Readable Things

If you haven't had time to read Emily's response to the post on poem 10 she clears up my blue question.

I think William Carlos Williams is going to be an enjoyable read. I thumbed through the book a little and stopped on page 113. I found such wonderful words.

Fire burns; that is the first law.
When a wind fans it the flames

are carried aboard. Talk
is a fire and not only of the blood.

The writing is nothing, the being
in a position to write (that's

where they get you) is nine tenths
of the difficulty: seduction

or strong arm stuff. The writing
should be a relief,

relief from the conditions
which as we advance become--a fire,

a destroying fire. For the writing
is also an attack and means must be


This poem continues on but I was drawn in immediately by what I was reading. I wanted to read more. I think this weeks readings are going to be pleasant and a wonderful break from vile, depressing Berryman.

Just Me & Berryman: Should I Be Scared?

Okay so I am a complete chick, chick, chicken. Jodi gave me the perfect opportunity to talk about Poem 10 of Berryman and I froze again. I have to address this or else I will drive myself crazy for not talking about it in class. Let's just call this the bonus edition from class then, shall we.

I find Berryman's Poem 10 so disturbing. If you get a chance please read it again because I feel like it talks about a lynching. Take a look at the picture and also go to the website http://www.withoutsanctuary.org/main.html I feel like you can really get perspective if you at least look at the photo I included and then reread Poem 10. This poem and photo are disturbing. Besides leaving a very bad taste in my head I also began to question why Berryman would include this written image in the book? What is the significance, what is the reason for including it?

My big question though shifted to what other images are in this poetry that I am missing. Once I deciphered this image I started going back and looking for others. I went through them with widget and dictionary.com at my fingertips looking for images missed. Berryman creates a word web that I don't think I can completely explore in just three weeks. I want to know why Berryman is using the 'blackface' idea for the text. What is the significance of this? So many questions, so little time.

My last question, I promise! What is with the fascination with the color blue? Emily's poetry and our discussion in class really got me thinking about the color blue and nature. We find the color blue in the sky and water but where else in nature can we discover the color blue? How often is blue a color that we associate in our environment?