(First Light over Canaan Valley, WV - where I grew up)

(First Light over Canaan Valley, WV - where I grew up)

Friday, April 30, 2010

For a first post, a little taste of what's to come in the first 31 days...

I thought, for the hell of it, before I get to posting a ton of my own work, I'd post a few poems from poets that have really shaped who I am as a poet. It took me a while to wade through the thousands of poems that sprung to mind that I really loved, but eventually it came down to these few that were some of my favorites - ones that have always stuck in my mind and I have always remembered no matter what - ones I have been able to quote offhandedly without even thinking about it. Just the same, some of them contain a wonderful musical quality that I've come to admire so much and tend to emulate quite often in my own work - probably because of my Irish heritage which, in its own native language, also has a similar, distinct musicality.

Anyway, I'm putting these up for your consideration and I hope you can dig them up and give them a read. They're all really quite good - but, of course, that's just, like, my opinion, man. :)

"Waking Early New Year's Day, Without a Hangover" - Thomas M. Disch
"The Wild Swans at Coole" - W.B. Yeats
"[anyone lived in a pretty how town]" - E.E. Cummings
"The Purse-Seine" - Robinson Jeffers
"Ozymandias" - Percy Bysshe Shelley
"The Second Coming" - W.B. Yeats
"Grown-Up" - Edna St. Vincent Millay
"The Waste Land" - T.S. Eliot
"The Nameless One" - James Clarence Mangan
"How did it get so late so soon?" - Theodore Geisel (or, as you know him, Dr. Seuss)

As I said, these are just a few. But give them a google. I guarantee you'll see echoes of many of them in my own work.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Blogging - a new thing for me

Hi all,

I'm not really sure how to really use a blog correctly, or if there's ever going to be much point to this at all. In any case, welcome to the blog that I created for my poetry that is a ongoing exercise for me in my human existence to find a way to somehow relate to my life, and the events and experiences that compose it, in this world that we live. Gwendolyn Brooks says "poetry is life distilled." That's pretty much how I view it, so, here it is for you - the strongest concentration of my pure thoughts, heart, and soul that I can produce. I hope you somehow enjoy it, in whatever way is most meaningful to you.

In May, I'm planning to do sort of a 'grand opening' sort of thing where I post a poem constantly for 31 days in a row starting on Saturday, May 1st - poems that I have already written and I've wanted to get some commentary on for a while now from people who are really interested and invested in poetry, so get ready for that. Also, I'd just like to get a little bit of myself out there in the world for other people to read, because as fun as it is having an entire hard drive full of poetry you've written for no one but yourself to enjoy - it's really not that exciting or rewarding. (Most of these poems will probably end up being part of my upcoming, self-published book of poetry that I've been working on for a few years: "Whispers and Whims of a Ha'penny Bard")

So here we are, at my new page blog thing. "A Knock Upon the Door" I've decided to call it. The reference is a pretty easy one - if you're anything of a fan or buff of modern poetry, I bet it'll appear fairly obvious which poem its from, and, likewise, whose work I greatly admire.

Well, I guess take a deep breath, sit back, grab your coffee or tea, and have a good read and feel free to post anything about the poems. Anything at all. I'm all ears, and earnestly interested in your thoughts.