Praise from knowledgeable people

      Erudite Redneck left one of the nicest comments about my poetry that I've received in a long time. Because I'm never sure how many people read the comments -- and also because I like the comment -- I've reposted it here. It means even more because Dr. ER is a poet herself, and praise from knowledgeable people is always sweet. Thanks, ER and Dr. ER. You redeemed my week.

Dr. ER told me to tell you that Endless, the poem, is "effing brilliant." She went on and on about it. She is a poet her own self and said a bunch of stuff that you would understand but I didn't, so can't remember.

What I do know is I was wowed by that one, especially, myself. The poem made me mad at first. Then it annoyed me. But I kept feeling compelled to go back and read it again and again. Took me a long time to figure out where the punctuation seems to be implied -- but it shifts, too. It is a great piece of work. Dynamic. Almost like it's alive. Sort of has its own force, and every time I go to it, its power sucks me in, twirls me around until I see stars, then it slings me out of itself. But I want to go back and get inside of it again.

I mean it. And I'm sorry it took me so long to say so.

When Dr. started talking about it, I started talking about it, and we had a great conversation about it. She laughed when, she said, she realized that we each were come to the poem the same way we do music: She, being a trained cellist, comes at music, and your poem, from structure and approach to get to its soul and a glimpse at the songwriterpoet, and I, being a chicken-pickin' guitar player, come at music, and poetry, from its soul first to get a glimpse of author while only vaguely or generally aware of structure.

Anyway, bravo -- from both of us.