marlene mountain
review of mm
letter to editor
mm
2002

 

>Marlene Mountain, with her demands
> that all the renga she participates in be done in her
> style and format – one-liners in all lower case letters
> on current events and personal commentary, and her
> righteous anger that out-leaps almost any linkage,
> puts quite a burden on her partners to retain their
> individuality and personal outlook.

jane i'm wondering about this comment and how you arrived at it. have you ask my friends if they have these feelings? i don't demand that people write with no caps. a closer look at the book will show that jeanne uses caps. and on your website you'll see that francine and kris do also. my first poems back in '63 on a portable typewriter were without caps and i guess it's something i never outgrew. i liked the idea that all the letters had equal value. perhaps you had similar feelings when you were using all caps in some of your writing.

over the years i've approached content in haiku in many ways. it's true that one-line has had a big hold on me. i really do love the challenge of it. the way it looks and all--what i see as a visual integrity. no one has asked that we don't write in one-line. some people have even thanked me for introducing them to one-line. since there are plenty of those who write in other lines no one is limited by writing in one-line with me. i've actually noticed that several write one-line with others too.

i've always worried about what i write and paint. of late i've worried i write too much about daylilies. i've also been trying to get beyond this worry stage. perhaps my writing is a burden to read--it often is for me. in the long run each of us writes what moves us. we don't have to agree with the sentiments of each other in the pieces--that works both ways. 'tis my belief my writing mates have lots of individuality and personal outlook and that it all shines through. and as far i can tell we write with each other because we like doing so.

marlene 5/31

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