Tim Peterson in his blog discusses briefly the way that a reader's attention wanders while searching for information in e non-being space, as if the wandering is part of the reader's knowledge of a subject, and Tim suggests that we use such wandering as a paradigm for poetry. In some ways poets have been attempting this project for a long time as a way of "undermining capitalist language," which seems a problematic approach now if the reader (at least the e non-being searcher) has become accustomed to that style, so that if one were to create a poem in such a fashion, one would be creating a poem familiar in some vague way to that which the reader already recognizes through experience. As an aside, as a teacher I often am trying to figure out how to handle the hyper-speed at which current students move. This phenomenon could be the result of being a young college student or could result from years of rapid-change images and hyper-shifting textuality (and yes, I know this answer simplifies the situation). A poem written in such a style would fit under the old saying that literature reflects its period. In attempting to create a poem which challenges the reader's experience of reading, we really create a poem which mirrors his or her experience vaguely.
This idea seems to work theoretically, but after having seen many readers come upon experimental/post-avant/avant-garde poetry, I doubt that readers will feel that their experiences have been mirrored. In some sense the wandering that readers/viewers/searchers experience in e non-being space and in the whirl of rapid-image tv is easily digestible in a way that experimental poetry is not (or that many have been taught through years of school that poetry is not). The quest then becomes to create a poem that will make the reader experience a sense of wandering while at the same time being easily-digestible in a way that at first seems non-digestible. That said, I think we should change at least some MFA programs to Poetry Engineering Departments to accomplish such a task.
This idea seems to work theoretically, but after having seen many readers come upon experimental/post-avant/avant-garde poetry, I doubt that readers will feel that their experiences have been mirrored. In some sense the wandering that readers/viewers/searchers experience in e non-being space and in the whirl of rapid-image tv is easily digestible in a way that experimental poetry is not (or that many have been taught through years of school that poetry is not). The quest then becomes to create a poem that will make the reader experience a sense of wandering while at the same time being easily-digestible in a way that at first seems non-digestible. That said, I think we should change at least some MFA programs to Poetry Engineering Departments to accomplish such a task.
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