tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post6273655563422639088..comments2024-03-25T02:43:49.115-05:00Comments on Karen Edmisten: Poetry Friday: Readers, fame and crushesKaren Edmisten http://www.blogger.com/profile/04446214835142625161noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-54585579792115758722008-01-25T19:17:00.000-06:002008-01-25T19:17:00.000-06:00Well, you just made me love that poem. Thank you.Well, you just made me love that poem. Thank you.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09630262224739505223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-5151627893076527222008-01-25T13:52:00.000-06:002008-01-25T13:52:00.000-06:00I liked both the Bukowski and the Collins poem. I'...I liked both the Bukowski and the Collins poem. I'm not sure it's ignorance on Bukowski's part at all. Unlike Collins, I think Bukowski was more focused on the poem of the moment rather than the grand scheme of things. He probably had a bad day with a particular reader (or readers) and captured it on paper. Collins seemed to be looking at the reader/writer relationship in general and over time. The whole placenta idea does, as Kelly almost said, come across as Bukowski's ironic acknowledgement that the reader is important.John Mutfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08730205221787092204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-64578266611531137392008-01-25T13:45:00.000-06:002008-01-25T13:45:00.000-06:00Charles Bukowski was a mean old drunk. I don't thi...Charles Bukowski was a mean old drunk. I don't think his literary legacy is going to add up to much. Billy Collins crowd-pleasing bonhommie might not add up to much in the long run, either, but I LIKE him more.Beckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13953517447164263617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-9881530531612515302008-01-25T12:57:00.000-06:002008-01-25T12:57:00.000-06:00Kelly, That's so funny, because I started to launc...Kelly, <BR/>That's so funny, because I started to launch into the same speculation ... that he did indeed know what he was hinting at, that he was leading us to think on the motivation provided by the reader-placenta, how it nourishes creativity, knowing that someone will read this someday .... but, I, too, just ended up saying, "Naaahhh ...."Karen Edmisten https://www.blogger.com/profile/04446214835142625161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-46062805792902298652008-01-25T12:46:00.000-06:002008-01-25T12:46:00.000-06:00I adore Collins. Big-time. And I knew about the re...I adore Collins. Big-time. And I knew about the recitations, but had forgotten. And there's nothing like hearing him read his work. Or better, seeing him while he reads - his delivery is impeccable. It won my husband over to the notion of going to poetry readings, even. (He still talks about "The Lanyard" sometimes, because of how Collins delivered it.) <BR/><BR/>And I'd love to defend Bukowski and claim he was being ironic and that the reference to the placenta was intentional and that he feels that words sustain readers, but I don't like him enough to bother.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-26782947127752724062008-01-25T11:02:00.000-06:002008-01-25T11:02:00.000-06:00Excellent point about the placenta! And I did love...Excellent point about the placenta! And I did love this poem (first time reading it). Collins is always so readable -- is it because he IS conscious of his audience, and cares? I don't think he views us as afterthoughts at all.jamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07859083373087448194noreply@blogger.com