synthesis series
a catalog of my short summer reading posts about the crafts of observation and poetry
Discussing:
"Seeing" by Annie Dillard
“Museums” by Dan Beachy-Quick
“Best Things dwell out of Sight” by Emily Dickinson
Discussing:
“Song of Myself” Part 26 by Walt Whitman
Excerpts from The Changing Light at Sandover by James Merrill
“How Merrill Composed "The Changing Light at Sandover” from the Poetry Foundation
Discussing:
"Steps" by Frank O'Hara
"Poem (I lived in the first century of world wars)” by Muriel Rukeyser
"Long Night Full Moon” by D.A. Powell
Discussing:
“There Are Birds Here” by Jamaal May
“The Truth the Dead Know” by Anne Sexton
“Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong” by Ocean Vuong
Supplemental Essays
The Subversive Character of Prose Poetry
Discussing “Forsythia” by Ada Limón
the subversive character of prose poetry
“Prose poetry is a monster-child of two incompatible impulses, one which wants to tell a story and another, equally powerful, which wants to freeze an image, or a bit of language, for our scrutiny.” — Charles Simic, "Essay on the Prose Poem”
How (Un)Ambiguous Can a 65-Word Prose Poem Be
Discussing “On Walking Backwards” by Anne Carson
how (un)ambiguous can a 65-word prose poem be?
The most lucid sentence in this poem, in my opinion, is the following: “They have no lungs and cannot call out but would love for us to turn around.” The speaker refers to the careless way the living often discard the dead after the dead are no longer able to advocate for themselves.
Changing Voices in a Prose Poem
Discussing “Mausoleum” by Terrance Hayes
changing voices in a prose poem
Somehow, people are diminished in complexity after death. For the recently dead, their state of deadness takes precedence, and pitying them, it is easy to spotlight their upstanding traits. This is why people are remembered by shrines; the dead are made holier than their living counterparts. The speaker laments this fact: “No obit says of the recently dead: ‘He was cruel, he was low down and selfish, the world is brighter without him,’ but wouldn’t that be great?”
Repetition as a Tool for Innovation: Pantoums
Discussing “Pantoum of the Great Depression” by Donald Justice and “My Brother at 3 a.m.” by Natalie Diaz
repetition as a tool for innovation: pantoums
This poem is an anti-poem. Writing tends to sensationalize, or at least indicate a deeper meaning, a winding towards a goal. The speaker rebukes this concept—”there is no plot in that; it is devoid of poetry”—and warns others against romanticizing past eras. This pantoum is a close approximation of a poem “devoid of poetry.”