True, but I didn't say I was after them. I do think people are jaded with spectacle - look at the negative fan reactions to the new Star Wars movies, or the Matrix sequels, proving that less is often more. Is it fanciful to suggest that these individuals might be interested in something which leaves a little more to the imagination?
(Edited to add: Kevin, I've already remarked that yes, other artforms allow the spectator creative freedom - but it's a matter of degree. Your point about the actor being replaced in writing by the reader's imagined character proved this. I'm certainly not saying all film is mere eye candy, I'm saying poetry is imagination candy. When I speak about the viewer being jaded, I'm just pointing out something that seems self evident - they may turn from Star Wars to Smallville (or Buffy! Go Buffy!) but they may ALSO become more receptive to poetry.)
I'm just suggesting that there might be an opportunity for poetry right now - how to seize it I do not know. Performance poetry can lead people in, but can also obscure more literary efforts where the text is king; I think that's got something to do with the hostility I've encountered to it from 'real' poets (and I've also felt hostile towards PP at times). Better, more relevant education that doesn't start and end with Shakespeare might help (not that I'm against teaching The Bard, but at my school we did four of his plays, taking up perhaps half of the entire time devoted to English lit. That's just ridiculous). I actually did hear in the news that schools in England are planning on radically overhauling the texts they teach, so I'm not the only one following this kind of logic. English is not simply another form of heritage, and should be presented to students primarily as a living, evolving subject that concerns their world.
I suppose in my humble way I try to introduce people to poetry with varying degrees of success. I do know that when people used to confessional nonsense and random images are confronted with a REAL poem, a good one like Maz's latest or that lovely Michael Cantor one about the geisha, they are astounded. Try joining one of the many lesser sites around and posting your best - the reaction will be something along the lines of 'I didn't know poetry could be like that'. The reader may well stay with poetry for the rest of his life. I think some of us have become too comfortable in our ivory towers, however, we like the sense of family, the in jokes, the elitism. We are happy to snigger at a bad poem but less willing to explain how the poem can be salvaged, or if unsalvageable, how the poet could grow. Remember that everyone you train is a footsoldier in the battle for recognition of your art, and the personal status benefits that go with that recognition.
Seize the day, people (if I had anything I've spoilt it now, haven't I? *giggle*).
Alex
[This message has been edited by Alexander Grace (edited April 21, 2005).]
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