Poetry, Influences and Samples

I'm not a fan of a lot of poetry. It takes a lot to make me truly impressed with the work of a poet. So, that's why I don't read as much poetry as might be expected from someone who writes it. So here's a brief list of who moves me:

Stephen Crane - I don't know what it is about his poetry that just seems to scream truth, but it does. His style is free form to the tee.

Anthony Hecht - I've one book of his poetry. It's a themed book about Death taking on the personas of people who have passed away. Kind of in the vein of Edgar Lee Master's "Spoon River Anthology." Marvelous stuff.

Other random likes: Sylvia Plath, W.H. Auden, Alfred, Lord, Tennyson, etc.

And now, examples of my own work:

"i guess i never knew"

i guess i never knew

what it was to love you.

and now i do.

like putting ink to page

and smearing the results

like a self-conscious sage.

aimed like a puppet

down like a rainbow

sliding like beauty v. age

towards this fancification

the ideas and goals.

i guess i never knew.

and here's to you.

i want to pander my thoughts

my arguments, digressions

to my ultimate advance

to grab a hold on it

and cling way past

all my dying days.

and here's to you.

all good things.

all work Copyright Josh Neas 1999.

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