rules

Kevin’s Rules of Poetry Reading Etiquette: For Everybody

2016/08/14 — Leave a comment

I go to a lot of poetry readings. I have noticed a lot of things, good and bad, that affect how a given reading will go. On one occasion, where another poet’s lack of consideration effectively ate up a good chunk of what would have been my reading time, I got so frustrated that I made up a list.

Now that enough time has passed that I can address this calmly and rationally, I will now continue with my rules of poetry reading etiquette—this last set being a few general rules for everybody. Continue reading

Kevin’s Rules of Poetry Reading Etiquette: For Audiences

2016/08/14 — Leave a comment

I go to a lot of poetry readings. I have noticed a lot of things, good and bad, that affect how a given reading will go. On one occasion, where another poet’s lack of consideration effectively ate up a good chunk of what would have been my reading time, I got so frustrated that I made up a list.

Now that enough time has passed that I can address this calmly and rationally, I will now continue with my rules of poetry reading etiquette—this time with the rules for audiences. Continue reading

Kevin’s Rules of Poetry Reading Etiquette: For Hosts

2016/08/14 — Leave a comment

I go to a lot of poetry readings. I have noticed a lot of things, good and bad, that affect how a given reading will go. On one occasion, where another poet’s lack of consideration effectively ate up a good chunk of what would have been my reading time, I got so frustrated that I made up a list.

Now that enough time has passed that I can address this calmly and rationally, I will now continue with my rules of poetry reading etiquette—this time with the rules for hosts. Continue reading

Kevin’s Rules of Poetry Reading Etiquette: For Poets

2016/08/14 — Leave a comment

I go to a lot of poetry readings. I have noticed a lot of things, good and bad, that affect how a given reading will go. On one occasion, where another poet’s lack of consideration effectively ate up a good chunk of what would have been my reading time, I got so frustrated that I made up a list.

Now that enough time has passed that I can address this calmly and rationally, I will now present my rules of poetry reading etiquette—starting with the rules for poets. Continue reading

Kevin’s Rules of Poetry Reading Etiquette (the concise list version)

2016/03/14 — Leave a comment

The following is based on fifteen months of poetry readings and open mics. I fully intend to post a more rant-y version of this later to reflect a couple of recent experiences; for now, I think this simple list will be appropriate: Continue reading

The Adventures of the Contessa and Green Eyed Larry (a poem)

2015/05/08 — Leave a comment

Yesterday’s prompt in The Daily Poet, by Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano marked the start of my second time around through the book.  The prompt called for looking up the names of racehorses, then using ten to fifteen of them in a poem that is not about racehorses. (For comparison, last year’s poem written from this prompt can be found here.)

The names I used this time around:

The Contessa
Waffle Stomper
Yorba Linda Trip
Heaven Forbid
Headwind
Aesthetic Ruin
Original Bloom
Questionable Behavior
Klaus Kinski
Nefarious Splendor
Green Eyed Larry
Brand New Larry
Before Coffee
Diamond Sky
Caffeine Serene
Existential Nudge
The Lunchroom
Defacto Princess
A Baby Maybe
Lollipop Flower

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Yeah, I don’t think that’s right (a poem)

2015/05/04 — Leave a comment

Today’s poem (a terzanelle) comes from a prompt in The Daily Poet, by Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano: list rules that people have taught you about poetry, then break four of them. I don’t worry about other people’s rules so much when I write poems. When I have had my poems critiqued, though, a few things have come up. This particular poem focuses on the use of the word ‘but’, which some folks think is a word to be avoided. (The ‘rules’ I broke are included in the tags for this post.)

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