Joan Payne Kincaid

Like a TV Butterfly II

when you  woke it was to realize it
would be that holiday again

but unlike like those before;
the sky was a summary of global warming

we thought we were in the tropics
plenty of sun and girls running in bras

for lack of snow
strangely they were strangers;

tales and memories in the shadows tonight
waste of time who said

marriage is a coffin…some Botox celeb
trying a little sin

we’re  players without a game
in the event a group might pick-up

maybe a tango or two
then sleep

with fluttering wings
hovering over the pillow.

Interview

TSTmpj:  As a practising American poet, can you offer a personal insight into the American poetry canon?

Joan Payne Kincaid:  As to my insight into the American poetry canon, my response would be that the field is so vast and so varied that to make generalizations is an impossible task. My work is writing, and except for the school studies and what I’ve read over my life since I graduated from Hofstra University is like the proverbial drop in the poetic bucket.  Of course I have my favorites:  Ashbery, Pound, Stein, Stevens, Joyce, Eliot among them. I think the Found poetry has been a regenerative force and a breath of fresh air as an alternative to Confessional Poetry which I find to be pretty much of a turn-off and regrettably, seems to be the most popular and commercially viable form of the day. Very few editors will publish poetry that is generated by the poem itself, as is the case with the poets and writers I mention at the top. I find that the poets such as John M. Bennett who purely work with word and letter variations are intellectually challenging and satisfying. They make a reader wo  r   k!

TSTmpj:  Who was the poet you read most recently, and what do you wish to say about their work?

Joan Payne Kincaid:  What I like about John Ashbery is the way he lets the poem find itself. I think he’s really brave in the way he allows himself to be a vehicle for original connections and variations to pass through and beyond himself to find their own creation without concern for how people may react. Very courageous, I think.

TSTmpj:  What do you feel you still wish to accomplish with your poetry?

Joan Payne Kincaid:  What do I wish to accomplish with my poetry, you ask?  Pretty much to get myself out of the way of it and let the muse have the upper hand.

Bio Note

Joan Payne Kincaid lives in Sea Cliff NY with Rod; and Fancy the Fox Terrier and Cordelia the rescue tabby.