Should we read more complex poetry sometimes?
'Modern Poetry' by Diane Seuss - Book Club Discussion Post
Crickey, I didn’t go easy on us this month did I?
Here’s my personal view of our Book Club choice for June alongside a couple of snippets from the book and some general thoughts about poetry that challenges our brains, ha. Or maybe just my brain. Who knows?!
Actually, maybe you know. I’d love to know what you thought if you read along this month.
‘Modern Poetry’ by Diane Seuss, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2025
The thing I know about myself is that when things get too tricky I have a tendency to switch off. I don’t mean in life, generally (or I wouldn’t be here writing this now!) But when I am doing something that is meant to bring me joy, if it doesn’t, fairly quickly, I’m out. You might see this as no bad thing (and in so ways it isn’t). But, well, I’ll carry on for a minute…
I tend to like my poetry a little easier to understand. Ideally. There’s nothing wrong, I don’t think, with liking your coffee with a little sugar. Honestly, I’m happy to honour my preferences nowadays - something I’ve realised as I’ve got older can be a form of resistance in itself. In fact, for the most part my intention for Poetry Pals has been to share and promote ‘accessible’ poetry (in every sense of the word). I still view myself as a beginner so that’s where I’m at. Plus, I don’t buy into the view that if poetry is too ‘simple’ it isn’t worthy (remember that piece about Instapoetry - which touched on this subject). I have a rebellious streak, when someone tells me how something should be done (in this case read, written) in no uncertain terms, an immediate frown forms. So when I heard ‘Modern Poetry’ by Diane Seuss described as having taken it’s name from the first textbook Seuss encountered as a child when she felt poetry was beyond her reach, well, I was intrigued. I also have a ‘dive straight in’ approach. I shared our choice. I started reading. I wondered how on earth I was going to be skilled enough to write any sort of review. But I have. And here it is.
As I say, for the most part I tend to like my poetry on the ‘accessible’ side. Yes. After reading this book has that changed, no? Am I still glad I read it? Absolutely. Should we read more complex poetry sometimes? I suppose by that I mean, poetry that pushes us out of our comfort zones in terms of understanding?
Hmm, well I guess the answer is personal. Why you read poetry in the first place? When you’re reading it? What you’re reading it for? What you need on that specific day?
What do you think?
What I will say is that reading this book has reminded me of the benefits of going slow, persisting with my curiosity and desire for understanding, allowing myself to not understand. There is pleasure in that. A sense of achievement (as opposed to failure). I can barely write the word ‘pleasure’ here without stopping to consider if this is an acceptable goal for reading poetry - ha. Diane Seuss would surely have something to say on the matter.
Hmm, was the resulting feeling I had after reading this book ‘pleasure’? I think the fact I am asking that question demonstrates some of what I did gain from reading it. The answers, in terms of what ‘Modern Poetry’ can or should be (a theme throughout), were at times elusive, or at the far end of my road to understanding. And so this month, it definitely didn’t feel like I could sit back and enjoy the ride (I really enjoy sitting back and enjoying the ride). But maybe not all rides are to be enjoyed in the same way, exactly. Maybe it is more that a ride sometimes involves getting out a map and even a compass and figuring out if you have enough petrol and maybe I’ve not done that for a while and they are skills I’d quite like to hold on to. Because who knows with AI which roads I am about to be coerced down, you know!?
I could have spent a week with some of these poems and still be only 10% of the way through to enlightenment. Not all of them, but a fair chunk. I don’t mean because they are so abstract (though some are) but rather that they are philosophical, they are jam-packed with discourse, uncovering the layers is a challenge. My kids often tell me “it’s not that deep.” In this case, it is.
What confidence it requires to take on a whole genre and raise your eyebrows, like Diane Seuss does. It felt like you were never far away from some commentary about poetry itself, even if you didn’t think that was the subject of the individual poem. I mean, the clue was in the title, to be fair. And I liked that. It was like being given a permission slip to question from someone who is not only the teacher at your school, but the head of department. You don’t find these permission slips given out that often.
In, ‘Little Fugue With Jean Seberg And Tupperware’ she writes,
I’m teacher. I had no God-given authority. I had to self-generate it, like God. At some point, God had to take the leap to become God.
Just don’t think you’re going to get away with sitting at the back and falling asleep. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a poetry book that is so full of direct questions to the reader.
This is the first stanza in ‘Comma’ - one of the poems I post-it-noted as a favourite.
Even though the poems occasionally resembled self-talk (she uses her own name on more than one occasion, have you ever done this in a poem you’ve written? I haven’t) there was this ‘eyebrow raise,’ this nod towards subversion e.g the very last line of ‘The Other’ - “Whatever you think of yourself, think otherwise, Diane.”
The result of which was that it felt like we ended up with quite an intimate relationship (although I’d certainly hold back on the hug at any book signing). Interestingly, the dedication at the beginning simply states, “For my Reader”. Makes sense.
There is a lot to learn from this poetry book but it didn’t tip into feeling like a lecture. More like sitting to discuss the contents of that lecture in a quiet space after the formalities were over. With someone very intelligent. And walking out 30 minutes later with your head spinning. In a good way. But also the sort of way that requires you to then look for the nearest bar.
