Barry Lopez says: real beauty is so deep you have to move into darkness to understand it. I sense a truth in Lopez’ words, but at the same time I must admit I’m not able to fully comprehend the meaning of his enchanting postulat. But this is what I do know: when in darkness – look for beauty, because beauty can (strange…
Tag: writing
All art, of course, is intellectual …
… but for me, all the arts, must above all be emotional — and act upon the heart. When I speak of poetry I am not thinking of it as a genre. Poetry is an awareness of the world, a particular way of relating to reality. — ANDREI TARKOVSKY
Poets ought not to be far from their words
I enjoy reading books on writing. It’s a great way to situate oneself in the tribe, as a writer amongst writers. The best books on writing offers a sense of belonging and purpose. This year I have read six such books, and am currently immersed in book no. 7; Diane Lockward’s The Crafty Poet. A Portable Workshop….
Story about a mother who develops an allergic reaction to her kids –
This is not a post on how to write and why – I spend most of my time writing … This is a post on how not to write and why: Every now and then I do some proper work, but most of the time I’m scribbling. Scribbling in the margins of books I read,…
Unhorsing
“I am suggesting that the radical of poetry lies not in the resolution of doubts but in their proliferation” ― C.D. Wright I’m reading C. D. Wright’s last published work: The Poet, The Lion, Talking Pictures, El Farolito, A Wedding in St. Roch, The Big Box Store, The Warp in the Mirror, Spring, Midnights,…
Becoming bird
In 2010 Masahisa Fukase’s The Solitude of Ravens was, rather unforseen, selected as the best photo-book of the years 1986-2009. Unforeseen because the book is a kind of an obscure masterpiece, not really that well known. from Fukase: The Solitude of Ravens The Japanese artist Masahisa Fukase (1934-2012) made the picture series Karasu (Ravens) – the works the book is based upon –…
Natalie Diaz
I have to talk about Natalie Diaz. Or rather; give Diaz some space (If you haven’t read her yet, you really should!) This is Diaz in her own words: The greatest and perhaps single piece of knowledge I carry in me when I write is that there are multitudes of truths contained in a single story. I…
The best american poetics
In his introduction to The Best American Poetry 1991, Mark Strand, my favorite guide in the sphere of aesthetics these days, uses his own personal background (which I guess will be recognizable for many of us) to illuminate the difference between poetry and prose. Here is my attempt to summarize some his arguments: My parents…
Reading Mark Strand
– contemplating the difference between prose & poetry Mark Strand: The Weather of Words
If it is true, as Stendhal famously remarked, that beauty is the promise of happiness; what then is ugliness the promise of?
What is ugly? Who is ugly? – cont. According to Umberto Eco: Beauty is, in some ways, boring. Even if its concept changes throughout the ages, nevertheless a beautiful object must always follow certain rules. … Ugliness is unpredictable and offers an infinite range of possibilities. Beauty is finite. Ugliness is infinite, like God….
sub rosa 