Poets: don't do this

 Don't do this with poetry! 

on her blog, Theresa Göttl Brightman explains: no, you shouldn't respond to rejections...

Poet's Haven Halloween Jubilee

The Poet's Haven will be holding a Halloween Jubilee on Saturday, October 31st at Oak Knoll Park in Massillon! Doors will open at noon with poetry and music performances starting at 1:00. This will be an all-ages event featuring poetry and music performances from; Steve Brightman, Theresa Göttl Brightman, Nikann Charney, Joshua Gage, Marissa Hyde, Azriel Johnson, KnowEyePoetry Collective (CUPSI team from College of Wooster), Kristen Laine, Lennart Lundh, Nick Mayberry, Jen Pezzo, Vince Robinson, Dan Smith, J.E. Stanley, and The Stetson-Marlowe Project. J.E. Stanley's new book, The Persistence of Night, will be making its debut here. We will also be joined by our friends from Blood Pudding Press, Crisis Chronicles Press, and Writing Knights Press. Food and drinks will be available, with sales in support of the Lake Effect Poetry slam team!

More info on Facebook.

Best Cleveland Poem!

Ray McNiece rocks the house

Here they are, the ten finalists and three alternates for the 2nd Annual Best Cleveland Poem Contest.  Come to the Willoughby Brewing Company at 4pm this Sunday  to hear them read, orchestrated Master of Ceremonies Ray McNiece.
Please invite one or two hundred of your friends to support this event sponsored by Tim "I'll make them rhyme" Misny.

In no particular order:

• Steven Smith
• TM Göttl
• JP Armstrong
• Dianne Borsenik
• Jeffrey Bowen
• Lee Chilcote
• Renay Sanders
• Michael Murray,
• Geoffrey Landis
• Danilee Eichhorn
• Anita Keys
• Mary Turzillo
• Frances Lograsso

This will be great!

See you all Sunday. Please promote the event on fb, twitter and other media platforms!

Willoughby Brewing Company:

• 4057 Erie Street Willoughby Ohio 44094

--oh, and check out the book from last year's contest.   If you love poetry, and love Cleveland-- this is the book for you.

•  last year's contest

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Crackerjack...

Let's talk about team sports for a minute. Let's set aside the Indians' tugging of our playoff hopes back and forth. Let's forget about the Browns' draft picks. NEO's Lake Effect Poetry Slam Team is heading to Boston for Nationals in a few weeks, and they need our full attention.

When I first started dipping my toes into the poetry reading scene, I didn't know anything about slam other than what I could glean from the comments of other poets and snippets of Def Poetry Jam I might have caught once or twice. I filled in the blanks with a lot of misconceptions.  Such as:

Poetry slam is for teenagers. Slam is like hip-hop. Slam is for street poets. Slam is not for little, Catholic, white girls. Slam poets need to rhyme their poems. Slam poets need to improv their poems. Slam poets need to memorize their poems. Slam poets...need to...recite their...poems...like this... Poetry slam is about pitting one artist against another in a mean-spirited fight. Poetry slam isn't "real" poetry.

I quickly learned that slam was none of those things I used to think it was.

Slam is a poetry performance competition. Some poems lend themselves more readily to performance competition than others, but there is no defined genre for slam. Slam showcases a skill that every poet in every venue needs:  the ability to not only write an effective poem, but to then read/perform it in an engaging manner. Yes, there are some bad slam poems, but there are also some bad academic poems. And some of the best slam poems I've heard were on page.

Fast forward six years from those first open mics, and I found myself in Charlotte, NC for the 2012 National Poetry Slam, as Northeast Ohio's Grand Slam Champion. It was thrilling, terrifying, and inspiring to be around so many poets, to hear so many different voices, to be in front of so many different people.  Writing is a solitary activity, but slam is a team sport--a team sport with a national community.

National Poetry Slam is a chance for poets to stand in front of people from across the country and show off what we're doing here at home. And with this year's team--AKeemjamal Rollins, Caira Lee, Ariana Cheree, and Christine Howey--Boston's going to be buzzing about Cleveland.

