(Why did I name it Poetry Crossroads when I always want to type “Poetry Crossing”?)

In any case, people still can’t join and there has been no word whatsoever from the so called “support” for the forum.

I could move it to another host. That’s kind of a pain considering how many links I left various places, though it’s probably easier to move it now than to wait until there’s real activity.

Bah.

Humbug.

I can’t buy a book before June, but I’m getting Mark Strand’s “Man and Camel” from the library. I would have preferred something from 2008 and from a poet no one has heard of, but I won’t be near a book store for ages and I’ve already read all the poetry books I’ve got.

I plan on downloading Jilly Dybka’s “Trouble And Honey” as well, but I don’t know if Jilly wants to be blogged about incessantly!

I just read a book that used an unusual font, a sans-serif one like this in an overly large size.

It made the book very hard to read. I wouldn’t have thought it would make that big a deal, but it did. It didn’t help that it wasn’t a particularly good book to begin with, but it’s interesting to feel the effects of font selection on my reading attitude.

Online, fonts don’t matter all that much to me, but in print, they matter. A lot.

I hope it’s just temporary. They claim to be doing some upgrades, so Poetry Crossroads is very wonky right now.

Many thanks to the people who have dropped me notes about it. It’s helping me to know how extensive (VERY!) the problems are.

So, joining the Crossroads is impossible right now. On occasion, seeing the Crossroads is impossible! Eek!

PFFA is starting a new tradition: NaPoReMo, National Poetry Reading Month.

Buy a book of poetry by a poet you’re unfamiliar with.

Spend the month reading and doing daily posts about the poems.

I love this idea but probably can’t buy a book in time to play along. I live on the back end of beyond.

I left a Zagnut on my desk. I was saving it.

Bertram ate it.

What cat likes peanut butter and coconut? That fuzzy head is filled with weird.

Smoosh it onto a salty corn chip, and you have the new Doritos mystery flavor.

I think it’s supposed to be a margarita. It’s horrifying.

If you see a poet’s name, do you immediately remember what sort of work they write?

Or, like me, do you have general ideas of “Oh, I like her” or “He’s had some really good work”?

I ask because I was thinking about metrical poetry the other day and a couple of names came to mind but I couldn’t remember if they wrote formal work or not. Why can’t I remember? Is it a distinction my brain has no interest in?

Eratosphere goes down again after people start talking about a certain neo-Nazi. Coincidence?

There are lots of poetry journals and contests that limit submissions in some way. Women only, or formal/free verse work only, or only sonnets, or only poems about nature.

I’ve come to terms with most of these. I’ve submitted work to “Mezzo Cammin” (though my submission was never acknowledged in any way, despite queries). I’m planning on sending work to “Unsplendid.” I’m not completely thrilled with the limits, but I can live with them.

But when I saw that one journal will only accept subs from people who are students, alumns, or faculty of graduate writing programs, I became immediately depressed. And my reaction probably isn’t fair.

Am I daunted just because that knocks me out of the running? I can’t say absolutely not, but I don’t think so. They weren’t a journal I was planning to submit to, and I think their policy is unusual enough that it doesn’t affect me.

What, then? Does this policy show:

1. fear: We are afraid the non-MFA writers might outcompete the MFAs. (Not likely)

2. bias: We don’t like non-MFAs.

3. cynicism/realism: We won’t end up publishing anything not written by an MFA anyway, so why waste our time?

4. promotion: Look what MFAs can do!

5. or just special attention/dedicated facilities: MFA writers wouldn’t have their own dedicated forum without us.

I’m not okay with reason 1, completely okay with reasons 4 and 5, and on the fence with reasons 2 and 3. 2, 3, and 4 are the reasons that strike me as most likely. (1 is crazy the way only I can think of and 5 is usually the reasoning for more discriminated-against groups).

So, you have your MFA. Would you submit work there?

(Also posted to Poetry Crossroads, if you’d rather participate there.)