I couldn't stand this book.

Best opening line - EVER, Seanyboy.
If I had been drinking something it'd be all over the screen right now. For some reason that just struck me as F'n hilarious!

Seanyboy - it wouldn't be fair of me to judge her based on the one poem on the front page of her web site. Or would it? Because if it would be fair, I'd say that it looks like she's not very good at at all, and not representative of the best in American poetry. Based on that one poem, I would decide not to read more of her work.

Though I do kind of agree that the poetry scene in the UK seems to be a lot healthier than it is here, that's based on only the flimsiest of impressions. A lot of times the way I encounter poetry (in mostly-prose publications, or online), it's not tagged with the author's nationality.

I feel sorry for poetry. I'm not sure where it's headed here. There are Writers in the Round events in my town where a couple of songwriters are paired with a poet and they take turns reading and performing. Some local poets are quite good. But others - oof.

If I had the power to do one thing for poetry, it would be this - destroy forever the Zombie Poet voice. Yes, that one. It is banished! Why is it so pervasive, the interrogative, upswing, at the end, of each line, read in monotone, with the awkward, and nonsensical, pauses? Does it really, make words on a page, sound, like poetry, when really, they are pieces of prose, broken apart, and read, stiltedly?

I saw her read a few times in LA from her earlier work. I find her as a person rather irritating, but I liked her poems. I haven't read "Walking Barefoot..." though.

eeee. Haven't been keeping up, but... wtf? That page looks like a satire. "Poet, Muse, Enigma"? No, it's a joke, right?

"A Sip From Ellyn's Stream of Consciousness"???????

This has got to be a joke.

Are you afraid of me cause i'm human?

No, I'm afraid of you because you have a pen in your hand. Put that thing down before you have a terrible accident! (And some idiot publishes it.)

taz, miko, you're killin' me! Zombie Poets with Pens. . .aaahhhghhh!

Now I'm tempted to figure out metachat voices and record that tripe in Zombie Poet voice. I crack myself up.

(And Henry Rollins is her publisher?)

Sheiss. Most legitimate American poets aren't like that. Dig around here, seanyboy.

Excerpt from "A Sip From Ellyn's Stream of Consciousness":

Do you fear me cause I wear a purple friendship bracelet?
Do you fear having me as a friend?
Are you afraid to introduce me to your grandparents?
The only perfect thing about me is my perfect lack of confidence
does that freak you out?
I'm fat. How does that sit with you?
I wear political pins does that bother you?
I'm a bookworm. Does that depress you?
...

Wow. In my head, the next line reads:

"Yes I'm a black man, and yes I'm dressed like an astronaut. That disturbs you doesn't it?"

She's also Exene's protegee.