Driven by a mix of fear his life will have so little impact that his obituary will contain unnoticed spelling errors and a converse irony about the irrelevance of celebrity, Gagnier gathers poems that both showcase the arc of his life and gently mock the project as a naïve attempt to encapsulate something both complex … Continue reading Free Verse Revolution: The Collection (2010-2017) by Nicholas Gagnier
Joy weaves together hymns in praise of feeling rather than deconstructing poetry with evidence that words cannot be other than a structure around anything of actual meaning, elegantly capturing both the power of language to show reality and its failure. This collection contains twenty-nine of Joy’s poems inspired by the concept of writing. The eponymous … Continue reading Fleeting Ink by Miriam Joy
This image by the rather talented Ink Stitution was the photo prompt in one of the poetry communities to which I belong. Which inspired the haiku that follows. Fog obscures the path Monsters hide in the shadows Trust me to save you This post is dedicated to the myriad Goths who face another 364 days … Continue reading A Flurry of Darkness
You say we don't understand your experience. So we ask. And you say that it ain't your job to educate us. Which is true, but doesn't help solve the issue. And solving the issue's not your job either, But that don't mean you aren't allowed to try if you want. Which is why there are … Continue reading Life Outside the Tank
Someone was kind enough to compliment my latest haiku, so I thought I'd spread the love: Darkness becomes light Forgiveness is only bliss Comparatively
Poetry is hard to define, but one of the common guides for what is "good" poetry, is conformity to tradition: does this poem follow the forms of Latin verse? Does that poem fit the structure of Shakespearean sonnets? Does this tanka reference the season and have a metaphysical shift in the middle? And such fitting … Continue reading A Stick To Beat One’s Tongue
Do I have friendships focused on poetry? Friendships where I bounce poems back and forth? They all are, or none of them are. I have friends who poet, I have friends who read poetry, I have friends who I met through poetry, but I don't have friendships that are based around poeting. Partially because, to … Continue reading The Friendship of Poets
For as long as I can remember, I've loved the taste of words. Not synaesthecially, not the way I love the taste of a good meal, but the way words feel in the mouth and in the waiting to be spoken. Which isn't why I started writing poetry. I started writing poetry because I didn't … Continue reading A Mask Creates Whitespace
Kiku Koibito invited me to share one of my older poems. Rather than merely cast it into the ephemera of social media, I thought I'd capture it here. Warning: might contain imagery, satire, and language. A Better Class Tarquin’s poem is going to be published They say it speaks to the nation’s soul. How is … Continue reading Warning: Contains Language
Defining a generation more by a feeling than by happenstance of age, Gagnier speaks to those who have grown into lives of comfort but not meaning. In an attack more melancholy than brutal – yet no less effective – he exposes both risk and solution without reducing individuals solely to their generation. This collection contains … Continue reading Generation Why by Nicholas Gagnier