But Lake Effect is still short of funds needed to get to Boston. The good news is that they have a handful of fundraiser events coming up in the next couple weeks before they leave. The better news is that you still have a chance to hear their poetry before they leave. Check out the schedule of Lake Effect fundraisers and readings, wish them well on their trip, and root root root for the home team!

Community vs. cash?

In a recent conversation on poetry, one poet told me that community is "absolutely necessary" to her creative process. She was specifically speaking about a close group of a few fellow writers, but since that conversation, I've been mulling over the concept of a poetry "community."

Anyone relatively active in poetry readings in Northeast Ohio would confirm the presence of a poetry "community" in the Cleveland area, and many who attend readings regularly would also probably attest to the importance of such a community. But I'm wondering exactly what aspect (or aspects) of "community" poets feel is necessary to the creative process.

Open mics and regular readings provide an open forum, but doesn't "community" imply more than that. More formalized groups with paid memberships--like the lately departed Lit--provide workshops, classes, and regular publications, but many of those groups seem to be struggling, or like The-Lit, going under. It's easy to blame it on the economy--people don't have the money to pay for writing association memberships right now. But I have to wonder if such groups might also be going under because they're becoming obsolete, no longer meeting the needs of poets in 2012.

So now I'm wondering if you would pay for membership in a poetry organization, and what perks you consider to be worth the price of a paid membership. Or do informal gatherings provide you with everything you feel you need in a creative community for free?

(In the interest of full-disclosure, this isn't purely a point of personal interest. As current VP of the Ohio Poetry Association, I'm genuinely interested in feedback on how we could make formal poetry organizations more relevant to members and potential members and what you, as poets, feel are the needs among NE Ohio writers that are not being met right now.)

Get Blasted (and more) at PoetryElyria

Cleveland Poetics blog contributor T.M Göttl is also a brilliant poet who has a new chapbook available from Cleveland's Blasted Press. Pick up a copy and hear T.M. read Sunday February 20th 2011 at 1 p.m. during PoetryElyria at Jim's Coffeehouse and Diner, 2 Kerstetter Way in Elyria, Ohio. This event will also feature readings by poets Steve Thomas (of Cleveland) and Tina Puckett (of Stark County). An uncensored open mic will precede the features. Visit Blasted Press at www.blastedpress.com and on Facebook. Jim's Coffeehouse is a beautiful venue and their ownership and staff have been incredibly supportive of poets, even staying open 24 hours a day (with the staff working for nothing but tips) during our recent 150-hour Snoetry poetry marathon. Many thanks to everyone in the literary community who has supported Jim's Coffeehouse back! If you can, please check out these upcoming events: Feb. 20th: We'll feature T.M Göttl, Steve Thomas & Tina Puckett Feb. 27th: Columbus poets Louise Robertson, Paula Lambert, Laraine Seidl March 6th: Grand finale at Jim's Coffeehouse, featuring John Dorsey (Toledo), Zach Ashley (Detroit), Steve Goldberg (Cleveland) & Steve Brightman (another Blasted Press author, from Kent).

Ohio Poetry Day: October 15-16 2010

The 2010 Ohio Poetry Day will be celebrated on October 15 and 16 at Heidelberg University, in Tiffin, Ohio.

Ohio Poetry Day is celebrated on the third Friday and Saturday of October. From the page, I see that "Ohio Poetry Day was the first government sanctioned Poetry Day in the United States. It was through this day that other states began to celebrate a poetry Day and eventually National Poetry Month came to be."

The poetry day celebration includes the Friday evening "poets meet and greet," followed by the poets heading to Carmie's for an open mike and other amusements, but the main event on Saturday (October 15), with readings from the Ohio poet of the year, awards to the poets who won the Ohio Poetry Day contests (followed by readings), and various other readings and poetry events; not to mention the book room. The events finish up at 5, except for the after party.

Check the website at ohiopoetryday.org for more, and read the Ohio Poetry Day forum if you want to comment, ask questions, or get the most up-to-date information.

