Jnana's Red Barn

As I was reflecting the other day on whether to include a list of kindred links, I realized that the very range of categories presented here each month would lead to a very long list, indeed. And that, in turn, would add to the maintenance load of trying to keep the listing up-to-date.

For instance, the Red Barn has both a Poems category, where I’ve been offering a sampling of my work from the past four decades, and a Poetry Footnotes category, discussing some of my inspiration, practice, and the small-press literary scene. You may already be aware of how active the poetry scene is on the Web, and blogging is no exception.

Still, I thought today I’d spotlight a few of the ones I follow.

Much earlier, I mentioned my fondness for micropoems. Nobody does them better, day in and day out, than the U.K. writer Marie Marshall at Kvenna Rad. See if you agree with me that a number she calls fragments really stand complete.

Alarmingman knows what makes a good haiku: it’s not the syllable count but the time-centered observation with an unexpected pop at the end. His hit me like an alarm clock, which seems to be his intention.

Multiple Michael’s all-caps poems read like headlines of a very surreal city. They’re short enough to be considered longer micropoems, and the wordplay and imagination are exceptional.

On a more realistic note, Leaf and Twig puts nature poetry and photography together very sharply. (Did I mention I’m a sucker for good nature poems?)

Josh Mahler, on another front, sometimes posts his own poems (he had a marvelous running rant going at one point) but also turns to selections from others and his own essays, short and long, on literature itself.

That Dude Eddie and Chester Maynes, meanwhile, remind me of the impulses that started me writing poetry in the first place. They take me back to all the confused wonder of that era in my own life.

And Sundanese in Action demonstrates another way blogging is opening our literary world: published in Indonesia, this blog includes (toward the bottom of the page, just under the OLDER POSTS button, a Simple Translator for English, Arabic, Japanese, and Hindi. It’s a wonderful way to enter another poetic sensibility (but be cautioned, sometimes the rough translation needs you to do more reworking — it’s a reminder of why skilled translators are so respected).

This is even before we get to the lively literary ‘zines where I’m appearing, most recently The Camel Saloon and Northern Cardinal.

We could go on … and on. But this, I think, is a fine sampling for now. (And thanks to all!)