What stopped me from pushing back against it? (I have a tendency to want to do this with ‘authority’) What stopped me from downing that drink and vowing never to open its pages again? I think its honesty. It’s curiosity. This is an outsider writing to other outsiders.
‘My Education’ stood out:
It’s confessional at times but not in the way that a lot of modern poetry is, or maybe it’s stylistically different. Grown up. Experienced. Deeply thought through. Hard fought.
‘Poetry’ is the theme tune that plays throughout but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other topics - death of a parent, class, the purpose of art itself. If this list sounds a little blunt, yeah, that’s kind of how it moves. I guess that’s commentary on what poetry can be in itself. Raw, at times harrowing, difficult (!), confusing, beautiful.
There are memories of trauma (though she describes this as “a word I’ve grown to hate”) and undercurrents of stories you feel like she’s writing as if you know, but you don’t, and yet, you’re going to be let in on the aftermath anyway.
And yes, that didn’t make for an easy read. It made my brain ache at times. When a poem opens with the line,
“The best poem is no poem.” - ‘Coda’
you know there’s going to be some thinking involved. But there is also sharp humour, a ‘taking care’ and, for me personally, I felt a constant admiration for craftspersonship (is this the right alternative to ‘craftsmanship’?)
I had a deep respect for her authority on poetry because it wasn’t authoritarian. With not a ‘maybe’ or a ‘perhaps’ or a “possibly’ in sight. And perhaps (lols) I can learn from that with my own practise. Can I be bolder but in a way that invites the reader to join me? A reader may agree or disagree but a lot can come from that disagreeing because first you must think about why it is you disagree, first you must, at least, think. Lack of conviction, airy-fairy, not saying much by the end of a poem - not ideal.
This book says something alright. Every single poem says something. And not just about poetry or punctuation or ‘weeds’ in the literal sense of the word.
I want to be honest with you (I will always be), I found it hard going at times. It wasn’t a collection I was excited to pick up with my morning coffee to sit and watch the birds in the garden. Definitely not one for when my eyes couldn’t stay open at night. But putting this book down I do feel like I have changed a little. I have undoubtedly learnt something new. I’m pleased I didn’t give up, grateful for the energy I could feel went into it’s creation.
It did require a dictionary at (erm) times (sorry, not what I profess to be doing here). And I’m not done yet with studying it. It’s a book that takes longer than a month for a beginner (like me) to figure out.
It’s hard to fully appreciate when a poet is commenting on a form when you don’t have the basic grounding of what that form is in the first place! I have marked poems that I want to return to in time, the ‘Villanelle,’ the, ‘Ballad in Sestets.’ Luckily there’s no smoke and mirrors for a student to battle before even sitting down at the table. Oh and the book itself is beautiful. It looks and feels like a classic, sophisticated, traditional font (I smiled at this choice) with it’s thick cream paper and embossed logo on the cover. It is a joy to hold in your hands.
I know I’ve said it before but I’m so glad I read this one as a full collection. Without this book club I’m not sure I ever would have.
Should we read more complex poetry sometimes?
When I flicked back through there were poems that it felt sure I’d never read before and with fresh eyes they weren’t quite as difficult as I’d remembered (not remembered). If I’d just dipped into this one I might have found the poems I landed on antagonistic, or just plain confusing. But as a whole, I see that this is a poetry book with a staggering amount of love for ‘poetry,’ this genre that shifts and changes and yes, challenges us constantly. And that can be a great thing. It doesn’t profess that love with flowers and chocolates but maybe that’s not what poetry would want anyway.
It has shown me how to write poetry that is vulnerable without being coarse, risky without being apologetic, questioning without being disrespectful.
A final favourite, the ironically titled, ‘Romantic Poet:’
For me this illustrates that the purpose and possibilities of ‘poetry’ are bigger than one set of ‘poets,’ who you may or may not like. But when you know, you know.
“But the nightingale, I said.”
The very last line of the book.
Poetry Book Club Discussion:
Rather than specific prompts this time, I’d just love to know your opinion. Did you read it? How did you find it?
And also, how about pushing ourselves to read poetry that is out of our comfort zones sometimes? Worth doing?
Do you already do it regularly? I’d love to hear from you on this topic too.
Nelly x
This was a really interesting pick, Nelly. I’ve not finished it yet - in fact I’m only about a third of the way through - and I too have found it challenging. Mostly in a good way. It’s nice to stretch those cerebral muscles sometimes but, like you, it’s not always a collection I’m excited to pick up and it hasn’t swept me away in the way that others have. It very much asks us to stop and consider…something. Sometimes it felt like I was being asked to consider what the poet was trying to convey, and other times it felt like a challenge to my own thoughts and perspectives: “what do you really think?”
Despite only being a short way through, I’ve bookmarked a few poems to return to and there are certain lines that really struck me.
In the second poem ‘Curl’, I love the closing:
It seems wrong
to curl now within the confines
of a poem. You can’t hide
from what you made
inside what you made
or so I’m told.
And in ‘Little song’, I found the opening line really powerful:
You can’t stay vigilant and remain alive.
Although this is a slow read for me, I am looking forward to continuing to explore it with openness and thoughtfulness.
This is such an interesting piece. You ask/discuss all the questions I grapple with! It's really good to hear them aired so openly. I'm intrigued by this book now.
(I have written a poem with my own name in it, by the way!! 😁)