Tag Archives: Carol A. Stephen

NO-COMFORT ZONE WEEK ENDING SEPT. 16 2012

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Carol A. Stephen

This week my challenge was to start a 10-week course through Coursera

on Modern and Contemporary American Poetry given through the University of Pennsylvania. (ModPoPenn). This is a free course offered via a MOOC platform, or Massive Open Online Course.

Why massive? Well, there are more than 20,000 registered students. Yes, that’s right. Twenty thousand.

I had read about this back sometime in the early summer, and it sounded like a good course that would fill in the many gaps I have in my knowledge of American Poetry. I’ve heard of various schools like the Language Poets, the Post-Moderns, the Experimental.

But I wasn’t clear on what those were, or who belonged to which group.A week in now, and it has been wonderful, amazing, somewhat overwhelming. The number of discussions and posts going on make it hard to know where to focus, but I think I have a better idea how things will go from now on. Certainly I can’t read or respond to every post. So I will have to choose among them.

Already I have learned yet another term, proto-modernists, as we study Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

and Walt Whitman. They are leading us into

Steel engraving of Walt Whitman. Published in ...

Steel engraving of Walt Whitman. Published in 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Modern Poetry. In spite of how well-known these poets are, I have to admit to not reading them before. So it is interesting to read two different poets, both of whom were moving away from what was then the popular approach to writing poetry.

Thanks to Professor Al Filreis and the TA’s who are looking after us and guiding us along through the maze of the MOOC and the labyrinths of these two amazing poets!

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INTERVIEW AT POETS UNITED

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Just wanted to share an interview with me that was posted today over on Poets United. Not sure I deserve all that but I am thankful for the vote of confidence anyway!

Thanks to Sherry Merk for her kind remarks and for the invitation to me to participate here.

http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.ca/

Carol A. Stephen

Since this makes me feel some discomfort, I think it works as a challenge to me in publicizing it, so I am flagging it as a No-Comfort post as well!

 

Quick Announcement: My Blog has a new Poetry Page!

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Carol A Stephen (that’s me!)

Hope you’ll stop by and check it out. I was asked to make it easier to find the poems I’ve posted. While I haven’t added all of them to the new page, I’ve added many. You can find the page here: https://quillfyre.wordpress.com/my-poetry-2/   or by clicking on the My Poetry page link on the header page of Quillfyre.

 

 

Out of Love with the Frog

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I’m posting this poem in response to a challenge on dVersePoets about rebellion. Since the prompt is quite broad, this poem seems to work for it. Comes from my first chapbook.

OUT OF LOVE WITH THE FROG
after Claudia Coutu Radmore

American Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana Side 1800px

American Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana Side 1800px (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not sure the exact day
I fell out of love with the frog
Rana catesbeiana…
was it the toothless mandible,
the way his eyes retracted
through roof of mouth
the fenestrated skull with its rows
of tiny teeth on maxilla?

I became prey, my every motion
a spur to devour me,
first my thoughts, then my character,
leaving me thoughtless and merciless.

Each strike his eyes would close,
then lunge, mouth open,
mucous tongue upon me
jaws continuing forward
clenching, grasping me in tiny teeth.
As we sank into swamp,
the frog tried to break my defences,
hold me under until I asphyxiated.
Obstinate as always, I broke free.

Carol A. Stephen

Originally published in Above the Hum of Yellow Jackets, Bondi Press, 2011