If you're on Facebook, check out the Ohio Poetry Association group.

--by the way, this year's winners of the 2010 Ohio Poetry Day contest includes a good sampling of area poets. Just noticing the names who contribute to clevelandpoetics, I see T.M. Gottl, Mary A. Turzillo, Geoffrey A. Landis (um, that would be me), Dianne Borsenik, and Joshua Gage. Congrats, poets!

Mix

I have a friend who, in lieu of sending Christmas cards, burns mix CDs of new music that he’s discovered throughout the year, and mails them to all of his friends.

Although not particularly adept at the art of the mix CD myself, I’m a strong believer in the mix CD. I think it’s a great way to cheer up a friend, celebrate occasions large or small, or convey a sense of your personality to a potential romantic interest. (I even have a friend who teaches high school and told one of her students that he could earn extra credit by making her a really good mix CD.) But even more importantly, the mix CD gives you the chance to share new music with someone who would otherwise not have been aware of that artist. I’ve discovered many a “favorite” singer or band through friends who have passed along mix CDs.

I mention all this because a few days ago, I found myself wishing for a poetry-equivalent of the mix CD. I often find poems that I want to share with friends, and I usually just end up typing out the poem in an email or sending a text message with a few lines. (For “Poem in Your Pocket Day,” I texted a haiku to about two dozen friends, mostly non-poets.) But I’m wondering if anyone has a better suggestion for sharing new poetry discoveries. Short of buying a book to give to someone, how do you share a new poet or a specific poem or two with friends? In the spirit of National Poetry Month and turning more people on to the poetic craft, how do you spread the appreciation of poetry? Do we have a poetry equivalent of the mix CD?

T. M. Göttl featured in Mnemosyne

Local poet and performer (and clevelandpoetics blogger) T. M. Göttl is featured in this week's installment of the online 'zine Mnemosyne.

Mnemosyne is a poetry site edited by Jen Pezzo ("Kerowyn Rose"). Every week it focuses on a different poet/artist, posting a new poem every day, along with interviews and profiles and miscellanea, and this week's feature is Theresa

(...whose name means "little god." I'm not suggesting that she's really a poetry god, but you might keep this in mind. I'm just saying.)

Check it out!

Snoetry review

Worth checking out: T.M. Göttl's Cleveland Poetry Examiner column at examiner.com reviewed last weekend's "Snoetry: A Winter Wordfest" poetry festival in Erie PA.

Death of small press publication, or a chance for resurrection?

A fellow poet recently passed along an article about e-publishing, which suggested that the internet is the beginning of the end of small press literary journals. We both attended a recent publishing workshop in which the leaders expressed the exact opposite opinions of this particular article, and now I find myself with mixed feelings.

I like paper. I like books. I'm a tactile person. I like to be able to hold a book, to turn the pages, to underline sentences. You can read a book anywhere, anytime. If the batteries run out, you can still read a book...because it doesn't run on batteries! Maybe I'm clinging to dinosaur sentimentalities, but I like being able to hold something that exists in the "real world", something that we might be losing touch with. So much of life right now takes place on a computer screen. It's where we conduct our relationships (i.e. FaceBook, MySpace, even this blog!), how we work, how we watch movies and television, how we attend classes, how we listen to music, how we receive our news--heck, you can even order dinner from your computer and have it show up at your door! There is very little that a person cannot do with an internet connection. I don't know that I want it to also be the place where I need to go to read my books.

Aside from that, there's the practicality and solidity of a book. You can loan a book to a friend, and unlike with the fiasco earlier this year when e-books bought for Kindles were being subsequently wiped, it's much harder for someone who sold you a book to then creep into your house and steal it back. And of course, with the internet, we've been told over and over again that publishing your work online leaves you infinitely more susceptible to plagiarism and theft of your intellectual property.

That being said, in case you haven't noticed, the internet is growing faster than any technology we've had to date and is solidly rooting itself in human life for the forseeable future. If you don't believe me, check out this video. So what does this mean for the small press industry and poetry publishing?

