tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post8171485394480286297..comments2023-11-05T04:15:44.564-08:00Comments on Robert Frost's Banjo: Autobiographia LiterariaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687192784861682991noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-37317059090764328172009-06-08T19:58:28.691-07:002009-06-08T19:58:28.691-07:00Hi Jen:
Yes, that's me in 1984 in Charlottesv...Hi Jen:<br /><br />Yes, that's me in 1984 in Charlottesville, VA. & yes, blogging has helped me-- in unexpected ways. It's not so much about the ability to write or to feel good about the actual things written for me-- it has had to do with sorting out what were the destructive/negative impulses & what was positive.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687192784861682991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-12536192815218422752009-06-08T15:52:47.191-07:002009-06-08T15:52:47.191-07:00All the great poets had their challenges, no? My f...All the great poets had their challenges, no? My father was always hold up in his study, working out his masterpieces. Poetry was like his mistress. Either that, or maybe his muse. Is that picture of you? You didn't say, though I am assuming, yes. You have so many great pics. You're luck in that way. <br /><br />So, has blogging helped you? I left writing for a long time, but I think blogging has helped me find my way back to to it. <br /><br />Writers always seem to lead such difficult lives. The difficulties are internal and external. Presently, I deal with the forces pressing me from the outside - people disappointed in what I write. No wonder writers connect, no matter what they're genre or dissimilar life experiences. In them we find advocates and understanding for the challenges we face.Jennifer Chronicles (jenx67.com)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14420405638287265650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-47599992135551170412009-06-07T14:48:09.537-07:002009-06-07T14:48:09.537-07:00Hi Linda & TFE:
Thanks to you both! TFE: I r...Hi Linda & TFE:<br /><br />Thanks to you both! TFE: I recommend O'Hara highly!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687192784861682991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-29528648169649320822009-06-07T09:50:54.502-07:002009-06-07T09:50:54.502-07:00Cool photo and an insightful read. I'm glad po...Cool photo and an insightful read. I'm glad poetry hasn't deserted you entirely and hope it never does.I'm interested in Frank O'Hara too,the stuff I've read and heard I've liked.Totalfeckineejithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05352708391465031655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-68463139309403630442009-06-06T21:02:57.017-07:002009-06-06T21:02:57.017-07:00Thanks for sharing, John. Out of times of darknes...Thanks for sharing, John. Out of times of darkness comes much light. Poetry is the language of feelings and intuition and I believe the bridge between the physical and the spiritual worlds. So I would guess your poetry has always been an exploration of yourself. I suppose that is what writing is all about.Linda Pendletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04333787752335329007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-6722320322600007612009-06-06T20:14:50.671-07:002009-06-06T20:14:50.671-07:00Thanks T: I'm honored to be a member of this b...Thanks T: I'm honored to be a member of this blog community. Thanks again.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687192784861682991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-3197321707435543202009-06-06T19:33:51.241-07:002009-06-06T19:33:51.241-07:00A searingly honest post: I am honored to be your r...A searingly honest post: I am honored to be your reader. (I love the photo!)T. https://www.blogger.com/profile/16509409207991963533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-8487090045375799492009-06-06T16:53:38.330-07:002009-06-06T16:53:38.330-07:00Hi Kat & Karen:
Kat: Thanks-- yes, there'...Hi Kat & Karen:<br /><br />Kat: Thanks-- yes, there's plenty more-- things stayed kind of dark & crazy in a number of ways long after I stopped drinking & doing drugs. I appreciate your support a whole lot!<br /><br />Karen: Thanks as well. I also love Charlottesville & have some very deep & important memories from there-- not least by far is that's where I first met my wife Eberle, tho we didn't get together until long after.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687192784861682991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-76491581495537564142009-06-06T14:48:28.294-07:002009-06-06T14:48:28.294-07:00I love the whole story, too, John. Knowing about t...I love the whole story, too, John. Knowing about the creative impulses of others is helpful to a fledgling like me. I'll follow your links to the others in a bit.