That Drifting Feeling

Matthew Zapruder has a nice essay online (an excerpt from his new book) at the Paris Review about the experience of reading poetry. Rather than trying to summarize it, I'll let the link and this money quote suffice. "Poetry is a constructed conversion on the frontier of dreaming." Like Zapruder, I had difficulty enjoying or appreciating the poetry of John Ashbery when I first encountered him. Now, of course, I revere John Ashbery's poems. But back in my youth when I first encountered him my reading expectations were, well, conventional. I expected a clear theme, discernible images and even a plot. A little epiphany at the end of the poem that tied it all up nicely was much appreciated. Eventually I got used to the idea of an open field and the pleasures of drifting through various landscapes and geographies. Only then did Ashbery start making sense to me. But as the Talking Heads told us, "Stop Making Sense" is maybe a better strategy for conveying a mood or feeling.