(some thoughts on) The Fertility of Turtles

Reception as accessibility? Poetry that doesn't attempt to exclude the reader? I guess the extremes of exclusion are 'the statement' (this is what I want to say, and I'll use any means at my disposal to ensure you 'get it' according to my intention) and obscurity (there is no way anyone will 'get' this; how could they? It means nothing to me, beyond sating my literary sadism). And then there's poetic indifference (I don't really care if anyone else cares, as long as they care about me; pure self-indulgence aka the blog/journal syndrome).

Comprehension--that's an elusive concept. The ability to understand the language of a poem; to interpret the purpose and/or meaning of a poem? Which/whose interpretation? Is technique relevant to deconstruction? Does it matter? I imagine there are writers who revel in the various interpretations being derived from their stuff, and others that despair. Derma and Leanne had a long conversation somewhere on this site relating to the 'ownership' of a poem (does the author effectively relinquish 'control ' (for instance, in terms of interpretation) of a work once it is in the public domain; which extended into Barthes territory--readerly and writerly text--and on into the far reaches of the mind-fuck universe.

Meanwhile Laura suffers cortical meltdown, and wonders how Christy can be so succinct. Ignoring her imminent demise, the demented disciple of doom continues...

So, a dual accountability for the writer, but does that also apply to the relationship between writer and reader? Does the reader have responsibilities? And assuming such indefined (or ill-defined) criteria can't be enforced (at least in the 'free' world [another millennium of discussion here]), is poetry--creation, appreciation, criticism--safe in the second-hands of the SpaceBook netwank degeneration? Have I mislaid the subtext narrative?

I don't think I've had this much fun since discovering the joys of spoiling my ballot paper by smearing it with the blood of the local fascist candidate...

[Laura thinks: Christy thinks too much for my cognitive equilibrium]