Grand Slam Breakfast

I have spent almost three months reading books on my Kindle. Four books in. And I had a sudden realization today - I love the absence of book covers. Don't worry, I'm not going to turn this into an allegory for making judgments, etc. I simply find it refreshing that the story, the relationship between me and the author, is only the words. That's it. Discounting the little button I push to turn the page, I have only the text. No fancy cover with splashy colors and pictures of fanciful things. No thick, expensive, gold-trimmed paper. No marketing ploys. Just words. My love, words.

And so that got me thinking of something else I feel passionately about: Poetry. It has been nearly a decade since I have said this, but I am a poet. I write (wrote) poems. But something happened (is happening) in the world of "poetry" that has left a bad taste in my mouth. Poetry as you see it "performed" at so-called open-mic poetry readings, or "slams," ain't poetry. I used to go to these poetry readings. I organized a few in the mid-Nineties. And I discovered that the audience didn't show up to hear poems. They came for the act. The performance. Back then I had to write two styles of poems: Poems for the page, and poems to be performed at poetry readings. And the latter were meaningless and trite. My relationship with poetry grew further and further away from words and closer to the clownish interpretive dance you see at these poetry slams. Nowadays the mere thought of poetry readings makes me cringe. And that makes me sad. I think I'll go write a poem.