Fridays at 4 (eastern time)

February 21, 2022

I’d like to try something new this week to see how it goes. I enjoy the comments on the blog page, the back and forth, but I’d like even more to have a conversation in, as they say, “real time.” And in the days of zoom, to see each other’s unmasked faces. There’s no good time for everyone, but I thought I’d start with Fridays at 4, east coast time–end of the week, before dinner, easy to remember. For me in Seattle it will be 1, just after lunch, so I’ll probably be drinking coffee, but you’re welcome to bring wine or even something stronger.

I imagine having a topic or a starting point each time, but we’re poets–we can wander where we want. I’m still thinking of the Seamus Heaney documentary, The Music of What Happens, and I’d be happy to talk more about that. Or about any earlier blog posts–easy to search, now that there’s an Index. I’d also like to hear what poems and poets you’re thinking about.

And a question I’m obsessed by: is it possible to develop an ear for free verse rhythm without first understanding the music of meter?

I’m hoping to see you Friday–please put it on your calendars, so I don’t end up talking to myself (though it wouldn’t be the first time).

Sharon Bryan is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Sharon Bryan’s Zoom Meeting
Time: Feb 25, 2022 01:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

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Meeting ID: 974 4067 3645
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9 Comments

  • Reply Mary Jane White February 21, 2022 at 7:32 pm

    Hi Sharon, I’ll be there. Mary Jane White

    • Reply Sharon February 22, 2022 at 5:07 pm

      Great! I’m looking forward to seeing you.

  • Reply Pat Lowery Collins February 25, 2022 at 11:43 am

    I’ll try to be there, too.

  • Reply Sandra Alcosser February 25, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    Sharon,

    What a wonderful idea! I’d love to be there, but I have a physical therapy appointment following a meeting with the pavement. Next time?

  • Reply Sharon February 26, 2022 at 2:38 am

    Sandra, I’m hoping to make this weekly. It would be great to see you.

    Sharon

  • Reply Sharon February 26, 2022 at 2:41 am

    from Marcia Southwick: My first break from the “New Critical” way of thinking–( I was taught to see the poem as a kind of machine unto itself,) came when I first read the poems of Robert Lowell. I could see his mind in action, driven by personal emotion. I was hooked by the incredibly intimate and personal way his poetry reached through me to something greater and universal. At the same time, the way he saw the world was anything but universal.

    This passage from “Skunk Hour” shifted the way I thought of the connection between the poet and the poem. I think it’s not just the personal confessional tone that makes it great. A living, breathing person is brought alive on the page.

    “A car radio bleats,
    ‘Love, O careless Love . . . .’ I hear
    my ill-spirit sob in each blood cell,
    as if my hand were at its throat . . . .
    I myself am hell;
    nobody’s here—

    only skunks that search
    in the moonlight for a bite to eat . . .

  • Reply Sharon February 26, 2022 at 2:42 am

    Marcia, this is a great example. Thanks. Sharon

  • Reply Elaine Schear February 27, 2022 at 10:49 pm

    Hi Sharon,

    Elaine Schear here from the Z Street Writers (Cambridge/Boston area) and friend of Aren and Pattie, who alerted me to your weekly conversation. I’d like to join in. Thanks so much! Looking forward,

    ES

    • Reply Sharon February 28, 2022 at 6:34 pm

      Hi Elaine–thanks, glad to have you. I’ll add you to the mailing list, but you can also go to the web page and subscribe. Welcome!

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