I enjoyed Zero Star Hotel (A. Berrigan) quite a bit. Swarm (J. Graham) is causing me problems. I want to like it but it seems so ponderous and self-important. For my real work I'm re-reading Concha García's Ayer y calles. I love the way this book disappoints expectations that the poetic act will lead to an epiphany. The constant dullness and anticlimax, but with a strange intensity and focus.

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I'm not really all that interested in the amount of work that goes into the poem. I'm only interested in the end result. In fact, a great SHOW of effort can produce a clotted effect. A poem that seems to have been written more easily will be more graceful than one exhibiting a lot of muscular tension. Maybe that's why I'm not overly fond of Jorie Graham or James Merrill, fine poets though they be. I'm not recommending a lack of dedication or seriousness, obviously. I'm talking about the way O'Hara "The only way to be quiet / is to be quick" ("Poetry") is a re-writing of Yeats' "If it does not seem a moment's thought" ("Adam's Curse"). In fact O'Hara cites the Yeats in an interview.