po/eme

This poetry meme comes courtesy Jessica Smith's blog. Not all of the questions inspire an answer for me, but here's what did...

The first poem I remember reading was... The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss.

I was forced to memorize numerous poems in school and... the first half of this statement is dramatic! I elected to memorize poems for school and outside of school. I've already mentioned "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley and the Seuss. I also memorized swaths of Shel Silverstein ("Nobody" was a hit with my brother and me). In grade six, I gave my first oral presentation (on wolves). In 7/8, I gave my speech on war. In grade 9, love... though I chose this topic mostly as an excuse to recite poem excerpts. This proved a bit of a contentious point with a teacher, as I recall, since "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe wasn't short...

I read poetry because...

A poem I'm likely to think about when asked about a favorite poem...? Oh, they come in a jumble -- "Spring night" by Hagiwara Sakutaro (transl. Hiroaki Sato), "RUSH (A long way from H)" by Caroline Bergvall, "Poem improvised around a first line" by Gwendolyn Macewen, "Sonnet XXXVII" by Ted Berrigan, "Identity A Poem" by Gertrude Stein, "Nuevocations" by Steve Venright, "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll...

I write poetry, but... can you feel the love tonight?

My experience with reading poetry differs from my experience with reading other types of literature... This statement reminds me of a favourite Jack Spicer quote: "See how weak prose is.... Presently I shall go to a bar and there one or two poets will speak to me and I to them and we will try to destroy each other or attract each other and nothing will happen because we will be speaking in prose."

I find poetry... in Algoma freezers, tucked behind the wild strawberries, chokecherries, and moose.

The last time I heard poetry... was earlier this morning: "Höpöhöpö Böks" recording of Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl, and Austin Publicover's new "a hoosh a ha" work-in-progress.

I think poetry is like... a simile?

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