Ed Roberson - City Eclogue

The first poem that really caught my eye in this collection is "The Distant Stars As Paparazzi." From the beginning, it's obvious that the subject of the poem (the paparazzi, in the most obvious sense) is not tolerated well by Roberson. The adjectives and nouns that color the actions are often undesirable, as well as some of the verbs.  For example, Roberson starts out by describing the subjects as "cattlebirds" (line 1). In the third line, Roberson incorporates the term "rubbish." More undesirable words are emulated in "The Distant Stars As Paparazzi." The terms "dump" (5), " "garbage" (5), "horns" (9), "odor" (11), "stink" (12), and "compost" (15) all appear in the poem. Going more in depth, the poem seems like it's referring to dying stars (in the literal sense). Roberson talks about recycling after death and how the planet turns into a beautiful mirror; it's almost as if he is relating celebrities to stars. As one 'dies out' another is readily available to take their place.

The next poem that spoke to me is "Beauty's Standing." Roberson displays what I interpret to be his sense of beauty. In the first verse, he describes the old saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder: "Only eye lives in this no place anything else can come to rest on." The next verse implies that beauty is only an optical illusion: "...proposing your sight on the room as beautiful." Branching off of that concept in the next two verses is the idea that beauty has no function but to be beautiful. It also appears to be a projection of beauty being shallow: "That this is his only company for conversation he gets/ A room physically functionless..." (lines 9-13). Developing into an even shallower beauty is Roberson's description of a "magazine culture" (16). Finally, Roberson adds mystery to the poem by implying that beauty fills a void: "...to caulk the hole in such pockets" (22-23).

The final poem that reached out to me is "Untitled." First of all, the mystery of the poem's subject really makes it much more interesting. I think the titles for most of the other poems were too suggestive for a real structuralist approach to interpreting them. This poem emulates life, birth, and death (and also what happens in between.) The first verse is a symbol of birth: "Sky walls and white neoclassical moulding cloud wedgewood days room after room of palace season." The descriptive words in this verse imply a happiness and a new beginning, thus emulating birth. The second verse is the interpretation of what happens in between. By saying, "Vacation a blue gown of ocean..." (line 5), Roberson is describing the process after childhood in which we are searching for our true self (the imaginary, according to psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan) that we had since birth. By saying, "...not since anyone remembers seen" (7-8), Roberson is describing how fast our lives really go, and that time is simply an illusion we've created. In the third verse, he is projecting the essence of old age: "Any fall of palaces seemed shelved among the porcelain exhibits of narrower centuries from this beach" (9-12). Words like "porcelain" and "centuries" are important in determining the interpretation of this verse because they imply fragility and age. Finally, Roberson implies death and rebirth in the next short verses: "A smoke dust empties the sky of its blue as if emptying  building--a whole other day clears under a shadowless cloud" (13-18).

My Thoughts On Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bones" and the Poetry Packet

I think Natalie Goldberg has a good idea of what helps her write. She is consistent, funny, and her tone is really readable. However, I don't agree at all with her techniques. For a beginner, this is a good place to start; but for somebody who has been writing for a while, her suggestions don't apply.

Everybody has their own technique. On page 7, Goldberg says, "Handwriting is more connected with the heart." This would be true, if she specified that it's her opinion. I am much more thoughtful when I type because I can get my thoughts out faster.

Another concern I have is about her rules. Page 8 has rules like "Don't cross out" and "Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar..." Personally, I write better when I edit as I go. Some may think that this disrupts my thought process, but it actually helps me to decide where I'm going next. I am the type of person who is constantly thinking, so by editing I am organizing and arranging my thoughts (it's my way of taking a break to assess.)

I think what gave me the most pause is when Goldberg talks about practicing on page 11: "You practice whether you want to or not. You don't wait around for inspiration and a deep desire to run." I wait around. What's the harm in that? Why can't I wait for an intense, emotional moment to write? I don't practice my writing by writing nonsense everyday. I practice by writing meaningful things that happen on the spot. I think this is also an important skill to develop; can you just drop everything and write in an intense moment like that?

Getting deeper into that subject, Goldberg touches on it again on page 15: "...I attempted several times a month to write about my father dying. I was exploring and composting the material. Then suddenly...a long poem about that subject poured out of me." That was probably one of her most treasured pieces of writing. I guess I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the requirement to write nonsense everyday and only having a few moments of pouring yourself out. Why waste your energy when the "pouring out" is coming anyway?

My problem is that I don't think people should be writing if they don't have anything to say. (Isn't that what Facebook is for?) As Goldberg says on page 19, "The blank page can be intimidating, and it does get boring to write over and over again for ten minutes of practice." Why write something if you have nothing to say? I don't see the point in practicing if you are a blank state. I guess I'm just attracted to emotion in my writing!

All in all, I think beginners will definitely benefit from reading Goldberg's book. Her description of detail and how to go about it is flawless. Unfortunately for me, I have already developed a technique that has made me (from a personal standpoint) a good writer. I hope people don't think that they have to follow this to the letter as I truly believe that finding your own process is the main part in becoming an excellent writer.


The most interesting poem in the assigned packet, in my opinion, was the very first one. Reading it in a quiet place, I finally could piece apart the poem. 
"Geology of Water" seems to slowly get darker and darker as the poem goes on. First, I observed the colors used in the poem; in the first verse, indigo and cobalt are the two colors. In the second verse, the author describes a drowning, "...I can hear him/ drown, a man made out of water/ whose words arise like bubbles/ to the surface..." (lines 14-17). Keywords that darken the poem in the next verse (or continuing verse two depending on how you look at it) are "catastrophe" (23) and "...some things aren't worth surviving" (24).
The poem gets even darker in the next verse: "...like scars, the rings a fallen tree keeps to itself...sun and steel, moon and slate..." (33-35).
Using more violent terms in the next verse, the poem almost reaches its darkest spot: "Water is a momento they've thrown back...and those who came too late to be remains" (38-45).
Finally, "Geology of Water" reaches the point of death in the last verse. As time goes on, the poem goes from peaceful colors to  "...the sea grew old here, and here it left its will to live..." (46-47). There is no hope remaining at the end of the poem. I felt like I was attending a funeral after watching the person grow up. It left me with a sad, bitter taste in my mouth. I think this poem took the most emotion from me, and that is why it was so easy for me to interpret.

Intro

Hello I'm Kari!