Try #2

Ok, so, since I have to generate poems anyways, I decided to do a "second take" in regards to my mastertape and rules. This time, I used The-Dream's "Sex Intelligent" as "muse."

NSFW NSFW NSFW (note: the video has literally nothing to do with the song--however, it's the only version I could find on youtube that has the song as presented on the CD, which is what I was listening to while composing).



The process this time felt a lot smoother--maybe it was because I wasn't trying to get "everything" out in one take (I took time to read/digest my writing before moving on at points), but this may underlie a bit my fickleness as a writer or lend some credence to the concept of "inspiration." The music felt like it "spoke" to me more readily, and I think it was a direct result of me not doing much "intellectualizing" before hand. I still knew I was going to use the "rules" and masterplan, but I think I was less concerned about "following" the rules (not in terms of disregard, but more in terms of "checklist paranoia") and more trusting of my writing, knowing that if I could readily note 10 consistent traits in my writing, the traits would manifest themselves when I wrote organically, and I didn't have to necessarily "babysit" the writing.

Now, going through the checklist, I note:
1)I used music to compose (The-Dream - "Sex Intelligent")
2)Less than a page, typed (which, in hindsight, is a weird rule, as I write poems as blocks of text first with ink and paper and the line breaks manifest on first revisions, which are done on the computer. ).
3)I may distill this rule to just "no rules in terms of line length," as I really use the line to "tell" me when to stop.
4)I think the rhythm is tight--I found unexpected internal rhymes and nothing seems overly "chewy" to say.
5)Definitely in the first person.
6) Not much in terms of abstractions here--yay me.
7)This is one rule I question whether I should change, as I definitely have a humor/wit side, but I'm not sure it manifests itself in every poem. I do have the caveat "when appropriate" in the rule, so it may be fine/be open for flexibility, but this poem definitely lacks any sort of "wit." Le sigh.
8)I think I stay trued to the emotions of the poem--very much a "plea," although I'm not sure if this plea is genuine or not in the speaker's eyes.
9)Made use of Newton's laws of motion both in the title ("Laws of Motion") and throughout the text (concepts like energy)--also, definitely some biblical references (St. Peter).
10)Definitely, at its core, a relationship poem, but there's an interesting, to me, conflation towards the end where religion gets brought in, and throughout, there is a sense of what is "right" in terms of physical versus spiritual/instinctual. Also, I did manage to tie in some musical concepts (such as waveforms and timbre), so score all three.

Based on this, I'm just interested to knowing if the rules can "change" over the semester (whether completely or simple tweaks) or not. I definitely feel my mastertape is in place (the idea of relationships as aided [a little bit or a lot of bit] by music), but I think my rules may need changing as I discover more of my poetic self via writings/exercises.

So, end products are "Trust" and "Laws of Motions" for this week's activities--I'm unsure which one I want to use, but I'll definitely be ready for this Wednesday.

-Glenn

p.s., it's so weird to me to "write" this, mainly because I've given up proper capitalization not to "buck" the system, but it allows me to type faster without using my left or right pinkie for the "shift" keys. Working my way back into academe slowly. Ha.