New Jersey and You

I'm fiercely proud of my little home state - it's a humble place, if you will. Small in size, crammed to capacity (supposedly, the 9th most populous state), the little brother to New York City and the cousin to Philadelphia, taking the brunt of many juvenile jokes of those just jealous that they don't live here. Scandals? Sure. Corrupt government? No doubt. Mobsters and mysterious meetings at abandoned loading docks? Possibly. More likely, you've watched too many Sopranos episodes. What about our beautiful natural beauty of the shores, the mountains, the Pine Barrens, quaint Victorian towns? What about the strong-willed, down to earth people - always the underdog? There is so, so much more about our state that I love. Truly.

You know what else is great about Jersey? The amount of talent that comes pouring out in a continual flow. There are countless actors/actresses, musicians, authors, just to name a few categories, that are astonishing (and by the way, rarely do you ever see one of these "celebrities" deny their connection to the Garden State. Coincidence?) And then, there are the poets.

A few weeks ago, Alfred Corn blogged about a recent trip to NJ to visit the haunts of our most noted poets. He asked, "I wonder if anyone has written an article or book about poetry and the Garden State?" Yes, Mr. Corn - quite a bit.

Even though our most noted poets are long gone - and we don't even have a state poet laureate, the scene is still alive. Heck, even the South Mountain Poets meet at my local library (no - I haven't mustered up the nerve to attend their meetings. I think it's residual after I was told at my first poetry club meeting in college that my poem was "sing-songy" Maybe one day...)

So, here are some worthwhile sites for those from NJ...or those who want to see what our little state has to offer:

New Jersey Poets and Poetry (blog)

NewJerseyPoetry.com

NJ Poetry Voices

When Lit Crit Mattered

James Seaton gave a review of Garrett Davis's collection "Praising it New" in this weekend's WSJ with the article When Lit-Crit Mattered, and discussed the relevance of The New Critics. I am impressed by the opening sentences of Mr. Seaton's review, when he reminds us that literature, including poetry, was very much alive and a part of the culture just some 50 or 60 years ago. This was before I was born, but I find those times exciting and often imagine that I would have ended up a Beatnik for sure. ::snap, snap::

But seriously, there are many schools of thought when it comes to not only writing, but reading, interpretting and teaching poetry. I'm eager to read about The New Critics and how they viewed literature. Just to leave you with a taste:

"The New Critics...thought that the study of literature -- especially poetry -- was a valuable activity because, as Allen Tate put it, "the full language of the human situation can be the vehicle of truth."

Indeed.

That's What She Said

Words. Where would we be without words? I'm not talking poetry here today - just, plain and simple, we would not be the advanced species that we think we are without being able to communicate in print, speech, and sign. We're all clamoring for our 5 minutes to say what we want to say, to express ourselves, define ourselves, share ideas with one another, connect with each other. Of course, today - anything goes. The way we communicate with each other has changed, and I don't think for the better (and I'm not referring to the constant barrage of text messages, social networking sites, IMs, and so on.) What are we saying to each other, and subsequently, what are we saying about ourselves?

I don't want to get on my soap box today...but there is just one thing irking me at the moment about language and communication. I was in Steve and Barry's the other day (and for the record, it's a great store, trendy yet inexpensive clothes - my beef is not with the store). My beef is with a girl's T-shirt I saw there that read "Buy Me Things." Seriously? I know, it's just a flirty fun shirt. It doesn't mean anything. It's a shirt. With a stupid phrase. That would make the wearer appear to be, well...a stupid princess with disregard for the people around her. She's the center of attention and everyone needs to bow down and evaluate her worth by how much she has and how much people are willing to spend on her. That's a good message to be sending out, don't you agree?

Well, I don't. No doubt, the shirt manufacturer wasn't thinking about the social or psychological repercussions this simple T would have. They were thinking of the bottom line. The girl who buys the shirt...I'm not sure what she would be thinking. Probably that she's cute and funny. "Oh, no - I don't really believe that you should buy me things." Right. I just think it's sad that girls today think they still have to feed into the stereotype of needy, whiny girls interested only in material things. They should have been able to move beyond that by now. I know - I'm blowing this out of proportion.

Just goes back to my original point. Words are important. Choose yours carefully.
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"The human being who lives only for himself finally reaps nothing but unhappiness. Selfishness corrodes. Unselfishness ennobles, satisfies. Don't put off the joy derivable from doing helpful, kindly things for others. " (B. C. Forbes)

New Poet Laureate

A belated congratulations to Kay Ryan for becoming the 16th US Poet Laureate!

I'm just starting now to backtrack and read her work, which I relate to immediately and find to be a breath of fresh air. She is the kind of writer that I can appreciate right away, not just for her wonderful work but for her lack of pretension, the way she can connect with people through her words, her preference for short poems instead of epics, her introspection and tendency to feel like an outsider, and her epiphany around the age of 30 to devote her professional life to poetry and writing. I am at that age, and even though I'm still waiting for that great epiphany to happen, I can certainly relate to her internal struggle with that question.

So, again - congratulations. I look forward to reading much more of your work.