agrees with me!

[treestar]

122. I liked it all right, but she didn't make a very natural delivery

And where is the line between poetry and prose these days? What qualified that as a poem?

[mwb970]

123. I guess I just don't "get" poetry of that type.

The delivery was flat. Obama's speech struck me as much more poetic and better delivered to boot. If people enjoyed her I say great, and I have no problem with her being on the program, but it just didn't reach me personally.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

125. the poem reads much better then she did...as with most authors

they should never recite their own works

[ScreamingMeemie]

126. Well said. It wasn't so much the poem that was bad as the poet's

inability to be able to communicate it. It was like listening to my mother in law and/or nails on a chalkboard. :)

[Marrah_G]

129. I just thought the delivery was not great

But perhaps she was a little nervous speaking to THE ENTIRE PLANET..........

[bertman]

132. That poetry reading just set the love of poetry back at least two centuries.