Poetry is already an artform with several strikes against it in terms of popularity and sustainability. Do we dare add one more by clinging to the small press format and shunning online publishing?

How much entertainment can be found (legally) for free on the internet right now? But small presses are still asking five, ten, twelve dollars, or even more for an issue of a print journal. I know that all writers would love to subscribe to as many journals as possible and support the organizations that support our work, but most can't afford to subscribe to dozens of quarterlies. So then we must ask what is more important? Getting money for our work from the handful who will pay for it? Or getting our work into the hands (or screens, as it may be) of eager readers?

Human beings are the most adaptable creatures on the planet. We have managed to survive in the hottest deserts, the coldest tundras, mountain regions, grassy plains, swamp lands, coastal regions. We can outlast hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, and anything else that Mother Nature throws our way. So why is it that we as writers--not the entire human population, but only a very specialized segment of it--are having such difficulty adapting to this brand new terrain and climate called the internet?

I don't think that this means that all print publications should surrender all to online publication. I'm sure the answer lies somewhere in the middle, somehow creating a mutual relationship between the online world and the print, such that each can feed and nourish the other. The music industry is working hard to adapt to a new environment spawned by the advent of Napster and the like. There is an equally viable solution somewhere out there that the poetry world could employ to its advantage. We just haven't engaged our creative forces in that direction yet.

If smaller, struggling literary journals take notice and act now, this could be the opportunity to resurge and reach widespread audiences that formerly wouldn't take notice of a tiny little poetry mag. Or, this could be the end of the small press. But one thing is for certain: hiding in a fortress of paper and ink, hoping that all the ones and zeros will go away if we wait long enough, is guaranteeing extinction.

Are you on PST (Poet Standard Time)?

Yesterday, I found myself once again running a couple minutes late, which stretched into ten minutes, then fifteen, then a half hour. While in the car pondering my tardiness, I mused to myself that that I used to always be on time (obsessive-compulsively early, in fact) before I became a poet.

The Poet Time Zone seems to be geographically ethereal, but it tends to fall at least half an hour behind any bordering time zone. I've heard emcees around town joke when a feature is running behind that we're all on "poet standard time" or that any legitimate poetry reading has to start at least half an hour late anyway.

Does it then become a self-perpetuating cycle? The poets don't expect the reading to start until half an hour late, and so don't plan to arrive earlier, thereby arriving even later, thereby delaying the reading...and on and on!

So is it poetry that makes us late, or does the character makeup of naturally late people cause them to gravitate towards poetry? Do our free spirits prevent us from being bound by such banal devices of restriction like...clocks? Do our creative natures transcend time and space? Nature vs. nurture?

Or...are we just trying to make excuses for ourselves?

Let me know if you find yourself likewise afflicted.

Gottl: the Cleveland Poetry Examiner

Cleveland poet (and fellow clevelandpoetics team member) T. M. Göttl just started writing an online column for the Examiner.com, the Cleveland Poetry Examiner. Her first article reviews the recent first anniversary of the Lix 'n Kix poetry reading series (currently at Bela Dubby in Lakewood, every third Tuesday, 7pm). She plans to write about poetry events, open mics, and other topics that might be pertinent to writers and poets in NE Ohio, posting a couple articles every week.

So, take a look, and if you have suggestions for topics that should be covered, you might drop her a note!

(and, by the way, you should check out her work at buffalozef.net. Or catch one of her readings!)

If a tree falls in the woods and no one's there to hear it...

In the past,
I've mentioned in passing what I think poetry "should be". Having just wrapped up another year's work on an annual concert/art fest/cancer benefit in which I'm involved every September, I've seen first hand how art can be used in service of a cause. Even Cleveland's poetry community has organized benefit readings, like the one Bree hosted to benefit the Lost Boys here in Cleveland. Art in general--I think--should eventually serve a cause beyond itself.

For example, love him or hate him, you can't deny that Bono has used his music (and the international fame he's gained through the music) to draw attention to issues like world poverty. I think that art exists for more than just itself, even if that "other" purpose is nothing more than drawing a couple people together, opening one person's mind to a new thought, communicating, connecting. And if the artist has the opportunity and ability to go beyond that--enacting societal change, awareness, enlightenment--doesn't he have that obligation to do so?

