The Write Queen
The Write Queen

The Write Queen Blog

Response to Amiri Baraka's "Why Most Poetry Is So Boring, Again": From the Behind the Poet

8/18/2008

1 Comment

 
Original Post Date: 2007
This article of Amiri Baraka is ridiculously overwritten. I feel like he threw around a lot of words and didn't simplify the text for a general audience. Maybe this article wasn't meant for a general audience and more for an academic one, but I felt like he made it unnecessarily complicated. I was able to understand some points of the article really well. I was even able to agree with him at certain points. For example, I agreed with the point he made when he spoke about receiving chapbooks and magazines of works that promised to be something else with their titles but end up being nothing profound. You can only read so much about the same thing. People are usually telling the same stories in their poetry. You may think no one has ever written about this before. In reality though, there is someone that thinks like you. As I like to say, "The only thing that is unique is the word unique. Everything, everyone has common ground." What makes one poet different from another is the way they say it. It is those who put a new spin to an old idea that stand out from the crowd.

It is also those who dare to say what has never been said or really talked about that stand out. People are taught to play it safe. No one must talk about the nitty gritty of the real world. This is why you see a lot of safe, boring poetry. I got what Baraka was trying to say. It?s hard to explain it in the right words. They are not coming to me now. Because I?m still trying to understand his message behind all the "big" words. But I think I stated a piece of it. I would probably agree with more of his ideas or be able to disagree and argue more if he wrote this article in a way where more people can understand. I am a very intelligent person, but how can I see his view on poetry, if he can't put it in a way everyone can understand? Sometimes less is more.
1 Comment
El Desdichado link
8/26/2013 09:33:30 am

You are WRITE ON, Write Queen. You post inspired me to read the Imamu's screed and it is indeed ridiculously overwritten. I used to like his poetry long ago. But he appears to me now as a hateful ranter and scribe of mediocre agit-prop.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Christina D. Rodriguez

    A Latinx poet and entrepreneur who blogs about poetry, music, writing, and life.


    Archives

    April 2019
    December 2017
    August 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    July 2010
    April 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    October 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    November 2008
    October 2008
    August 2008
    June 2008


    Categories

    All
    2011 Haiku Madness
    2011 Self Discovery Poems
    2011 Tanka Marathon
    Aros
    Awareness
    Books
    Dear Person Epistles
    Digging Deep
    Events
    Facing Self
    Fashion
    Film
    Fun Stuff
    January 2011 A River Of Stones
    Late Night Feelings
    Media
    Miscellaneous
    Music
    Nahaiwrimo 2013
    Napowrimo 2009
    Napowrimo 2010
    Napowrimo 2011
    Napowrimo 2012
    Napowrimo 2013
    NaPoWriMo 2014
    National Poetry Month
    Photography
    Poetry
    Politics
    Projects
    Prose
    Remembrance
    Site Updates
    Social Media
    Technology
    The Book Jumper
    The Write Discoveries
    The Write Journey
    The Write Poems
    The Write Rants
    The Write Recommendations
    The Write Web
    #theycalledherbravenewgirl
    Thoughts And Opinions
    Visual Art
    WQ Performances
    Writing Challenges

    RSS Feed

    Follow The Write Queen

    bloglovin

The Write Queen & Christina Rodriguez Online © All Rights Reserved 2008 - 2020.