Speaking of Herpes: Something that Really Sucks
I'm supposed to be writing up my African Philosophy presentation on Communism vs Communitarianism (the second part of a three-parter on African Politics), but I had to say that somethings sucks.
What sucks?
Heads Up: Publishing Matters of the Mind. A Queen's University funded, student run collection of short stories and poems, and one image.
I don't profess to be a great writer, but I really think that if a publication is going to be this childish, it should at least be funny. I flipped to the middle of the booklet, and the first poem I read, "Undone" by Anna Maxymiw, really annoyed me:
undone.
maybe once we were raveled too tight.
now
we spew out brokenness and disorders like
compliments on bright blue eyes.
alienation.
it makes sense that
once, we were wholesome
and now
we should be able to create ourselves
back to complete
no disorders plaguing us.
to be bleak.
it is very grey here
unlike the lush tropicana full-bodied palette of my summer
it is very grey here
and in the libraries
the air rushes out of the mechanized vents
the air blocks our breath
it is very grey here
it is making me come
undone (Glozman, 11).
Words and phrases that piss me off in this poem include two instances of "undone," "raveled too tight," the entire second stanza, "alienation," most of the fourth stanza, "to be bleak," three repetitions of "it is very grey here," "mechanized vents," and the entire poem.
I might just be completely desensitized to depressing literature, but I can't really tell the point of this poem. Is university life finally getting to Maxymiw? But how is university life any more difficult than life at home? People who have a difficult time here usually had a difficult time in high school, and people who enjoy university usually enjoy life in general. Maybe she just doesn't like winter and writes a poem about it every year.
But the booklet has a few redeeming qualities. I like that there's an avenue for students to express themselves to the world--although I'd say they already have that with the internet. Natalie A Stechyson single-handedly changed my overall opinion of the booklet with her poem "The Wellington Street Outpatient:"
Old wheels groan with exhaustion;
the pedals are weary
with stiffness and pain,
their joints are streched tenderly,
patiently, by their caregiver.
Sitting atop that seat
with mannequin posture,
looking at no one,
willing his friend to carry him
one more block and back again.
He doesn't talk except when he screams,
pleading with demons, swearing,
assaulting the concrete.
The neighbors don't look from their papers
as they have grown tender for the man
in crumpled coveralls and a cap:
stray hairs like fine white wires
poking out of his neck
as he coaxes his rusted reprieve
one more block and back again.
The sun whispers on his bony shoulders;
he passes the parade of briefcases
and sandwiches in ziploc bags,
the moan of the wheels overpowering
the clicking of corporate shoes.
No one dares break the trance,
the timid calm in those weathered eyes,
so no one says hello
as he determinedly pedals
just one more block and back again (Glozman, 8).
You see, poetic devices such as free verse and metaphor and such aren't enough to create a good poem. A poem's goodness is in its content; how that poem is delivered is only secondary to what the poem says. Too often we're stuck with the same old themes of depression, despair, heartache, etc. that lend nothing to the poem except a tired sort of familiarity. This familiarity might be appealing to people who aren't used to seeing it in writing--teenagers, more often than not--but for everyone else a thought-provoking poem is more welcome than a familiar one. It is not enough to be have an unconventional style to be thought-provoking. WHO IS THE WELLINGTON STREET OUTPATIENT?!?!?
But what do I know? I'm only almost 21. WOO! This post almost turned into a serious critique of Canadian literature. WOO!
Take care and nobi,
Andrew
P.S. Correction: there are more images. I think there is a total of two. One is KINDA a poem, so I'll stick with one out of spite.
Glozman, Jenny and Laura Paret, eds. Heads Up: Publising Matters of the Mind. Anna Maxymiw.
"Undone." Natalie A. Stecyson. "The Wellington Street Outpatient." Kingston: P&CC, 2007. 8, 11.
That should cover my ass. I can't bother to see if that's the correct form of citation.
