Hello, this is Lucia, I just saw my name listed and figured I better post something as the new half-time blogger. Blogger! Will this prove to be a big mistake?

I have more questions than statements, and I hope people drifting through can add their thoughts. Not having had much exposure to the blog world, naturally I am interested in the relation between it and poetry itself.

I briefly had a blog (I guess it’s still there, cyberspace not having developed much of a cemetery system yet), but I grew bored of it, deciding that I’d rather read books of poems, and write them, rather than spend my time on my blog. Part of this decision came from the physical logistics: I needed to get out of the seated position and to go into some other contortion from which it would be difficult to type (I’m still on dial-up, a voluntary limitation that’s supposed to keep me from spending too much time on-line).

And yet, because I gave up my university affiliation some years ago, I do see the social value of the computer world, its ability to connect people who live in far-flung places, without access to libraries or like minds. I am one of those people! But what is the correspondence between blog conversation and face-to-face relationships? You might say they’re better, because theoretically they’re more diverse, unbounded by geography. But no kisses, no grabbing of collars, no jabs to the chin!

The blog world also as presented here breaks down the hierarchical nature of the poetry machine as it is manifest through universities and conferences and publications. That is, anyone can comment, anyone can publish, the poet who out-ranks you may respond to your query (I’ve heard that David Bowie drops into his web site to chat). I’m interested in such venues that break down authority—participatory theater, open mikes etc (they are often awful but I’ve also been struck by useful inspiration in the midst of my tuning out).

Now that we have attached another layer of ephemera to the art, will it transform poetry, and if so, how? For the good? Is it even intelligible to speak of good when it comes to art?

And who drifts through here and why?