In the past, when I've stated that opinion, many people have disagreed, arguing (and I'm paraphrasing here) that poetry should be for love of language, for the artist, for the sake of the art and nothing more. But isn't art communication? If there is no one to whom the artist wants--or will allow--the art to communicate, is it even art? Is a poem that's written and hidden in a drawer, never to be seen or heard, a poem?

So I really want to know, in your mind, what "should" poetry be?

Politics in poetry?

I recently attended a reading
where the feature stated, “I hate political poems,” as he then proceeded to read what may or may not have been construed as a “political poem.” But this begs the question: Is there a place for politics in poetry?

I would argue that any thought-provoking topic has a place in poetry (or art), be it nature, religion, unrequited love, or even politics. I would argue that the problem is whether or not politics is approached with open-mindedness by both the audience and the artist.

Yes, that’s right. The artist too.

Exhibit A. I once attended a reading where this very issue became more than just a hypothetical question. A young man, who said he had never attended a poetry reading before, stood up to read during the open mic portion of the evening. He introduced himself as just having returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, and he read a few very sincere pieces about his personal experience with war.

The very next open mic reader of the evening stood up and read a bombastic, anti-war piece.

Shortly thereafter, the young veteran stormed out the door. I’ve never seen him at a reading anywhere around town since.

Exhibit B. I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but often at readings, I’m approached by people (often those who don’t know me very well) who begin a political monologue with me. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the speaker, I’m immediately made uncomfortable because the speaker almost always approaches in such a way that he or she assumes that I automatically agree. I generally answer with polite silence, and the person strolls off happily, assuming, still, that I agree.

Yes, I know that as writers, we’re supposed to espouse the values of freedom of speech and all that entails. Yes, I know that, as artists, we need to be open-minded to other, often conflicting opinions.

But isn’t open-mindedness a two-way street? Doesn’t the poet need to be open-minded enough to recognize that even though someone may disagree, he or she shouldn’t be made to feel immoral, ignorant, stupid, evil, Neanderthal, or insert your disparaging adjective of choice here. Opinions can be stated and complex issues SHOULD be discussed, but in such a way that there is enough wiggle room left for someone to state an opposing opinion without being subject to—pardon the reference—a pre-emptive strike.

Dogmatism, whether you’re talking about religion, politics, or the best brand of ketchup, does nothing to improve inter-human relationships. And more often than we care to admit, I think political poetry unfortunately veers into dogmatism. Shouldn’t poetry be opening the doors to discussion and free exchange rather than closing them to maintain a pool of homogenous opinions?

Save Ohio's libraries!

I hope that many of you have already heard about this, but if not, I need to let you know:

Governor Strickland has proposed cutting Ohio's library funding by 50%.

Fifty percent!?

Half?!

That can't happen. Especially when we're talking about Ohio's library system.

Yes, most of us have this tendency to be down on Ohio. We rank #1 in poverty. The schools are failing. Our industry is dying. We all know the rap sheet of our home state by now.

But Ohio has the best libraries in the nation.

Let me repeat that for you.

Ohio has the BEST libraries in the entire United States of America.

The Columbus and Cuyahoga County systems consistently rank at #1 and #2 in the nation. And Ohio library systems land somewhere in the top 10 in every population category, according to the Hennen's American Public Library Ratings.
http://www.haplr-index.com/HAPLR100.htm

Ohio actually has something to point to, be proud of, and shout, "We're #1!"

And now they're talking about demolishing it.

We've grown accustomed to the high quality of selection and service we receive at our libraries here in Ohio, and as such, I think many of us tend to take it for granted. But I've heard from friends who moved to places like Nashville, Washington DC, California, and New York, and they've all told me how much they miss the Ohio libraries. They've had to resort to used bookstores and subscriptions to movie services because the selection just isn't there. It's cliche, but true: You don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Let's not take that chance to find out.