What sucks?
Heads Up: Publishing Matters of the Mind. A Queen's University funded, student run collection of short stories and poems, and one image.
I don't profess to be a great writer, but I really think that if a publication is going to be this childish, it should at least be funny. I flipped to the middle of the booklet, and the first poem I read, "Undone" by Anna Maxymiw, really annoyed me:
undone.
maybe once we were raveled too tight.
now
we spew out brokenness and disorders like
compliments on bright blue eyes.
alienation.
it makes sense that
once, we were wholesome
and now
we should be able to create ourselves
back to complete
no disorders plaguing us.
to be bleak.
it is very grey here
unlike the lush tropicana full-bodied palette of my summer
it is very grey here
and in the libraries
the air rushes out of the mechanized vents
the air blocks our breath
it is very grey here
it is making me come
undone (Glozman, 11).
Words and phrases that piss me off in this poem include two instances of "undone," "raveled too tight," the entire second stanza, "alienation," most of the fourth stanza, "to be bleak," three repetitions of "it is very grey here," "mechanized vents," and the entire poem.
I might just be completely desensitized to depressing literature, but I can't really tell the point of this poem. Is university life finally getting to Maxymiw? But how is university life any more difficult than life at home? People who have a difficult time here usually had a difficult time in high school, and people who enjoy university usually enjoy life in general. Maybe she just doesn't like winter and writes a poem about it every year.
But the booklet has a few redeeming qualities. I like that there's an avenue for students to express themselves to the world--although I'd say they already have that with the internet. Natalie A Stechyson single-handedly changed my overall opinion of the booklet with her poem "The Wellington Street Outpatient:"
Old wheels groan with exhaustion;
the pedals are weary
with stiffness and pain,
their joints are streched tenderly,
patiently, by their caregiver.
Sitting atop that seat
with mannequin posture,
looking at no one,
willing his friend to carry him
one more block and back again.
He doesn't talk except when he screams,
pleading with demons, swearing,
assaulting the concrete.
The neighbors don't look from their papers
as they have grown tender for the man
in crumpled coveralls and a cap:
stray hairs like fine white wires
poking out of his neck
as he coaxes his rusted reprieve
one more block and back again.
The sun whispers on his bony shoulders;
he passes the parade of briefcases
and sandwiches in ziploc bags,
the moan of the wheels overpowering
the clicking of corporate shoes.
No one dares break the trance,
the timid calm in those weathered eyes,
so no one says hello
as he determinedly pedals
just one more block and back again (Glozman, 8).
You see, poetic devices such as free verse and metaphor and such aren't enough to create a good poem. A poem's goodness is in its content; how that poem is delivered is only secondary to what the poem says. Too often we're stuck with the same old themes of depression, despair, heartache, etc. that lend nothing to the poem except a tired sort of familiarity. This familiarity might be appealing to people who aren't used to seeing it in writing--teenagers, more often than not--but for everyone else a thought-provoking poem is more welcome than a familiar one. It is not enough to be have an unconventional style to be thought-provoking. WHO IS THE WELLINGTON STREET OUTPATIENT?!?!?
But what do I know? I'm only almost 21. WOO! This post almost turned into a serious critique of Canadian literature. WOO!
Take care and nobi,
Andrew
P.S. Correction: there are more images. I think there is a total of two. One is KINDA a poem, so I'll stick with one out of spite.
Cited Sources
Glozman, Jenny and Laura Paret, eds. Heads Up: Publising Matters of the Mind. Anna Maxymiw.
"Undone." Natalie A. Stecyson. "The Wellington Street Outpatient." Kingston: P&CC, 2007. 8, 11.
That should cover my ass. I can't bother to see if that's the correct form of citation.
Labels: Canada, communitarianism, death, Heads Up, Herpes, lame, more herpes, poems, Queen's University
posted by Andrew Fassett at
4:11 PM
1 Comments
Links to this post
