In my previous post about Poetry in Plain Sight, I used a poem that “referred” to the titles of 4 poems displayed as part of the PiPS program. This sort of intertextuality has been a part of poetry for centuries. Most of us remember Walter Raleigh’s “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” referring back to Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.”
Poet and teacher, Jessie Carty, started a blogzine based on this sort of intertextuality more than 10 years ago, called, appropriately, “Referential.” She gave it up for a while because of the demands of teaching, and as often happens when originators pass their ideas along to someone else, it died. Now, however, she is coming back to it. I am proud to say that 10 years ago I was honored to have the first poem used in “Referential,” and now I have the first poem used in the new “Referential,” to be called, appropriately, “Referential2.”
Carty has posted my poem, “What Happens Next,” on the blog at https://referential2.blogspot.com/. And she is inviting others to “join the conversation” by submitting poems that “refer” to that one. It sounds like a lot of fun and an opportunity to see what different poetic minds can do with a similar idea.
Guidelines for submission are listed on the blog as well. I hope you’ll take a look, and feel moved to write something as well. Who knows, maybe I’ll write in reference to your reference — that’s how Pris Campbell and I managed to write 3 books (The Nature of Attraction, Shadows Trail Them Home, and All In) together.