Mark Doty Reflection

I really enjoyed the Mark Doty poetry reading; I can see why the English Department made such a big deal of his visit. He seemed like a very down to earth person who had a lot to share about his personal life and his life as a poet, though he was hesitant to call himself one. One thing that really stuck out to me was what he said about artists. He mentioned that the way artists live, write and compose is by finding the peculiarity in the world. They don't let the grass just be grass; they question everything and refuse to settle for simple conclusions. I thought this questioning was a very true and unique observation about the life of an artist.

He said how he loves to write about animals and tries something different from other "animal poets" because he feels they are such an important part of life and offer so many different view points. For the little mammoth poem, he found the only way he could communicate his message was to have the mammoth speak for itself. I love that conclusion; that he would have to give something speechless, words.

In high school he used words because they were all he could control; he found he could express himself and it became a necessity for him. I think there is something beautiful in the idea of writing because we need to. It is such a healthy way to express and understand our feelings and thoughts.

The "House of Beauty" poem was my favorite one that he read. The really vivid imagery created strong visuals and I like that he transformed the old form of a children song/story. That made it very interesting to follow the structure of the stanzas in that specific pattern. I also really enjoyed "Heaven for Paul," I felt like I could really sense his character, perceptive but still cynical.