Quoth the poet, "Furthermore".

This crown has been on my mind lately. It's an extension of myself, in that it is myself, and also not. Meh. Pretty standard metaphysical nonsense.

I guess I forgot to mention here that I won't be posting the end product, due to the fuzziness surrounding the word "published" in relation to poetry. Basically, I'd like to have the option to publish this at some point, and when publishers want first print rights, that includes the internet.

If you want it though, let me know, I'll get it to you somehow. It may arrive late in the month accompanied by a knock on the door but no messenger, written in illegible hand inside a dirty moleskin notebook, but arrive it will.

Anyways, like I said, I've been thinking about crowns lately. This one, yes, but others... I've got about 5 outstanding ideas. And by 'outstanding' I mean that they haven't been written yet, not that they're fantastic in some way. If you find me scribbling iambic pentameter in a coffeeshop somewhere, please put a piece of paper in front of the waving pen so that I can remember what I was writing.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Forever, Forever Ago

Ok, so it's been a while. I've put some distance between me and the work, but it's still very difficult to hold completely in your head.

It's a strong piece. Every section of it is strong. I realize now that I started somewhere and oriented myself and then went off about two clicks to the right. So I've been thinking about that.

I've also been thinking about my professor's criticisms. He noted that he wanted more story both times he read it. This runs counter to my friend's opinion, which was that the destruction was more felt than exposited. This is most important to me to resolve, because it has to do with the piece as a whole.

One of the other things I want to do with the piece is go back through and proof for theme and symbol consistency.

I like it, though. That's important.

nt

Jeff Shotts is a very literal reader.

this is a problem.

i understand where he's coming from
but i still am unsure how to achieve two things at once:
literal plot
and
psychological decimation

ti

Jeff is currently reviewing it.

Classmate's comments came back. Generally positive, just a few changes,
some semantic things,
some form things.
He liked it though, which is good.

We'll see what Jeff says.

ou

entire work has been proofed by me.

i'm looking to do formatting tomorrow morning.

it's being read by my fellows.

it will then be read and reviewed by Jeff Shotts, senior editor.

ut

editing is coming

i can feel it like hot breath on my nape


breathe deeper and inhale the scent of me

after all,
i've been forced to swallow you piece by piece.

do

it is done.

le

Patricia Smith is showing me up.

ed

i may not make the title. oh well.

life is getting slower and slower every day
like i'm sinking into the mud
and the oil is getting on my pants.

in case you didn't know, things don't come out of
clothes well.

we both keep having dreams while waking
and while working.
dreams don't come so easy at night for me.

while is such a silly word.

progress comes in bursts, like most things bodily:
strength, puss, blood, pimples.
progress is far more physical than it seems.

i wrote a guide to try to remember things:
boiler/furnace heart
painted stone eyes
skin/wearing skin/identity
letters/postmanship
vacation
fabric/identity
dream/reality
work/identity/reality/dream
parthenon columns
grandma drowning us

the end comes soon. providence, the dive, and all of that.

wl

my own little vacation

progress has been good to me

i don't like a few of the lines. this will happen more as i get closer.

so much tightening is needed

but it will be good

so sweet and warm

i'm already shaking

'minnesota' is coming along nicely as well.

ra

things are moving too quickly
but
you will still see it happening

i'm losing strands of physicality
but i still have 7 sonnets left
this is good.

i'm going on my very own vacation

go here. do this

aw

this is really happening happening

all you can do is dive

tried to say...

this thing is taking me over
it is me all of the time

progress

progress update #1

i've gotten some stuff figured out:
-basic story
-major voltas
-things i want to try with form.

2.5/15

pr

...
...
and he hands me a letter in the station
and he hands me a letter through a mailbox
and he
and he
and he
and he
and he
these are my days; always walking -- under
-- under the same noses -- with the same bag, and we
never fail to deliver; talking was
is not never a necessary part of mailbags:
...

and he will even say "it's morning,
and i'm back in the old dream one more time."

ra

beginning and end are good places to start

skinned worn to protect you, for skin defines, yes?

yes, but even more so:
worn to become
nothing is more lonely than trying to become someone else

a not so relaxing vacation

sp

trying to avoid influence from subtle. which, i mean...

thank you subtle for inspiration, and thank you for making amazing music.

contrast between last sonnet and previous 14 would be good; maybe in content, a sort of...
hyperbolic realism to contrast the sort-of dream world, the sort-of dream of ...

and me, sprawled out in the way of the sun.

start

came up with whole idea while exercising, bound to be insular

first 13 lines done, need to wait to finish first sonnet; i'm going to write the last one first, or at least the beginning of the last one.

betrayal? revenge? too passe`....

imagery is the key -- bizarre is the noose around your necks

luc must make an appearance. perhaps redemption? perhaps failure.

pride. oh, most certainly pride.

dreams are the best setting, anything's possible.

especially when reality and dream are not so far apart
in our falling asleep moments, not our waking moments, we find the things we grasp at,
that we'd die without.

welcome...

If you find yourself here, you did one of two things:

1. Read my blog posts and decided to check how things were going, or
2. Googled something along the lines of "Sonnet Crown" and somehow ended up here.

The purpose of this blog is twofold: first, to help organize my thoughts and facilitate intrapersonal communication relating to my quest to complete a sonnet crown, and second, to allow others to observe this process, as everyone has a bit of a voyeur in them.

But before I get started properly, some Q&A:

What is a sonnet crown?

Great question. A sonnet crown is a long, extremely formal poetic form. I'm going to be trying to write what is known as a heroic crown, consisting of 14 sonnets, where the last line of one sonnet is the first line of the following sonnet; furthermore, there is a fifteenth sonnet made up of the first lines of the previous 14, hypothetically in order.

Why the *insert expletive here* are you doing this?

Well, on a basic level, I really love writing sonnets, and I really love challenges, so this project suits me perfectly. My poetry teacher told us about the sonnet crown, and jokingly suggested that we try writing one, and I've been thinking about it ever since. The other thing is, I feel like I may be able to accomplish this, although it is quite daunting, don't get me wrong. If you asked me to write 14 sonnets, no problem, I may even be able to write 14 really bad sonnets in as many days, or as many hours even, with a lot of tea, coffee and music to help inspire me. However, this is something entirely different: 14 sonnets all somehow connected, or at least connected through eachother, sharing lines and still managing to sound original.

What form will the blog posts be in?

Probably not a very readable one, to be honest. I may make sort of, project updates, or something? That'll probably be the only easily penetrable way information will be communicated here. You can expect brainstorming notes, one-line posts, single lines, out of order sonnets, in-progress sonnets, snippets of dialogue, etc. Be prepared to be utterly confused a lot.

Thanks for coming. Enjoy?