Category archives: Poetics

What is the unit of composition? The line? The phrase? The sentence? The argument? The image? Life-wide? Sound? Form? Metaphor? Rhythmical unit? When I look at how I think poetically, or generally, there’s a lot of constraint, but also a pattern of deconstructing and reconstructing strategies. I like to take words apart, dissect ideas. What […]

Eric Folsom is the Poet Laureate of Kingston. On finding your way to a new poem he advises, “To start, you want to look for a poem-shaped hole.  Choosing a subject, looking for inspiration, doing piles of research, that’s all well and good.  But what you aim for is the poem and the poem is […]

11 questions of the how and why of poeming. What do the poems teach? I hope poetry, along with conversations, blogging, getting to know particular people better, that it keeps my brain in tune to become more aware, astute, observant, knowing how to sidestep bias or discern patterns. They all teach me how to be […]

At Dusie the Tuesday Poem #88 is my poem entitled: neither evil nor saved, I sidestepped it all at the second coming. Perhaps for curiosity seekers, to see the previous step before would be interesting. It is a homophonic translation of this: Plantée devant la grille, je tends mes mains moites vers le corbeau de […]

What are the parts of being a poet? Not every person has the whole skill set. It’s why cooperation is good. Some have an eye for this, others for that. Off the top of my head, here are some aspects. Some may be true, who knows. [composition] having an idea or sound or rhythm and […]

Touch the Donkey magazine, supplement #5: seven questions for Pearl Pirie. For other interviews see, here. For more frequent things than here, see pesbo on twitter.

All fancy folded and yours for $5 with no shipping and handling charge if you pick it up at Jack Purcell, upstairs at the Ottawa Small Press Fair tomorrow. Sage and mint are included if you ask in advance. 😉