tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post4406969053696562793..comments2023-10-19T09:13:12.852-05:00Comments on Almost I rushed from home to tell you this: More on disabilityPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05607786046959671496noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-19365880162275773412010-03-12T14:26:32.625-05:002010-03-12T14:26:32.625-05:00I'm glad to see you talk about this. The phra...I'm glad to see you talk about this. The phrase in question gave me pause when I read your book, but in my mind it reflected more on Ashberry than on you. It felt like, if that's the blurb he wrote, he read a totally different book than I did.<br /><br />But, *of course* he read a different book. Everyone's reading of any given poetry is different and inflected by their own experiences. As a person with (invisible) disabilities, I'm pretty sick of the rhetoric of inspiration and overcoming, and I love how your work dances around and fucks with those tropes. Sometimes, I feel like I'm in on the joke.<br /><br />When I first read your poetry, I thought to myself, there, that's it, that's the kind of poetry I always wanted to write but didn't have a name for. Shitting my brains out from gastrointestinal disease is kind of hard to work into a poem anyone would want to read, but maybe that's what "the invalid's rage" is all about. Maybe?Frannynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-13658404919120648382010-02-28T23:58:18.624-05:002010-02-28T23:58:18.624-05:00You sensitively portrayed a subject not often talk...You sensitively portrayed a subject not often talked about. It may be corny, but I see the word ABILITY in disABILITY. We just have to look for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-65152161165965397932010-02-23T18:52:26.855-05:002010-02-23T18:52:26.855-05:00A beautiful post on all fronts. Thanks for it.A beautiful post on all fronts. Thanks for it.Sandy Longhornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735445958970512617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-35499766373713796952010-02-23T02:13:49.569-05:002010-02-23T02:13:49.569-05:00Paul, thank you. This makes so much sense, besides...Paul, thank you. This makes so much sense, besides being beautiful, and it helps me to articulate something of my own process.Amber DiPietrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01007718658816253722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-6103655225540722732010-02-22T20:51:53.551-05:002010-02-22T20:51:53.551-05:00Thanks, Paul, for this. I agree with Jeannine and ...Thanks, Paul, for this. I agree with Jeannine and the other Peter--don't worry about the naysayers--keep on writing. <br /><br />PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-35834603288755564912010-02-21T22:09:30.499-05:002010-02-21T22:09:30.499-05:00You are incredible, Mr. Guest.You are incredible, Mr. Guest.paulfannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-7508091268428890832010-02-21T16:09:18.751-05:002010-02-21T16:09:18.751-05:00i usually imagined the shut-ins we were to pray fo...i usually imagined the shut-ins we were to pray for at our church as beings behind doors literally nailed shut. i wondered how our prayers could get to them. i think i was supposed to believe that we---as shut-outs---had more power than the shut-ins. whatever the case, it weirded me out.<br />yes...your writing does take one's breath away.Nancy Devinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10895934793253274506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-41406688318030810852010-02-21T14:50:31.460-05:002010-02-21T14:50:31.460-05:00Paul,
Thank you for writing this. Again, I want t...Paul,<br /><br />Thank you for writing this. Again, I want to apologize very deeply. This was never meant as a personal attack, rather to begin a dialog on different preceptions of disability - which you begin to address beautifully here. If you ever want to discuss it further - privately or publically, my heart remains open.<br /><br />JenniferJennifer Bartletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931457867406555423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-32766783551853167362010-02-21T12:29:24.234-05:002010-02-21T12:29:24.234-05:00Thanks, y'all, for reading and commenting.Thanks, y'all, for reading and commenting.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05607786046959671496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-35928698130975322172010-02-21T11:40:09.979-05:002010-02-21T11:40:09.979-05:00Gorgeous post, Paul. I had a similar reaction to h...Gorgeous post, Paul. I had a similar reaction to hearing "Fall on your knees, O! hear the angels' voices!" (and I'm Jewish!). The echo of it now inspires faith.Elliot Figmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11692978959156238296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-47185972180991806552010-02-21T06:50:19.399-05:002010-02-21T06:50:19.399-05:00Beautiful. xoBeautiful. xoSuzannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16623018763486643999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-56248622937959635292010-02-21T01:59:11.397-05:002010-02-21T01:59:11.397-05:00Great story about your mom and the gold ring. Whet...Great story about your mom and the gold ring. Whether or not it "happened" is irrelevant. It makes its own truth. <br /><br />Rock on.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11435013887780629734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-26775354116909710342010-02-20T23:38:25.183-05:002010-02-20T23:38:25.183-05:00One of the reasons I teach persona poetry; to make...One of the reasons I teach persona poetry; to make people realize they can't always take the easy route and believe the poem to be the exact story of a person's life.<br />Like you, I find I write the truest poems when they inhabit the wildest fictions.<br />And don't be troubled by the haters.Jeanninehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16419593830749483323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8487146.post-70557335972091587142010-02-20T22:18:06.981-05:002010-02-20T22:18:06.981-05:00If all the times your writing took my breath away ...If all the times your writing took my breath away were put back-to-back, I'd be dead. Thank goodness those moments are spread out. You speak so eloquently and react to criticism so wisely. Again, bravo.Lynnehttp://www.seaweedchronicles.comnoreply@blogger.com