[N. Matheson]

Of the poets you've listed, only have I genuinely enjoyed Stallings' work, and even then her poems concerning more modern things like Jetlag and Jigsaw Puzzles are not of interest to me. There is just... almost nothing in modernity I find enjoyable or even remotely worth my time. And I certainly can't enjoy a poem about the discourse, much less hope to write one. Medieval and ancient poems just appeal to me more; the way they sound, their mannerisms, their similes, their invocations to deities (Pagan or otherwise), the religious awe, the complexity of their speech, etc. To me, it's like comparing a candle to the chariot of the Sun.

[Susan McLean]

N., I'm glad you find our politics and philosophy more congenial than that of the Society of Classical Poets, but unless you also can understand our overall aesthetics, we may not be able to give you what you need. We all have widely varying styles and subject matter, but we tend to agree that archaic language does not have much place in contemporary poetry except in parody or pastiche. I love classical, medieval, and Renaissance poetry, but I don't try to write like it.

Also, I concur with Julie in having small patience for poems that go on and on about women's beauty as a weapon. Back when it was the only weapon women were allowed to have, it may have seemed an interesting trope. These days, not so much. Several times I have read through your poem, but each time the language does not make much sense to me. I understand all the words, but when I try to ask myself what is happening in the poem, I can't figure it out. Milton used dense language and unusual syntax, too, but I can usually follow him much better.

I don't think anyone should tell you what to write about. But if they tell you what they are or are not getting out of what you write, it is worth listening to. We are willing to help if you are willing hear. You don't have to take every suggestion, but if you reject all of them, we can't benefit you.

Susan

[Julie Steiner]

N., I am confident that if you look at A.E. Stallings's "Jet Lag" and "Jigsaw Puzzle" less hastily, you will find that both those poems are making arguments very similar to the views you have expressed above in prose. They do so in a very oblique, playful, poetic way, by curating a mood and an experience rather than by making an explicit statement. There is far more going on in their depths than can be judged on the surface level of subject matter.

The first poem is so chock-full of Greek mythology that I am gobsmacked to hear it accused of too much modernity. I hope you can be persuaded to regard the poem as evidence that the antiquity of which you are so fond is still relevant, vibrant, and life-enriching in modern times. I'm frankly stunned that you are dismissing a poem that seems to resonate so well with your own more extremely-stated sensibilities.

The second poem can taken as a meditation on humanity's constant struggles to make sense of life's chaos by employing various strategies. Seeking the structural outlines of the puzzle (corners and edges) might suggest religion, or it might evoke using the stanzas, lines, and metrical requirements of formal poetry-writing. Grouping pieces by color could evoke the racial stereotypes that many resort to in order to quickly categorize perceived threats, or it could suggest a poets' attention to rhymes and patterns. Stallings leaves it up to the reader to connect those dots in whichever way they wish. I love what she does with the line lengths and meter over the course of the poem, to help underscore the experience of disconcerting absences and things falling apart. I find that exhilarating. Again, I can't believe you're dismissing this poem on the grounds of modernity, or that you apparently think that this deceptively simple poem would have been improved by giving it more flourishes or by making the language sound as if it was written a few centuries ago.

To me, neither poem is "about" its subject matter. To me, both are "about" inviting the reader to briefly experience life itself from a new perspective. I am genuinely sad that you seem to be declining these invitations from an arbitrary determination not to enjoy "modernity." I fervently hope you will give these two poems another chance.