WHY DO I like Jennifer Moxley's poetry so much? I suspect it is her deftness with traditional elements of poetry (rhyme, meter, complex sentence structures) being unblended with any starchy cultural politics. She is willing to risk elegance, but without any defense-of-civilization posing.
She ought to be more famous than she is. "Druthers (4)" and "On Her Success" suggest she is well aware of this circumstance, but final poem "The Spark" banishes regret.
"The Honest Cook's Insomnia" is about cooking, but it often sounds like it is about writing, Moxley's writing at least, and captures much of what I find appealing about her poems.
Do not try to please
"the crowd." It is better to
risk accusations of exclusivity
and stay honest to your vision,
than to go hungry cooking for those
whose tastes you do not share.
[...]
Beware of trends and fashions,
yet open to new techniques.
[...]
Learn from the masters. This is true
for amateurs especially, so often
exiled to the flimsy techniques
of the present day.
[...]
However
much of an innovator you imagine
yourself to be, your time's tastes will
express themselves through you,
and cooks who come after will
scratch their heads.
[...]
Taste, like experience, feels individual
but is more often than not shared.
I hope the "neural plaques and tangles" mentioned near the end of "The Spark" are hypothetical, as I am hoping to add some volumes to my Moxley shelf.
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