I’ve been practicing lately a Japanese form called the Haibun, which was practiced by the hallowed poet Basho. It’s a delicate balancing act of prose plus poetry – a paragraph followed by a related haiku or tanka. I’m taking a very loose approach, of course, but trying to follow some of the principles just the same. For some interesting reading on Haibun and how to teach it in the classroom, check this.
Between these and writing prose poems, I don’t know how I can call myself a poet at all. Soon I will forget how to make a line break. I seem to be obsessed with story, (I love stories, but not retelling them – I just want them as kind of a metal frame) but my poems are getting more and more surreal, characters that act within the realm of a narrative but seem to want to find a way out of it. Personal, confessional poetry? I’d much rather play on the monkey bars of another world. Not that I mind reading other people’s personal/confessional work. Of course, all poems reveal something intimate about the writer, their obsessions, subconscious associations, etc. Whether we want them to or not. Hmm. It’s quite possible some of that theory from my MA program go through after all – I think I might be a sort of Jungian Deconstructionist. If that’s not too out of date. Who knows what the kids are calling it today – those kids and their rock and roll music!
I’m afraid this second book is shaping up to be weird with a capital W. This means it will probably have a hard time winning any contests, or getting by any committees.
Speaking of which, if you were going to start a press and wanted to forgo the usual contest route – which is usually the means by the publisher (possibly/usually penniless) of raising the money to print the book, would you prefer – open submissions where you paid a fee, which would get you a copy of the selected book when it came out? Open submissions, with fee, with commentary on the work by the editor/publisher? Or would you guys rather just have the little publisher run the usual $25 contest, send a copy of the book when it’s out, and get the thrill of the “winning?” Tough questions.
I have put myself on the waiting list for a large PO Box. I am scouting out web domains. I’ve retired from the editorial staff of Silk Road to focus on “new projects…”