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Tag Archives: reading
‘Mandible Wishbone Solvent’ — Pass 2 of 3
Mandible Wishbone Solvent” by Asiya Wadud (Poetry, March 2022). [Previously commented text: https://ethicaldative.com/2022/04/25/mandible-wishbone-solvent-pass-1-of-3/ ] what vaunted green excess enclosed in each skimmed year then the years / vanquished any fuchsia sky / the excess leaking forward filmed aqua / filled … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary
Tagged grammar, language, lexicon, personal, poetry, reading, rhetoric, style, syntax, translation
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‘Mandible Wishbone Solvent’ — Pass 1 of 3
“Mandible Wishbone Solvent,” by Asiya Wadud (Poetry, March 2022) roped in incremental ghost tens / future tens clairvoyant tens home tens // blue slips beneath the exposed wing / tilt then seam then an angle spent all inside / the … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary
Tagged grammar, language, lexicon, personal, poetry, reading, rhetoric, style, syntax, translation
4 Comments
‘Smidgins’: Afterthought
A “smidgin” is an imprecise, tiny amount of something, a modest dollop. As a poem title, the jocular word is self-effacing but also coyly assertive, like a humble-brag. I got dirt under my nails the other day with Rae Armantrout’s … Continue reading
How Poetry Feels About Itself
Rae Armantrout’s poem “Smidgins” fulfills an imperative of lyric, which is “Don’t be gassy.” Also another imperative, which is “Talk in riddles.” My crumpled, wrinkled / blurt / of flesh. // “Let’s face it,” / it says. * … Ravaged … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary, Quotations
Tagged grammar, language, lexicon, personal, poetry, reading, rhetoric, style, syntax, writing
3 Comments
On ‘Love Letter to a Dead Body’
I’m intrigued by the tension in Jake Skeet’s [sic] poem: Its title juxtaposes love with death, and its rhythms press against the nettle-like images. The first stanza’s images are scarred and rough with “burr and sage,” “bottles” and the “cirrhosis … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary, Quotations
Tagged grammar, language, personal, poetry, reading, rhetoric, style, syntax, writing
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Coming Unstuck With Glück
I’ve acquiesced to much of what I can’t quite fathom in Louise Glück’s poetry. Enough reaches me to defeat surliness. I feel surprisingly addressed at times: … You are like me whether or not you admit it. / Unsatisfied. Meticulous. … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary, Quotations
Tagged language, personal, poetry, reading
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How I Do Reading, Sadly
It seems when I encounter a poem I start an argument with it; I approach it as a provocation. Why is it written this way? What is it trying to tell me? What should I feel or think after reading … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary
Tagged language, personal, poetry, reading, rhetoric
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Not Everything Is a Sonnet, Damn It
“I get pretty impatient with people who consider any fourteen-line poem to be a sonnet. The turns of thought are crucial, as is the number of turns.” (Carl Phillips, interviewed by David Baker, http://www.kenyonreview.org) The interview inspiring these illustrations is … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary, Quotations
Tagged grammar, language, personal, poetry, reading, rhetoric, style
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Cosmic Cheese
The world / was whole because / it shattered. When it shattered, / then we knew what it was. “Formaggio” is Italian for “cheese.” The poem so titled is in Louise Glück’s book Vita Nova. On first reading I experienced … Continue reading
Posted in Anthology, Commentary
Tagged grammar, language, literature, personal, poetry, reading, rhetoric, style
2 Comments
Cry the Belovèd Reader
“Mandible Wishbone Solvent” by Asiya Wadud (Poetry, March 2022). Pass 3 of 3. Previous comment: https://ethicaldative.com/2022/04/25/mandible-wishbone-solvent-pass-1-of-3/https://ethicaldative.com/2022/05/01/mandible-wishbone-solvent-pass-2-of-3/ You. Be. Here. It’s an affirming imperative to exist, or be situate, in the speaker’s space-time. It’s addressed to “tilt” — twice “tender” now … Continue reading →