I'm highly influenced by form, but wouldn't call myself a formalist because breaking the rules is way more fun. I also write pretty consistently about class and gender issues. I like to hear about what others deem "inappropriate" subject matter for poetry so I can then write about it :-). I don't like the term "prose poetry" (No line breaks? No poem.). I also don't like when people say "this poem wanted to be a different poem" and such; poets, take control of your poems! What I love in poetry is when form and structure mimic or underscore content, especially in a subversive way. My favorite poets to channel are Sexton, Dickinson, and Thomas McGrath--huge hearts and ideas, and incredibly precise and affecting imagery.
Favorite Books
Too many to list, even if I changed this category to "books that have changed my life."
Favorite Authors
Dickinson, Sexton, Thomas McGrath, Molly Peacock, Yusef Komunyakaa, Aaron Smith, Marge Piercy, Sharon Olds, Pablo Neruda, Czeslaw Milosz, Sonia Sanchez, Virginia Woolf, Merlin Stone, Judy Grahn, Eloise Klein Healy, and so many more.
