The Fountain

I really liked the selections or this week's reading. I loved The Fountain. I thought it was absolutely beautiful when I read it to myself but I was actually a little bit disappointed when I listened to the audio version online. I thought that it was read almost mechanical and that a lot of the rhythm and beauty of the whole poem was lost. I haven't really been to too many poetry readings, but i really enjoyed listening to Cathy Park Hong read her own work out loud. I thought it made the poem come to life a little more, the ideas seemed just a little bit more tangible, and there was something unique about hearing the work straight from the mouth of the poet. I guess I was a little disappointed in the reading of The Fountain, because it felt a little stunted and awkward, I thought it took away more from the poem than it gained. I am no expert on reading poetry out loud, so perhaps the technique was intentional, and I am entirely off base, but I guess I just feel that a poem so powerful and moving could have been read with a deeper emotion and emphasis to really draw the listener in. I thought the audio version did not do the literary version justice.

On another note, I really enjoyed reading my workshop group's poems this week. It was interesting to see how much variety there was when the assignment had more constrains and structure than most of the previous weeks. I thought Brian used a really interesting and creative idea for his constraint and I loved Chelsea's deer! I was really impressed, that must have taken forever to make on the computer. See you all in class!

-Jenny-