Against "little epiphany poems"
 

Perloff: "[W]hat is really 'easy,' in the context of the present, is to write little epiphany poems in free verse, detailing a 'meaningful experience.' This creates an artifact, poem as object, remnant of a process called 'writing poetry.'"
 
Retallack picks up the baton: "It is finished, fixed, mimetic, mirror iamge of things jelled in our habits of thought and perception. The reader is pampered, protected from uncertainties, unpredictabilities--the untidiness [...] and excitement of process. Like most of ordinary language, this poetry is designed to smooth out irregularities, to move us from one word to the next with a minimum of resistance."

> tagged with #language, #process, #poetry

> created Apr 8, 2025 at 5:28:45 PM


> part of unfinished everything


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unfinished everything is an original work / ongoing project (1997-present) by jeremy p. bushnell

selection, arrangement, and original text available for creative reuse under this licensing arrangement

authors' quoted words are their own.


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