<br /><br />On a side note, I perked up at the mention of C'ville, as I have a couple of UVa connections. Both my sister and daughter got their degrees there. Both ended up working there, too, although my sister just left after 30 years. My daughter is directing one of the libraries now, overseeing the digital research lab and doing things I don't even understand. I love Charlottesville.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12003379181294550035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-277210389508679862009-06-06T12:50:43.310-07:002009-06-06T12:50:43.310-07:00Thank you for your openness and honesty. It can...Thank you for your openness and honesty. It can't be easy to share so much (although there is much more, I'm sure). Having read a few of your earlier poems, I felt there was that darkness in your life back there, somewhere. I think we all have our surprising secrets - none of us is unscathed. We would never be able to write if we were.<br /><br />I'm sure, I join a good number of people in saying that I am glad to be witness to your periodic need/decision to write poetry and greatly appreciate when you share it. Thank you.<br /><br />Kat (The photograph is great - a bit rebellious, a bit risky.)Kat Mortensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16877694888419628533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-46424788680805666482009-06-06T11:27:20.685-07:002009-06-06T11:27:20.685-07:00Hi Sandra:
Thanks-- interesting that I wrote &quo...Hi Sandra:<br /><br />Thanks-- interesting that I wrote "destructive," because I think I always so immediately jump to the self-destructive idea that I see it as self-evident.<br /><br />Thanks to both you & René for pointing in this direction!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687192784861682991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-61187691655987167722009-06-06T09:11:05.087-07:002009-06-06T09:11:05.087-07:00Poetry as "the embodiment of destructive impu...Poetry as "the embodiment of destructive impulses". I nearly wrote 'self-destructive', but then realized that's not what you had said. Poetry as a weapon, pointing either in or out? Maybe that's why we often think we need to be disinhibited by one drug or another in order to write.<br /><br />I identified strongly both with the tobacco/alcohol story and with what you said about writing with specific readers in mind.<br /><br />Thank you for letting us in behind the curtain, John.Sandra Leighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12052047359365369942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-33440446431453337752009-06-06T08:21:46.025-07:002009-06-06T08:21:46.025-07:00Hi René & Reya:
René: Poetry is & always ...Hi René & Reya:<br /><br />René: Poetry is & always has been about the personal for me. For a long time I fought that because it didn't seem "right." I try not to fight that anymore. & I'm so glad to know your story & Sandra's too!<br /><br />Reya: That's interesting, because from your writing you seem to have an inherently poetic way of thinking. Poetry travels between the worlds--whatever they may be--just as you wrote about dreaming this morning! Mary Oliver is a very good poet-- very grounded & grounding, I think.<br /><br />& of course, thanks for your kind words.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687192784861682991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-55445238314582111352009-06-06T08:06:42.427-07:002009-06-06T08:06:42.427-07:00The picture is beautiful! You look just like a poe...The picture is beautiful! You look just like a poet! (Whatever that means.)<br /><br />I should tell Rene this: I came to poetry late in life, sometime in my 30's, I think. Never "got" it until I started reading Mary Oliver's poetry.<br /><br />There's much about your form that I still can't get. Every poem requires three read-throughs before I understand what's happening. Three more read-throughs and sometimes, just sometimes, I can take it in.<br /><br />I salute all of you who get it. Your neural networks are far more intricate and elegant than mine. Bravo!Reya Mellickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13076092659507965666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4821243838031243709.post-47863753310327581112009-06-06T07:21:05.814-07:002009-06-06T07:21:05.814-07:00thanks so much for that John. I love the O'Har...thanks so much for that John. I love the O'Hara poem, that wonderful pic of you, and your whole story. It makes this whole sharing of our poems more meaningful to me, to know what writing them really means to you, and to Sandra, or at least to know some of what it means. thanks again for sharing that. And yes, you told both the story and the missing story very well. I'm so glad you are writing your poems.René Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08466559054624950270noreply@blogger.com