I found this lovely commentary on my poem “Two Men On a Bed” over at Steve Fellner’s blog Pansy Poetics. It’s a thoughtful close-read, and it’s refreshing to have someone identify the source inspiration (A. R. Ammons, who I was reading heavily at the time I wrote this poem).
Alice Fulton is a huge influence on my work and was a student of Ammons (in fact Alice holds his chair now at Cornell) so there is an aesthetic line there I sometimes channel (much like the Bishop/Moore one). I mention this to complete a triangle forming in my head: Steve’s comments echo comments I had received from Alice Fulton who judged the Hopwood Award the year I won for an early version of The Erotic Postulate (which included “Two Men On a Bed”). To excerpt from Fulton’s closing comments:
“The poems’ content is often arresting, subtle, and sometimes groundbreaking in its exploration of the complexities, histories, and realities of gay sexuality, aesthetics, and identity. Many of these poems reveal–and revel in–the erotics of sight and of the written word. Their occasional engagement with gay activist politics adds another valence, another depth.”
I remember getting similar feedback from Richard Tillinghast during his workshop; he liked how I was pushing the boundaries of ekphrasis by combining it with autobiography and queer politics.
Anywho, this just reminds me that if? when? the The Erotic Postulate sees the light of day as a published book I must see if Alice will blurb it (or at least let me recycle her comments!).