self conscious confusion…
you sound like that hypocrite
who says he hates talking about himself.
or maybe he was being ironic.
none of us were paying attention
to his tone of voice.
you know he writes meta-poems,
he writes ‘self-conscious confusion’.
he might even be good at it.
but he’s torn between writing ‘good’
and writing ‘different’.
so he writes ‘generic pretension’.
and then he writes about it.
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TF said,
November 8, 2010 at 8:05 pm
My turn to interrogate.
In what state of mind was this written?
Does a poem of this style and subject matter work anywhere other than a blog?
Where has dark room gone?
As writers, aspiring writers, this could be all of us. It could be me. Does this mean it is part of the process or are we all writing ‘generic pretension’? Are they both to be feared?
wordhome said,
November 9, 2010 at 12:11 am
1st Q- i can’t remember. i think it was one of those meta-poems we were talking about once, something you write because you can’t think of anything to write. a lot of what i write, in fact almost all (if not all) is meta.
2nd Q- what do you mean by work? i don’t think i really care if it ‘works’ or not.
3rd Q- i realised just as i posted it that i didn’t want to post it. did you get to read it? i hope not.
4th/5th Q- what do you mean by aspiring writer? could is a good word. 4th Q- fuck, too hard to answer man! i don’t really want to talk about the meaning behind the poem. 5th Q- feared is wrong word. for me, ‘generic pretension’ is to be avoided’.
TF said,
November 9, 2010 at 2:16 pm
1st A – I sometimes don’t know how seriously to take meta. At times, it feels like the author wrote it wearing a smirk, other times with deep introspection and seriousness. Without intending to take up the meta discussion again, meta is incredibly important – for me, for literature etc. But will it stop? Is it a game? In our first discussion, you said you weren’t yet ‘ready’ (something I continue to admire). Do you think the meta will continue when you are ready?
2nd A – I’m getting ahead of myself.
3rd A – Dark room displays for me in Google Reader.
4th A – Am I a writer? Can I be a writer and not a storyteller? The questioning could go as deep as my insecurities and there are probably simple answers. That said, I don’t think such a discussion will be useful.
5th A – I like the term ‘generic pretension’.
wordhome said,
November 9, 2010 at 5:36 pm
1st rep- take whatever you read however seriously or non-seriously you want. advice for reading my work anyway – i don’t want to make YOU feel or see in a particular way. but i thoroughly enjoy hearing, or reading about how it does make you feel. in my view, neither the reader nor writer has a responsibility to each other or themselves. the writer or reader’s role depends on each individual and their context.
well meta’s importance varies depending on who you are. i wouldn’t even bother asking these questions you ask. why do you care (serious question)?
yes (i think the meta will continue). i’m not ready to publish but that’s all the term ‘not ready’ implies. as a poet, or an artist, whatever label you choose, i don’t think it’s about ‘readiness’, if it were i don’t think i’d ever be ready, which is fine. as a writer would you ever say that you were ‘ready’?
3rd rep- oh well. what do you think? it’s not finished, i still want to work on it, maybe even expand it (that’s not why i didn’t post it).
4th rep- again, answers are up to you. if you asked me, yes, you can be a writer and not a storyteller, though the concept of a story is another debatable matter!
i think that a big diffewrenc between you and i tristan is that you seem to believe in some sort of objective truth, questions with universal answers. i don’t and within my art i enjoy expressing the ambiguity and ‘greyness’ of what i see, feel and think. perhaps this will help you to relate to my work… but then again, i don’t really mind.
TF said,
November 9, 2010 at 9:58 pm
1 – I don’t want to be told how to feel/see. From a craft perspective it’s of interest to me – because it’s a meta poem, especially because it’s ‘self conscious’. Hence the questions (which you’ve largely parried). I know what you meant when you spoke of readiness.
Maybe I think too highly of meta? Given it’s prevalence, in all media, perhaps it’s time to stop thinking of it as unique. Thinking out loud here.
3 – I connected with the above more – as I said, it could be me. (And I don’t have the same questions for that piece.)
Re/ the universal: you might be right (now I know why you thought ‘could’ was a good word). But I’m interested in your honesty and opinion, not a regurgitated universal truth. It may be poor framing on my part - that or you’re on to something. I’ll end by saying it’s not my aim, in questioning or in my writing.
wordhome said,
November 10, 2010 at 3:17 pm
ha, well unfortunately i’m reluctant to talk about my craft,…
i just realised how outrageously assertive my last post was, i hope it didn’t seem too arrogant.
i suppose what i was/am trying to convey is that i can’t really express what i mean any better than how i’ve done so in the poem/poetry (or so i think). perhaps it would be easier (for you/others) to understand if i did, but doing so would defeat the purpose of writing the poem (for me) – maybe. you see, i’m very confused.
maybe you do (think too highly of meta) but that’s up to you, brother. meta is definitely terrain already travelled within art/writing. however i still think it is useful as a tool within writing, which is what i suspect you’re talking about, but i would agree that it isn’t especially unique.
might – also a good word. my opinions probably always seem half-hearted because i’m reluctant to assume that they are right.
this may be a question for another time, but what is your aim? (in terms of your writing and/or questions)
chur
TF said,
November 11, 2010 at 12:53 am
No worries, dude.
Re/ conveying – I get it now, and respect it. I definitely don’t want to pry a ‘meaning’ out of you (but, again, not my intention).
I can give you straightforward answers about what my aim is, but it would feel like emptying my wallet into your hands. Another day perhaps – maybe when I have more confidence in those reasons?
wordhome said,
November 11, 2010 at 3:19 pm
definitely.