What the hell is a reference to a premiere chef doing on this blog about poetics, you may ask. And you would be right to wonder. I have to say, I'd be confused, too.
However, tonight, I was watching "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel. Tonight's episode is based in DC and Bourdain featured Andres's "MiniBar" one of those new food "gastrowhatsitcalled" type places. I mention all this because during their interview, Andres was saying that he is successful with this more experiemental chef-ery because "you can't impose on it. You can't impose. If you try to impose, you fail. If you go with the flow -- success!"
Which is exactly like what Robert Duncan talks about when writing a poem. You can't impose. You have to go with the flow - the frequency of what out there and try your best to tap into and stay true.
So, whether it's poetry that abstract, confessional or formal or food that's experimental, raw or old-fashioned home food, you have to go with the flow -- tap into everyhting that's there that's already very good, instead of trying to force some sort of thing. If you do that, you have a much better chance at success.
However, tonight, I was watching "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel. Tonight's episode is based in DC and Bourdain featured Andres's "MiniBar" one of those new food "gastrowhatsitcalled" type places. I mention all this because during their interview, Andres was saying that he is successful with this more experiemental chef-ery because "you can't impose on it. You can't impose. If you try to impose, you fail. If you go with the flow -- success!"
Which is exactly like what Robert Duncan talks about when writing a poem. You can't impose. You have to go with the flow - the frequency of what out there and try your best to tap into and stay true.
So, whether it's poetry that abstract, confessional or formal or food that's experimental, raw or old-fashioned home food, you have to go with the flow -- tap into everyhting that's there that's already very good, instead of trying to force some sort of thing. If you do that, you have a much better chance at success.