POETREE

How Glass Breaks: Four Theories

1.
Brittleness
on the macroscopic scale
can be deceiving. Measured
in microns, the fracture surface
resembles the long-lost, infinitesimal
twin of a rent in metal -–
that famously elastic break.
So too, then, with glass:
cavities as narrow as a few nanometers
open ahead of the crack,
not-glass
flowing together
in the last fraction of a second before
the wineglass shatters under
the bridegroom’s shoe.

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Hello! Thanks to jjhunter for the invitation to play poetry host this week, although I am also of course your guest -- an interesting combination of roles. I beg your indulgence as I try to figure out how things work around here. (I just got an account on Saturday.) I have an online bio if you're interested in publications and such.

As my blog Via Negativa and the literary magazine I edit, qarrtsiluni, both testify, I have a weakness for themed series. So this week I wanted to post a series of poems illustrating some idea or approach that might be of interest to working poets at all skill levels, and what I finally settled upon is poetry and research. I'll share examples of poems I've written that required varying amounts of historical or scientific research to write, and talk about how creative writing can actually assist the process of investigation, leading us to insights we might not otherwise have had. Along the way, I'll recommend other authors and books and invite you to share your own recommendations and experiences.

My original thought for this week was to write about what I know best: the online culture of self-publishing, sharing and collaboration, with examples of poems I've written or envideoed that wouldn't have happened if I were still confined to typewriter and print publication. And I still think that's an interesting topic -- one which I'd enjoy hearing from y'all about, actually, because there are so many inspiring stories out there. How has writing here, or being on the internet generally, helped your work? Or do you have to unplug from the internet to get anything useful written? (That's my situation sometimes, I must admit.)