5.21.2008

blindspot

It seems I have a blindspot when it comes to visual poetry. I am vested in the fact that such a thing as a 'poem' can be made from the pure and simple resources of language.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you intend that a 'poem' can *only* be made from the pure and simple resources of language?

JforJames said...

I wouldnt say 'only', but essentially, for me, poetry is made of mere words. And I like it that way. The image in poetry allows the reader to envision, or to see the thing in his/her own way. In visual poetry the seeing is directed/defined and less open to interpretation.

Anonymous said...

It's nice to know that someone else who moves about online feels that way... I find visual poetry to be a kind of curiosity. Sometimes even providing an amazing moment, but I like to think they are something other than a poem, if only so I can keep a handle on what I DO think a poem is.

I suspect this is not wholly disconnected from my unhappiness with much "post avant" poetry that discards with most of the notions I have of what words are for and what they do best.