A few of my favorite list poems are written by
Michael Burkard (especially his "Kafka" poem), David Antin, there's one by Robert Hass ("Warsaw..." I forget the rest of the title) and Ashbery's "Into the Dusk Charged Air"-- one of my favorite poems ever.
I have a strange thought concerning list poems: to me, list poems, when done well, are some of the most sexual poems we have in the language... The rhythym, and breath, and the sheer waiting for something to turn, calm, bring closure to the redundant, sometimes quickening patterns of breathing in a way that is, well, sublime...
The kinetics of such poems attract me when at my most physical.
The effect leaves me speechless.
[This message has been edited by 2JR (edited January 29, 2002).]
|