Susan, thanks for that warm introduction and for all the work you've already done behind the scenes as host of the bake-off. And Bruce, Roger and Maryann, thank you very much for the warm welcome. As a past participant and a fan of many talented poets whose work has been featured in the bake-off over the years, I was honored when Alex asked me to comment on this year's crop. I look forward to posting the finalists and getting the ball rolling with my responses, and then to hearing what everyone else has to say. I'll give my personal top three at the end, but I see myself as more a conversation-starter than a judge.
While the poems Susan sent to me are very diverse in style, voice, subject and so forth, I noticed a few patterns. Perhaps the most intriguing of these was that firearms featured heavily in these sonnets. Some were literal and some figurative; some went off by line 14 and some did not (though Chekhov might have held that you should never have a gun appear in the octave that doesn't go off in the sestet). I hope that's enough of a teaser to whet your curiosity. I'll post the first two sonnets tomorrow.
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