tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post8210230256820613703..comments2024-02-05T00:16:13.698-05:00Comments on Banjo52: Poem for a Day: "Walking in the Woods" by Grace PaleyBanjo52http://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-21487115987720302582009-12-12T13:30:46.596-05:002009-12-12T13:30:46.596-05:00Narcissistic hurt? That is a great one!Narcissistic hurt? That is a great one!Brenda's Arizonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880225110712592548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-37649496354369046972009-12-11T20:04:48.647-05:002009-12-11T20:04:48.647-05:00It occurs to me that for some time now I've be...It occurs to me that for some time now I've been confusing Babe Paley for Grace Paley...PJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12059415005282675289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-90862598977735337142009-12-10T17:36:34.296-05:002009-12-10T17:36:34.296-05:00Brenda, your comment is great. Bringing Dr. Shrink...Brenda, your comment is great. Bringing Dr. Shrink into it is dangerous for me because psychology has been an ongoing interest for me since college--double dangerous because sometimes I convince I know what I'm talking about. <br /><br />At the party I mentioned, a friend who's an MSW tossed out a label new to me: "narcissistic hurt." I don't know if it's relevant here, but if I understand it, I love the concept--never mind that I've probably been guilty of it.<br /><br />So when people connect in their own way to writing that I think deserves their attention--maybe even moves them--that's what it's all about. The way you're making the Paley poem your own is terrific.<br /><br />And if AH follows through on memorizing it, I'll become dysfunctional with delight.Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-52708650368327866622009-12-10T11:34:15.374-05:002009-12-10T11:34:15.374-05:00AH, thank you! What you compliment is precisely wh...AH, thank you! What you compliment is precisely what I hope to convey. <br /><br />Maybe I should have included in the post the title of her collected poems: Begin Again: Collected Poems of Grace Paley.<br /><br />Re: punctuation, white space, etc.: <br /><br />At a party the other night, I mentioned a rumor I'd heard that a major poet (now deceased and not nearly so major) forbade his MFA students to use semi-colons in their poetry--not for grammatical reasons but because he thought semi-colons were ugly.<br /><br />I've always thought that story/rumor was supposed to illustrate the arrogance of the "major" poet, but the only people responding the other night said they agreed with him. Eschew the semi-colon! Hang him high! Dangle his ugly ass over the Grand Canyon!<br /><br />I tell you, it was frightening. It was mob mentality. It was semi-colon bigotry run amok. <br /><br />That'll teach me to bring up such things at social gatherings. Or will it?Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-56585571231224744912009-12-10T11:23:45.982-05:002009-12-10T11:23:45.982-05:00A quasi hippie but also bean counter... hmm. Loves...A quasi hippie but also bean counter... hmm. Loves poetry but white space is a turn off? I figure you were 40 going on older in your thoughts. Now I am totally convinced.<br /><br />Grace Paley's poem is like a shrink talking. Or at least like my shrink. "Don't go there", meaning the dark places in mind. "Don't go there - recite a poem, sing a song, anything, but don't go there." Until you get brave enough to see the 'there' as a place you can tolerate, you can be forced to stick your toe in it, test the water, and then like. Whereas Dr. Shrink is dismissive, judgmental, I like my own reward in 'getting over it' and just going on with it. And then I become the one high-handed, but I earned it. <br /><br />Awesome learning here, Banjo. MORE, MORE, MORE! Bravo!Brenda's Arizonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880225110712592548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883979841111173610.post-32260744481117181152009-12-10T11:02:11.836-05:002009-12-10T11:02:11.836-05:00This is my favorite essay so far. You have a wonde...This is my favorite essay so far. You have a wonderfully distinct, comfortable, affable, intelligent voice.<br /><br />And you accomplished your goal, I think. I now want to read more of her work, and I did like the poem and the thoughts. In fact, I think I'll memorize this one.<br /><br />About the white space. I think I understand that too. Commas are kind of ugly, I prefer dashes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com