Good poetry does the opposite of “poetic” things to me
Good poetry: uses words to rip away verbal lenses and direct attention to wondrous-banal pre-verbal experiences that I’ve become blind to
“Poetic” things: fully obscures what I can partly see with thick verbal theater
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I don’t mind theatrical poetry that sets out to be theatrical. It’s what I think of as “failed expressionism” where you try to cover up your failure to actually see the core of what you’re looking at with lots of extra besides-the-point fussiness. Like verbal premium mediocrity.
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Good poetry: “look at that TV screen reflected in that drop of condensation”
Intentional theater: “To see the world in a grain of sand...”
Failed expressionism: “The sunset evokes an intense, richly textured tapestry of poignant emotions”
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