[lit-ideas] Re: Taste of the pseudo-serious Poetaster
- From: "Stan Spiegel" <writeforu2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 22:17:33 -0400
Mike -
You're the closest thing I've ever come to a good poet. Dashing those
"ditties" off the way you do leaves me amazed. I wish we could talk about
them over a beer. But c'est la vie, as they say in Germany.
Stan Spiegel
Full of Tao in Portland
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 9:09 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Taste of the pseudo-serious Poetaster
> Hi, Stan,
>
> I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't comment. In fact, I've found
your
> comments interesting. As to your daughter, I've probably got something
like
> 50 years on her, skin can certainly thicken in that about of time, but I
do
> remember the need for encouragement over honesty and I sympathize with
her.
> But you can hold your nose at any line of mine any time and I'll not
whine.
> If I were an aspiring poet, rather than a joker, I'd probably jump at the
> opportunity to talk about my writings. But I'm just having fun, Stan.
It's
> fun to sit down and write these ditties, I just hope I'm not being
tiresome.
> Tiresome people can be so tiresome. I'm immensely flattered that you like
> elements of what I write, but I can't talk about most of it, because I
often
> I don't know what any of it means -- not art-wise anyway. I just like the
> way it sounds. There are serious poets to whom I owe my life, people
whose
> sensitivites have carried me through dark hours, but I can never be one of
> them. My mind doesn't work that way. Maybe some day I can be a Kenneth
> Koch, though. That would fun. "Life is much too important a thing ever to
> talk seriously about it" -- Wilde.
>
> Again I thank you. Don't pay any attention to R Paul or A Amago. : )
>
> Mike Geary
> subtle as a junk yard dog
> Memphis
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stan Spiegel" <writeforu2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 4:51 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Taste of the pseudo-serious Poetaster
>
>
> > Hey Mike! I just noticed that last line of yours: "I refuse to take my
> stuff
> > seriously enough to talk about it."
> > Wow! You remind me of my daughter who thinks she's serious about writing
> > fiction, but unless I'm simply a cheerleader, she gets offended.
Critiques
> > are anathema, just praise. Just give her praise.
> >
> > You show courage by exposing your work to us. But don't you expect us to
> be
> > as analytical about your work as we are about George W. Bush's or
Michael
> > Moore's?
> >
> > I hope this doesn't stop you from sending us your Sunday work, but do
you
> > expect us to change our stripes just because we admire your willingness
to
> > make yourself vulnerable in the public square? (I think that was the
> > underlying expectation, now that I think about it.) I'm caught in a trap
> > now. I don't know which way to turn. Should I just shut up?
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 4:06 PM
> > Subject: [lit-ideas] Taste of the Poetaster
> >
> >
> > > What the hell do you mean I'm not subtle? Maybe my not 'being subtle'
> is
> > an
> > > ultra-subtle way of being subtle. Think about that. Appreciate your
> > > comments, but I refuse to take my stuff seriously enough to talk about
> it.
> > >
> > > take care,
> > > Mike
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Stan Spiegel" <writeforu2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 2:08 PM
> > > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: SUNDAY POEM
> > >
> > >
> > > > Mike -
> > > > Today's pieces sound like Tennesee haiku, if there is something like
> > that.
> > > > If I had my druthers, I'd like to see you develop the first one more
> > > fully.
> > > > The broad brush-strokes you use immediately engage me, my sense of
> > rhythm
> > > > and my ear, but it was too small an hors d'oeuvre to satisfy my
> > appetite.
> > > > (like haiku, I guess. I have a hard time with things that whet my
> > appetite
> > > > but I can only have a teeny bit of. I can't enjoy a tiny sip. I need
> to
> > > > drink the whole bottle. I could easily be an alcoholic.You're not
> > helping
> > > me
> > > > get drunk.)
> > > >
> > > > The way you start, the picture you draw in "The Tao of Dad" --
> > everything
> > > > works, but I'm lost when it comes to the significance of your title.
> I'm
> > > no
> > > > Eastern philosopher so when I looked it up, I found tao refers to
the
> > > > universal force that produces harmony in nature. I don't see harmony
> in
> > > > nature in your picture of your dad like a wind-shaped tree.
> > > >
> > > > Is it unfair of me to ask you to talk about your intentions? Usually
> > > you're
> > > > as subtle as a live firehose or a punch in the nose. Neither your
> humor
> > > nor
> > > > your diatribes show subtlety. How come here?
> > > > Stan Spiegel
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > > To: "LIT-IDEAS" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 1:56 PM
> > > > Subject: [lit-ideas] SUNDAY POEM
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > THE TAO OF DAD
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > See him? There on that hill. Yes,
> > > > > the one just standing there,
> > > > > looking for all the world
> > > > > like a wind-shaped tree,
> > > > > a survivor,
> > > > > while all around him,
> > > > > dust devils, ghost marauders, raid the fields.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > THE TAO OF DOING
> > > > >
> > > > > Listen. Is that the sound of stone bending water
> > > > > or of stone-bending water?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > THE TAO OF DOG
> > > > >
> > > > > A trail of dry paw-prints in dew-darkened dust.
> > > > > Even that, sun erased, left no trace.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > THE TAO OF DEATH
> > > > >
> > > > > Now he, too, has turned to dust,
> > > > > returned to lusting Earth,
> > > > > both he and the woman who gave me birth
> > > > > returned
> > > > > but I kept their mirth.
> > > > > What use is it to stupid Earth?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > --- Mike Geary
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Mike Geary
> > > > > Memphis
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation
on/off,
> > > > > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
> > > > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
> > > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
> > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
> digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
