tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post838754532837856817..comments2024-03-14T00:29:33.297-07:00Comments on Thirteen Blackbirds Poetry: Winner, Poem of the Month, by John F. Walterenudelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783099447032485020noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-72125354828478569322008-07-21T11:02:00.000-07:002008-07-21T11:02:00.000-07:00John,Your work continues to move and inspire me. T...John,<BR/><BR/>Your work continues to move and inspire me. Thank you, Leah<BR/><BR/>P.S. Sorry if I recently scared you about moving back to the US--we'll take you back with open arms. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-31790270201267758892008-06-25T13:37:00.000-07:002008-06-25T13:37:00.000-07:00Ooh, a new Blog to bookmark...first time visitor l...Ooh, a new Blog to bookmark...first time visitor long time fan. :)<BR/><BR/>-Leah G.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-20395426487552326042008-06-25T06:57:00.000-07:002008-06-25T06:57:00.000-07:00I deeply appreciate the wise words here of John Wa...I deeply appreciate the wise words here of John Walters and have a deep respect for his intelligence and poetry. I also greatly appreciate Ed's explanation of the poem in all its beauty and content. My first impression was the magnificient imagery here(the moon, the bedroom, the child) and I was reminded of Plato's cave; secondly the crafty imaging of reality in contemporary times and the lure of living in the shadows that seeks to imitate but never completely fulfills. This poem harkens a profound message. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-80333860929132252112008-06-24T17:47:00.000-07:002008-06-24T17:47:00.000-07:00Thank you Brenda, Ann, and Diane. Brenda, reading ...Thank you Brenda, Ann, and Diane. Brenda, reading comments like yours is one of the reasons I know that we are going the right way through the probabilistic cloud with our pre-Sim movement, even if we can never tell true north, or if our cat is alive or dead, or if our brain is in a vat, or if the prayers that saved my life came from a God who cried real tears like a child when he lost his favorite marble, the earth, in the cracks between the stars. <BR/><BR/>Brilliant analysis of this poem, Edward, that not only elucidates this poem but illuminates several key themes and issues interrogated by the pre-Simulationist movement we co-founded together. To tell the truth, you've shed light on my imagery from a different standpoint from mine that gives me a perspective on my own intention, and I humbly thank you for this pellucid insight, particularly in the way the poem is in a sense an absurdist one scene play--Beckettian in its observation, though certainly far from those heights in its execution-- that loops and loops unless one does indeed 'choose.' I couldn't have asked for a more relevant, gripping and astute short critical commentary on this poem. I am honored to be have been selected as a guest on your blog. <BR/><BR/>The short bio is super. Major kudos for a superb presentation. I don't think I've ever been better presented.John Walterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08670993524464238948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-71073152604505422722008-06-24T17:34:00.000-07:002008-06-24T17:34:00.000-07:00Your writing has a throb to it, John. It's liquid ...Your writing has a throb to it, John. It's liquid and it pulses. There's juice. Electric. Alive. Probing, seeking, trying to understand, find solace. Can the moon do all this? <BR/><BR/>What I read, and it's my bias, is something I myself can become by spending too much time stuck in my books with my words. Or another might get trapped in working long hours in a sterile office building. We all get so immersed in our activities we forget to go to the window and look at its brilliant white magic.<BR/><BR/>For me, then, it's not so much the fractal flickers on the screen that pose the real threat but the addiction to it to the exclusion of immersion in nature, laughter, love, the sensuality of living.<BR/><BR/>Your words come as a brilliantly composed reminder of intimacy, connection, the communion of self and spirit and each other.<BR/><BR/>I love the wolfman and the blood moon and the window and the wife and child and the icebergs and the criss-crossing of Keatsian sensibility with jazz zombie riffing. Geiger counters and ambient strobes and nano snacks, a true trove of literary tropes making a rich poem of many treasures. <BR/><BR/>Can't say I've enjoyed reading anything as much as this piece in quite awhile.Brenda Clewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01400505552810078505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-27591557818797994222008-06-24T08:23:00.000-07:002008-06-24T08:23:00.000-07:00Thank you Walter and Ed for your introduction to p...Thank you Walter and Ed for your introduction to pre-Simulationist poetry. The work of your group packs an amazing number of ideas into a small space. <BR/><BR/>This work is not for beginners, but I think I understand, on a visceral level, your frequent juxtaposition of the technological and natural worlds. You are accurately, often fighteningly, capturing the conflicts inherent in modern life.(That comment applies to you as well, Ed).<BR/><BR/>Instead of packing the ten thousand things into my life, I opt to simplify, looking to the Tao and to emptiness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-83421442713357877912008-06-24T08:07:00.000-07:002008-06-24T08:07:00.000-07:00Thanks Diana, I agree!Thanks Diana, I agree!enudelmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02783099447032485020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-671943706633921975.post-82549095043678108262008-06-24T07:54:00.000-07:002008-06-24T07:54:00.000-07:00Ed, many thanks for alerting me to this link. Walt...Ed, many thanks for alerting me to this link. Walter's poem is intriguing. I'll need to study it further to make an intelligent comment, but on the sensual level the music is hypnotic and the usage is fresh.<BR/><BR/>Diana ManisterDiana Manisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15987993983665335574noreply@blogger.com