So please, take a few minutes, and write to your Ohio Senators and Representatives. This is a drastic reduction in funding that will obliterate programs that people rely on most during these "tough economic times"--services like career counseling, financial planning classes, computer training courses, free internet access. Not to mention free access to books, periodicals, films, and music.

To culturally starve our population by cutting library funding is not the way that we're going to recover from anything.

To find your Ohio Senator:
http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/SenateZipSearch.html

To find your Ohio Representative:
http://www.house.state.oh.us/

Poe-"Twee"?

Backing off from the controversy for just a moment now, I’d like to talk about a very serious topic:

Twitter.

Chalk up one more seemingly useless social networking site next to the already existing plethora of uselessness to which I subscribe—MySpace, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, LiveJournal, MyFace, SpaceBook…And now, I’ve given in and joined Twitter.

[My apologies to those who haven’t signed up for one or more of these and have no idea what the heck the rest of this blog is about. You have my utmost admiration for not falling into such black holes cleverly disguised as “social networks”. Please feel free to stop reading this right now, go grab a cup of tea, put your feet up, and snuggle with an old-fashioned book or some re-runs of House. The rest of you, who have fallen to the seductive wiles of Facebook and her ilk right along with me, please keep reading.]

Twitter seemed useless to me. It’s like your Facebook or MySpace “status”…but without the Facebook or MySpace that goes WITH the status updates. I didn’t understand. That is, until I became addicted to reading the updates of celebrities (and quasi-celebs) like Neil Gaiman, Jimmy Fallon, Steve Poltz, Jason Mraz, Dave Barnes, Darnell Levine…

Some people have truly turned the “status update” into an art form. A new, technology-necessitated art form, but an art form nonetheless. One that is text-based. And short.

See where I’m going with this, poets?

Poetry is supposed to be the most condensed form of literature. So, do you think we can condense it to 140 characters or less [the length limit for any Twitter post]. I’ve recently attempted to post a handful of cinquain and other short poems in my status on Facebook and Twitter. Why not pick a week (maybe this summer) when we all decide to post short poems—be they haiku, cinquain, or other short verse—in our status updates?

In an era of lamentation over the increasing legitimacy of a sentence like, “wat r u 4 2nite?” why not make an attempt at infusing a bit of literacy back into technology? Just once, maybe we could, enmasse, attempt to update our status (stati?) with something a bit more worthwhile than, “Jane is…going to the gym before dinner.” Maybe this could be the new, updated version of various poetry postcard projects that exist out there. After all, the point behind the postcard projects is that the art is viewable and accessible to anyone and everyone, in much the same way that a status update is viewable by just about anyone on the internet, all over the world (depending on your privacy settings, of course).

Thoughts? Or am I just being naive?

All Things in Moderation

I promised I’d take a shot at stirring some kind of catalyzing agent into this pot, so I want to broach a topic that’s been on my mind for quite a while:
Moderated readings.

Or, as some call it, “censorship.”

I know this has been a touchy topic around town for quite a while now. Some lash out at such language restrictions. Some blatantly flaunt them, dancing with the threats of angry store managers.


I just want to ask why.

Before the anti-censorship mobs come to string me up, I’m going to make it clear that I’m no prude. You’re not going to scar my tender little ears by throwing out some graphic descriptions or other language not approved by the FCC. I gladly stand up for the freedom of speech, and I’ll be the first person to argue that there are times, pieces, instances when such language is warranted—yea, even necessary—in a poem. But the skillful artist knows the time and the place.


When language restrictions have been repeatedly made clear, there is no need for someone to attend such a reading and drop four-letter words like sprinkles on a cupcake. (And just to be clear, I’m speaking in generalizations here; not calling anyone out specifically. It’s just that I’ve seen and heard this happen all too often.) I can almost understand such a slip if a poet had never been to a certain reading before, didn’t know the rules beforehand, or was used to readings without any rules imposed by the hosting establishment. (Although, when in doubt, wouldn’t one prefer to err on the side of caution?) But long-time attendees have no excuse whatsoever.


Folks like to declare that they are simply standing up for their divinely ordained right to free speech.


