Eyewear is tired of the sad and vindictive people out there in the blogosphere who think it makes sense to bravely stand up for themselves, anonymously, and insult me for taking a public stand. The chief problem with the world of poetry (all worlds?) is transparency - there isn't enough of it. I stand by my (admittedly evolving, like Obama) views. Nor do the contributors to this blog ever need to share these views. I find it pitiful to be receiving very personal, nasty attacks, often daily. I am a liberal Catholic capitalist - get over it. I could pretend otherwise, but as the owner of a small business who regularly attends Mass, but is open to freedom of speech and votes for the Lib Dems - none of which ashames me - it would be madness to claim otherwise. None of these views is without fault - show me which ideology, or belief, is flawless. However, if I prefer not to roar approval of a victory for socialism in Greece and France which threatens the Merkel consensus for Europe, so be it. I hope I am proved wrong. But we are in debt, folks - badly in debt. Borrowing much more is not, to my mind, fiscally wise - but then again I am a fiscal conservative. Anyway, all this to say - I have blocked anonymous comments from this blog for now. Dare to name yourself, if you wish to make a point.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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Simon Turner @ Gists and Piths
I myself am a cynical, socialist protestant but to quote Voltaire, 'I do not agree with a single word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to speak!'
Best wishes from Simon