Meta-Poetics Vol.1: AntiPoetic Rhetoric
Author's Note: January 1 2011 marked the first year anniversary of ye olde Blasphemous Bazaar's establishment. To commemorate that milestone, the editor presented his findings regarding what he'd learned thus far by renouncing the title of 'Poet' and embracing the 'Anti-Poet' rubric instead...
Antipoetic, Anti-Poets, Anti-Poetry—all these are misnomers because they allude to a new offshoot of Poetics going strong against the grain.
Those who misunderstand Anti-Poets and Anti-Poetry don't realize how easy it is to reflect what Poets do, like backwards letters in a mirror.
Poets cannot fulfill a dialectic of transcendence without first confronting their own shadow selves and synthesizing right-brain Poetry with left-brain Anti-Poetry.
Contrary to what many think, Anti-Poets have low antipathy toward Poetry. Instead, they work hard to hone said Art, and raise it over ego.
It often seems as if Poets have forgotten that Poems aren't simply a platform for personal aggrandizement but a cultural dialectic relevant to ALL.
Poets are mistaken in assuming that Poetry serves their selfish ends when they're actually there to serve as spokespeople for interpersonal inspiration.
Too much of what passes for Poetry is really just self-indulgent tripe with little if any attention paid to detail. Who teaches these Poets to write?
Anti-Poets question the sacred place that Poets occupy in literature by challenging and satirizing their counterparts.
Newbies need to concentrate on the classics to temper their tastes, whereas sophomores ought to become more aware of self-reference and repetition.
Adopting a Nom de Plume (Pen Name) is an Antipoetic maneuver because it makes Poets anonymous and less concerned about their public appearance.
Some Anti-Poets are in fact Poets gone rogue in a literary class struggle between writers and publishers; freelance mercenaries of the Word.
It is evident from their writing that most Poets have little interest in linguistics or literary theory, which is a shame for this art form.
Poems ABOUT Poetry are rather Antipoetic because they take a critical stand on the craft and who better for this job than former Poets?
From an Antipoetic perspective most regular Poets come across as conformists and/or narcissists.
Anti-Poets are conscientious dissenters yet ironically because of this, they might be considered elitists.
Since Poets often neglect to do so, it falls on their Anti-Poet counterparts to critique Poetry and engage in thoroughgoing exegeses of Poems.
Poets should not be afraid to wax philosophic as well as poetic. Poems can definitely be an intellectual exercise—don't dumb down your message for anybody!
Epistemology and Etymology are underused disciplines in the Poets' toolkit these days. Poetry may benefit greatly from a Ludic Telos as well as Semiosis.
We living Poets tend to be full of ourselves while the dearly departed ones are usually recognized for their contributions to the whole of humanity.
Next time you read or write a Poem keep an eye out for first-person pronouns; you might notice how needlessly they are repeated.
Removing first-person from Poetry is a decidedly Antipoetic maneuver since Poems tend to be centered around the gravity of those who produce them.
Even without first-person pronouns, Poems remain inescapably personal, but removing those references is a step towards broadening the overall art form.
Picasso said that Artists only ever portray themselves, and this is equally true of Poets. Except that radical Poems can also become a somewhat 'transpersonal' affair.
Poems centered on one's SELF don't always have universal relevance. Words may be æsthetically pleasing but even then, they may lack merit.
Poetry is no crude implement nor trifle but a higher form of language that can enliven as well as enlighten; Poets should treat it accordingly.
Poets often seem afraid or altogether incapable of being didactic with verse (as if knowledge was offensive and only flowery words mattered).
Poets, don't be afraid to offend your audience! Sometimes (for better or worse) a little upset is necessary to spur upheaval among the masses.
Anti-Poetry is stricter is many ways than ordinary Poetry but in other ways it is also far more playful and irreverent toward romanticized norms.
Anti-Poets demystify Poetry so as to catalyze mutations in wordplay much like physicists split the atom then named new particles and quarks.
Anti-Poets explore the wild outback of language in ways that may flummox readers as reality is subverted via versification.
Anti-Poets huff and puff on the caterpillar-pipe of bombast and enjoy smashing misconceptions as would any iconoclast.
Anti-Poetry launches beyond Poetry proper into semantic spaces where Anti-Poems pull out the rug from under readers and send them into mental freefall...
Anti-Poets ambush the reader's mind in a manner that might be deemed dishonorable by others; using words as weapons in psychic combat.
Anti-Poets must work twice as hard as regular Poets to earn half as much respect. Preachy Poetry isn't exactly popular.
Poets tinker with language in their efforts to be published. Anti-Poets weaponize Poetry in order to spur metabolic change outside the range of commercial publications.
It's probably too much to ask for Poets to respect Anti-Poets and Anti-Poetry since they barely get their own Poetry or themselves to begin with.
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