I’d like to argue that by doing so, you’re restricting my own.


I’ve said this before, but I’m going to repeat myself. Poetry is already a hard enough gig. We’re already fighting the fearful stereotypes of long-winded and dry high school literature teachers trying to pound iambic pentameter into teenage minds. Or the stereotypes of black-turtlenecked hipsters wearing berets and snapping their fingers. The wider world doesn’t understand poetry, and as such, fears it. Our goal, as poets, should be to make our art as open and accessible to the population at large as we possibly can in order to break down that fear.


So when an autonomous business, like a bookstore or a coffeehouse, graciously opens its doors to willingly host a poetry reading but adds, “We don’t want any bad language. We don’t want to offend our regular clientele,” I don’t understand why this should be an unreasonable request. They want to be open-minded, but they’re still running a business, and need to be as user-friendly as possible to the broadest audience. We just want a place to read and perform, where our words can reach the broadest audience. This should be a happy relationship.


But it’s not, because too many people constantly feel the need to push the limits of those clearly-stated, black-and-white, easy-to-follow rules.


I’ve found many very nice local establishments--good-vibed gathering places, independently-owned shops (hooray for local businesses!)--after which I’ve inquired about poetry readings or the possibility of my performing during their regular open mic nights. And I’ve been turned down. And why?


A precedent was set, long before I even came on the scene. More than once, I’ve heard, “Well, we tried it, but people just got vulgar,” or, “We told people the rules ahead of time, and they still wouldn’t follow them, so now we just don’t allow poetry/spoken word/etc.” And thus, those who fail to respect the wishes of the hosts, who fail to recognize when to keep themselves in check, have stripped the freedom of speech from everyone. Why is it so difficult to open one’s eyes and be a little bit aware of the surroundings and the audience? Keep oneself in check when in a coffee house frequented by family-oriented patrons, but feel free to let loose in the good-natured rowdiness of a venue like the Lit Café.


If we call ourselves writers, shouldn’t we have broad enough vocabularies that we are able to write a poem that is appropriate for a “moderated” venue? And if not, and we feel that the profanity is so central to our work, then why not simply fail to attend a moderated reading? There are plenty of forums here in Cleveland where language restrictions don’t exist. (In fact, I think “moderated readings” tend to be in the minority in this town—and I happily attend both open readings and moderated.) There’s no need to push the envelope in venues with rules when there are far more welcoming forums for those “edgier” poets and poems.


Why try to get your fellow poets forcibly removed from what would have otherwise been a welcoming forum? Why perpetuate further stereotypes of poets as being raunchy and vulgar, as being unsuitable entertainment for a more timid clientele? (Aren’t we trying to prove that poetry is for everyone, afterall?) Why be so closed-minded—that’s right, I said it—closed-minded about people’s reasons for hosting moderated readings? Why make our art even more inaccessible to the masses?


Some point to revolutionary artists of the past, declaring that we need to carry on their tradition of pushing the envelope, but those folks actually had something to lash out against during their time. But today, in 2009, what injustice are you fighting by dropping the f-bomb in a Borders? And whose cause are you furthering? You could be Shakespeare himself, but I guarantee, if you drop a foul cuss in a family-friendly venue—even if the gist of your poem was powerful, thought-provoking, even life-changing--I hate to tell you this, but all they’re going to hear was “fuck”, and they won’t care if the rest of what you had to say was a Pulitzer-worthy dissertation.


We’ve got something to say. Remove the barriers that are preventing it from being heard.

NEO Poet Field Guide

Full name: Theresa Marie Göttl

Age: 27

Habitat: Brunswick

Range: Insights (Brunswick); Borders (Strongsville); Muggswigz (Canton); 2nd April Galerie (Canton); Musica (Akron); Northside (Akron); The Lit Café; Columbus Poetry Forum; Collingwood Arts Center (Toledo); expanding migratory patterns have been known to reach as far as Sandusky, Mansfield, Bellville, and Orrville; unconfirmed sightings reported as far south as Louisville, KY and Nashville, TN.

