Two friends of ours have joined poetic forces in a little experiment we called Operation: Poetry Dare. Poetry-avoidant Nancy Franson was asked to begin reading a poem a day. Megan Willome, her poetry buddy, agreed to be a sounding board of sorts, discussing the poems with her. They’ve shared their experience with us here at Tweetspeak over the past several weeks.
In their conversation about the poem Mistakes I Have Made by Susanna Childress, Megan remarked, “I defy Oldham — the ranting guy — to explain how ‘one hand clapping’ is not poetry. Music added or not, that says something. And ‘one man clapping’ does, too. It’s poetry, too.”
Nancy issued her own poetry dare to Megan, and here is the result: a nice piece of found poetry at work.
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Will Oldham’s June 1, 2012 column in Poetry magazine from the Poetry Foundation has sparked a lot of controversy, including a response column in The Awl. Well, I read it. It’s actually pretty poetic.
Mr. Oldham, I fling at you your own words.
To hell with drawers:
Poetry is something that points to something else.
A poem holds nothing up and nothing in. It sits there.
Sitting there on the paper a poem makes me feel ignorant and insane,
fills the air with signs that I cannot use to direct myself anywhere
except the restroom or the sidewalk or inside of myself.
My mind is kept in a drawer, in the end. And the drawer
hides its contents from view, like a poem.
I also do not like drawers. There must be shelves
where the contents are visible.
When things are hidden in drawers, they do not exist.
So really, poems and cabinets only make me hurt
because I resent those who love them.
This is what I, a child of the age, need. I’m ready for
a return to epic balladry.
It now takes a grander force
to pierce the defenses and get the party started in my soul.
Photo by Claire Burge, sourced via Flickr. Used with permission. Post by Megan Willome.
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Want to take your own Poetry Dare?
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Nancy Franson says
Megan and I make a pretty darned good team. That’s what I think. This is brilliant!
L. L. Barkat says
You put his words in a drawer? Mischief-maker 🙂
Marilyn Yocum says
I’m getting the biggest kick out of the trouble you’re stirring up, Megan.
Love this, BTW:
“My mind is kept in a drawer, in the end. And the drawer
hides its contents from view, like a poem.
I also do not like drawers. There must be shelves
where the contents are visible.”
Megan Willome says
Thanks, y’all. See what happens when you hang out in the poet’s corner?
Diana Trautwein says
Glad there was a link to the starter essay, cuz now I LURV rhe poem even more. Great work, Megan. Not snarky in the least. (well, maybe in the least)
Heather Eure says
Brilliant! You gave him a much needed smack-down. In fact, it was like tag-team wrestling match won with a flying leg drop off the turnbuckle. One, two, three…
Will Oldham limps home, defeated. *snortle!*
davis says
not all who wander
are lost
in the great scheme of it
no cost
but to love
in a word
and to fly
like a bird
it don’t need to make sense
to be boss
Marilyn Yocum says
Love it! 🙂
Megan Willome says
I so love it when someone leaves a poem in the comments!
Maureen Doallas says
I’ll return your words to you this way:
Poetry Is Not About Mistakes
Dare to begin with little
poems: found words
shared in a conversation,
the experience of a day
with friends. Music that
is at work is not explained.
Megan Willome says
Maureen, you are such a gift!
Louise Gallagher says
And.. taking the lead from Maureen…
Dare to let the words
speak
volumes
where ever they lay
concealed
in a drawer
tucked up in the far recesses
of a mind
too trapped to open
itself
without the aid of a poet’s
tender touch.
Megan Willome says
Louise! I’ve missed you! And I love your poem.