Recently when Charles Simic (the current poet laureate) was asked to describe his poetry, he responded, "Accessible". I have been unable to fathom why anyone would wish to reduce their work to a single word, much less that word. But there we have it, my friends, the need to dumb poetry down. Let poetry be safe and simple. Let us take the highest art form and boil it down to something that could be easily inserted into the inane banter found at all hours on WCCO radio.
When I arrived in the Twin Cities, Barnes and Noble downtown was hosting lunch time poetry readings. These were mainly attended by the blue-hairs who read from their recipe cards, believing the ingredient list provided the line breaks of poetry. After I finished with a rather lengthy piece, the more boisterous of the blue hairs commented that I had read a poem that she could not take in by listening to it, she would have to read it. When she was offered a copy to take home and read at her leisure, she said,
"You've misunderstood me. I don't want to read it. If I can't take it all in by listening to it, I don't want to have to read it and try to figure it out."
The poem was not accessible. Perhaps she would have preferred the works of Charles Simic or, better yet, my Grandmother's recipe for rhubarb pie.
We live in a time of blurbs and synopses. People are afraid to think for themselves. They want to be told what to think (as long as they believe those thoughts are their own). They want their news to be concise. They want the details of celebrity gossip abbreviated. They want their poetry accessible. What a loss of adventure and romance. What chosen ignorance. What fear.
And if it wasn't enough that we make the thoughts in poetry simple, the language needs to be simple-and modern. The biggest sin a poet can make these days is to venture into language deemed archaic (shudder, shudder). Obviously, the overuse of archaic language will come off as unnecessary and ridiculous, even coming across as parody. But that would be the same of any overuse or improper use of the language. If a poem calls for "thy" then "thy" is the necessary word. If it works, it works. If it strengthens a poem, it has made a poem stronger. If it is true to the voice, then the voice is true.
So I wrote a sonnet and used the word "thine" once. It worked in the piece. The use of "thine" did not detract from the voice but enhanced it and was done in a proper manner. I then submitted this single poem to a random sampling of poetry journals. At publication time, these are the results I have received:
Just think, it took one inoffensive word for backs to turn.
One publisher, who is committed to ending the use of archaic language in poetry, was in England. That's right-England. England-home of William Shakespeare and John Donne. That language is now forbidden. This was a lady I had to have a chat with. It turns out she loves that language of old. She adores it, especially in the more modern usage as that found in the pages of E. E. Cummings. So why did she not publish any piece that used words from this language she adored? She answered, "Because you can't." You can't? You can't. Is it because of marketability? No, you just can't do it. It is not allowed. You cannot do it. End of story.
Time magazine, TV Guide, and the National Enquirer do not use archaic language so I guess it cannot be done. The rules have been set and these rules are so firm that even the Bush administration would not dare bend or break them.
Everyone complains about how poetry doesn't sell. They complain that no one cares about poetry anymore. Why is that? Is it because people don't like poetry or is it because this highest of art forms has been mutilated and dumbed down to a point of necessary ridicule? Suddenly we need to use the word "accessible" to apologize for writing poetry at all. If you declare that your poetry is accessible, it is an apology. It places the poet in the position of being brave out of range.
We need the poets to come forth who are willing to write without fear. We need poets willing to reinvent the language and take chances. They must restore poetry to the lofty heights that it was intended to hold. But, most of all, we need the publishers to take care of these brave souls. And to those beautiful poets: Write with bravery. Write what you know you should write. Write without fear! Poetry is not dead, it's merely imprisoned-easily unlocked with a key.
Here endeth the lesson. Fare thee well.
© 2007 by D. Garcia-Wahl.