Diet: Czeslaw Milosz; Seamus Heaney; Rita Dove; U2; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Dostoevsky; Tchaikovsky; Jack London; J.R.R. Tolkein; C.S. Lewis; Ayn Rand; Neil Gaiman; Kurt Vonnegut; “Lost”; local musicians Zach and David Ullman.

Distinguishing Markings: Stretching the Window; 91.3 WAPS & 89.7 WOSU; The Poet’s Haven; Deep Cleveland; Opium Press; Wayne College Regional Writing Award.

Predators: small children; caffeine; meat; high gas prices; sleeplessness; the color Brown; auto repairs; closed-minded people.

Prey: road trips; veggie/vegan restaurants; live music; places to hang out that are open after midnight; book stores; tea; anything related to Alaska or Iceland; mountains (the ever-elusive prey); enlightenment and true love (also ever-elusive).

Call:

Indigo Freight Train

Listen to the howl of the June bug sock hop,
calling down the sparrows from their limousine stare.

Somewhere in the cemetery, bulldog freight trains
are crushing every adolescent ego in the way.

Purple ladies rocking in their back porch gasoline,
shooting at the kingfisher-perforated skies,

baking paper brownies in a supernova microwave,
sipping at their dragon’s blood and kicking over kings.

Indigo! Indigo! Weeping for the bluesmen.
Indigo! Indigo! Melting paper dolls.

Guest Blogger: T.M. Gottl

Poem Without Meaning

My future sister-in-law told me that her writing professor assigned her class to "write a poem that has no meaning." I thought that assignment sounded more like a philosophical debate for a lit theory class than a writing assignment.

Before someone could even start writing such an impossible assignment, he'd need to define "meaning." Does he just not want his students to try to write a metaphoric poem? Does he want a poem that's completely literal with none of those hidden layers of meaning? Or does he just want random words written on the page in such an order that they won't make sense? My initial reaction was to tell her to turn in a blank sheet of paper. After all, by writing any words on the page, wouldn't she be giving meaning to something? The words on the page are indicators pointing to other ideas, objects, and abstract concepts, thereby imbued with meaning. Writing anything at all would end up meaning something, even if that something didn't happen to be terribly insightful or poignant.

I don't think writing a poem without meaning can be done. And if someone claims to have written one, I don't think it could really be a poem.

Personally, I love playing the game called "What does that mean?" My favorite responses to that question are, "I don't know," and "What do you think it means?"

Is that fair? Probably not.
But is it true? I think so.

Without trying to delve into too much more lit theory, I think the readers' interaction and the meaning that they give to a piece matter more than anything I ever intended while writing it. From that point of view, an author could never write a poem without meaning unless no one ever read it.

I might be a bad poet for admitting this, but I often write without intent. I don't frequently plan where the poem will begin and end ahead of time, and often I write my best work in that way. Yes, there's always an editing and revision process, but even so, the finished product won't always "make sense" to me. But then I will read that piece at an open mic or a show, and someone will explain how he or she connected to the poem in a way that I never understood before.

To whom should the poem have no meaning? The author or the reader? Maybe this is a better question to be asking.

Since a professor probably won't tolerate the student who will hand in a blank sheet of paper (or the student who will write a poem without turning it in, thereby depriving it of its meaning), it almost sounds like he's instructing his students to purposely write bad poems.

I want to give this professor the benefit of the doubt and hope that he only wanted to make a point, using this as an exercise to illustrate certain theory concepts. But even so, I think that's a poor way of making a point.

In an art form so dedicated to the use of precise language, to ensuring that every word, punctuation mark, and line break means something and contributes to the piece as a whole, why would anyone purposely instruct his students to write something "meaningless"?

T.M. Göttl is a winner in the poetry category for the 2007 Wayne College Regional Writing Awards. The 2002-2003 edition of the literary magazine, The Mill, published some of her work, and she has performed at readings such as Wayne College’s Annual Poetry, Prose, and Acoustical Jam, the Erewhon Poetry Society, Deep Cleveland Poetry, and Gallery 324.