creationism

Vicente Huidobro piece on creationism explained to me exactly what I think of when I think of what a poem should be. He talks about the bird perching on a rainbow and that scenario is only possible in the mind of the poet. It is his own creation. He goes on to say that, “a poet must say those things which without him would never be said.” The poet needs to make his mark and create entirely new visions that would never be seen unless he created them himself. Immediately while reading and thinking of what it means to truly be poetry, I could not help but think of Reznikoff’s Holocaust. We had talked about whether or not his work was poetry. I was unsure until reading Huidobro’s piece. I don’t think Reznikoff’s piece was poetry because it was not something he created. It was fascinating in its own way, but I would not classify it as poetic. Poetic comes from within, not just mixing and tailoring historical situations.