little bothersome things, perhaps, perhaps not

although i have sorta participated in the hijinxx of poetry boards for about four years now, i can't get into the practice of revision as it is practiced by a buncha folks in a buncha places. i find nothing inherently wrong w/revising a piece, but i usually do it all when the poem is first-writ. so a quick poem might take a few hours to write and gawd bless wordpad. i pare and hone (ha, weren't they cartoon animals?), mask and reveal and then it's done. and i usually make no major change after i stick the date on the sucker.

i think some people are compelled to tinker with their work above and beyond the necessary because of the board environment. they don't believe in their own work! they have not the power of discrimination! they want that Best Revision gif! i'd rather abandon a poem than fuck with it - sometimes you're on, sometimes not. As if there wouldn't be another poem to write. as long as there is an opportunity (ie you don't DIE) you can write another - maybe a new take on that abandoned poem? crunch all you want...

the biggest killer i see is a search for a substitute word - like a synonym, like you were writing prose where the resonances don't matter as much. this is a bad word, why don't you use that? as if the poem remains the same! chuck the whole notion, the phrase, the weak step on the ladder. maybe the poem needs to be turned upside down; maybe the most revelatory stanza is, in the end, fluffing the identity of the poem.

maybe you're not sure what you are saying, or don't care if you're dishonest, and so word-substitution comes easily. this is a real disservice to people who read poetry. they expect pleasaure, revelation perhaps - an experience fer sure. constant tinkering with a poem to have it fit a small group's mindset's mold (ha, i said mold) does nothing for a reader who happens on a poem. the poetry-reader wants to believe the writer believes what is posted. the excuse of differences in style or approach to writing do not lessen the power of a poem. even the shield of i know what i like can't break the spell of a poem, to a reader.

when a poem starts out saying, for example, that poetry comes from a sickened heart, and is revised to say that poetry comes from a ghost's sigh i get the feeling that the writer is trying on shoes until a pair looks good and fit, and that there wasn't much need for the new shoes to begin with. this guy says he's a poet, but he's trying to have me believe that all of it comes from a sick place? that is almost offensive to me, and to other careful readers, i'll bet. and the change to the ghosty thing? i guess he didn't believe his sickened heart; easier to take (for some, not for me) to blame the ephemeral. perhaps the poet is lying to the poem. perhaps the poem to the poet. perhaps there is no poem.

also (as has been pointed out by a comic or two along the way): why can't we have a coffee maker that doesn't sound like it's coughing up phlegm near the end of its drip? a few months ago i bought a Black and Decker (!!!) coffee maker, and it scares the shit out of me sometimes. smart move, eh? buying a coffee maker made by a company that makes power tools and stuff.

very unorganized post, maybe i'll add to it later or something - add, not revise, heh.

listening to Death in Vegas live in Brixton, extra disc in their new Satan's Circus album. bought it at big bad Walmart - this act a poem in itself, perhaps. it kicks.