without pretense

Some years ago, a series of my poems were in an art show. All the artists were asked to write a statement about their work, and this is what I wrote. I just came across it in an old folder and thought it was sort of funny.

I write things that I like to think anyone can read – as long as they know how to form words by interpreting symbols on a page. Even if they don’t like "poetry." Such a strange animal, poetry is. E.E. Cummings said, "Anyone could become a poet merely by doing the necessary anything; whichever that anything might or might not entail." And some may think that this means exactly nothing; however it says as much as I can possibly say about my poems, or his poems, or the art of poetry in general.

Many are scared of poetry, or put off by its pretense. Poetry, after all, strives to be "beautiful." (Poets like this.) It wants to touch, to feel, to get inside you without, necessarily, an invitation. It is understandable why it is uncomfortable for people. I become often uncomfortable about it when I am writing, because perhaps it is quite intrusive. Writing or reading a poem is like finding an amazing new lover; it is too wonderful and frightful and you know that you aren’t going to get away without taking off some emotional clothing.

Emotional clothing? Yes, poets also like "deep metaphor," I suppose. It’s just something to get used to. I, like most artists, hesitate to write “about” my work; there is a fear that this will detract from nuance and the possibility for magic. However I am insistent that anything I have written will be received and enjoyed by you the reader, or else it will not. No matter what I “say.” Or you could just believe me when I say that I am truly without pretense and that my poetry therefore is without pretension. That should make you less skittish. Of course then you who are not pretentious would see through this gaunt veil, as no one who is without pretense ever talks about it.

Rest assured that in any event, you can undress in front of my (or any) poems. They are safe. I can say from experience that if they bite, it will only hurt for a moment. Or if they are unsafe, it is only because you need them to be.

November 2003