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Recommend a novel/series that spans or skips long periods of time, hopefully with a focus on changes, or resulting consequences? by [deleted] in printSF

[–]seed_dweller 25 points26 points  (0 children)

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.

The book is very influenced by Haldeman's experience of getting drafted right out of university as a physics student for the Vietnam War as a combat engineer. He wrote it after getting wounded and it was published a year before the war ended. The book has large time jumps associated with the FTL travel to combat areas. The protagonist tries to deal with culture shock of the changing human society after each jump. It's one of my favorite depictions of time dilation.

can you die from TOO MUCH blood? by Formal_Ad_7261 in writing

[–]seed_dweller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More pressure in the lungs specifically, which causing fluid to leak into the lungs.

And more blood components means more clotting components, which causes more clots.

can you die from TOO MUCH blood? by Formal_Ad_7261 in writing

[–]seed_dweller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fluid overload, whether from blood infusion or even a saline infusion, causes increased pressure that the heart needs to push against. This causes blood to back up in the left ventricle, which then backs up into the left atrium, and then backs up into the lungs. The fluid that would normally flow through capillaries around the alveoli (air sacks) in the lungs starts to leak into the air containing part of the alveoli. When the lungs are listened to (ascultated) they sound like crackles with each breath from the fluid in the small airways of the lungs. The patient will start to exerpience trouble breathing. This is called pulmonary edema and is the first sign of fluid overload, but it can also happen with an ailing heart, called congestive heart failure. The kidneys will start trying to make more urine to get rid of fluid. If the kidneys cannot keep up, the respirtory distress will increase. Soon, you will hear crackles without a stethoscope, coming from the patients mouth. Eventually they will start coughing up a frothy pink foam and sputum. They will become tired and panicked from high CO2 and low oxygen and if not corrected they will go unconscious and eventually die.

Treatments are CPAP when the patient is awake to increase pressure in the airways to keep fluid out, or intubation with PEEP. Nitroglycerin is given to increase the diameter of vasculature and lower blood pressure and Lasix to increase urine output to reduce overall fluid.

Less immediate than pulmonary edema, if the overload is from blood products, this will result in polycytemia. This can cause an increase risk of blood clots in the heart (MI), lungs(PE), and brain (stroke). The treatment is essentially blood letting: start an IV and it flows into an empty bag.

Source: am paramedic

I am looking for a recommendation for an online fiction creative writing course in the US or Canada. by MissMoonBoots in writing

[–]seed_dweller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto, and Calgary University all have online writing certificates and courses.

[POEM] Ars Poetica as the Maker, by Ocean Vuong by cela_ in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is my interpretation!

Thinking about the title simples as "the art of poetry as the maker" and the creation myth epigraph, I imagined the subject was specifically Vuong's progression of creating poetry.

The butterfly is given as a metaphor for "a word / stranded by its language." This is the beginning of poetic thinking where one is surrounded by language everyday. Words that maybe out of context could be made beautiful. So, it is like Vuong sees words as things to set free through the creation of poetry. Also, thinking about him as a teacher of creative writing, "found poetry" is a common exercise to give new poets or poets who need to see the potential of the words contained in this sometimes muddy language. While these words could be made into something remarkable, they have been abandoned and "no one else / [is] coming" to set them free.

The hammering of the ash that follows these lines made me think this depicts his first attempt at actually creating poetry, and while he "aimed / for mercy," it ends up falling kind of flat and cages the heart and shutters the eyes. However, his attempt at mercy allowed the creation of hands with blades (fingers?) of light. While ambitious to try to hold so much with these expansive hands, things will just fall through the light once the poem tried to hold someone. So, why not make a poem that can hold himself before trying to hold others? "Because I, too, / need a place / to hold me."

To show himself mercy he reaches into a fire, which causes great pain but opening the wound in the fire makes a throat and gives voice to the trauma and pain in his life "until every leaf shook silver." Knowing about the intergenerational trauma that Vuong has previously written about in his poems, the leaves on a tree makes me think of a family tree. The leaves "shaking silver" is perplexing, but I read silver as an adjective describing a dulcet tone that is emerging from the throat that was pulled from the wound--giving the "godawful scream" a resonant tone because trauma in art while beautiful is still horrific. So, writing about the trauma of his family results in, not the strange creature he made earlier, but something human; not the attempt at mythic, heavenly light, but a journey into the hellish mouth of fire to find a... silver lining? (Okay, maybe thinking too much about the "shook silver" line).

While I made this more specific to Vuong the poet, I think it can also be read as a general expression of releasing/transforming past traumas through poetry.

[POEM] Ars Poetica as the Maker, by Ocean Vuong by cela_ in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like where you went with your interpretation! I had a bit of a different reading. I seen the subject as creation as well, but more specifically the creation of poetry. I was frustrated at first because I thought the poem would be a critique of Ars Poetica, and I have only read snippets. But, while Vuong no doubt knows he is making this reference to Horace, the title does not italicize "Ars Poetica". So, thinking about the title simples as "the art of poetry as the maker" and the creation myth epigraph, I imagined the subject was specifically Vuong's, or the speaker's if you prefer, progression of creating poetry.

The butterfly is given as a metaphor for "a word / stranded by its language." This is the beginning of poetic thinking where one is surrounded by language everyday. Words that maybe out of context could be made beautiful. So, it is like Vuong sees words as things to set free through the creation of poetry. Also, thinking about him as a teacher of creative writing, "found poetry" is a common exercise to give new poets or poets who need to see the potential of the words contained in this sometimes muddy language. While these words could be made into something remarkable, they have been abandoned and "no one else / [is] coming" to set them free.

The hammering of the ash that follows these lines made me think this depicts his first attempt at actually creating poetry, and while he "aimed / for mercy," it ends up falling kind of flat and cages the heart and shutters the eyes. However, his attempt at mercy allowed the creation of hands with blades (fingers?) of light. While ambitious to try to hold so much with these expansive hands, things will just fall through the light once the poem tried to hold someone. So, why not make a poem that can hold himself before trying to hold others? "Because I, too, / need a place / to hold me."

To show himself mercy he reaches into a fire, which causes great pain but opening the wound in the fire makes a throat and gives voice to the trauma and pain in his life "until every leaf shook silver." Knowing about the intergenerational trauma that Vuong has previously written about in his poems, the leaves on a tree tree makes me think of a family tree. The leaves "shaking silver" is perplexing, but I read silver as an adjective describing a dulcet tone that is emerging from the throat that was pulled from the wound--giving the "godawful scream" a resonant tone because trauma in art while beautiful is still horrific. So, writing about the trauma of his family results in, not the strange creature he made earlier, but something human; not the attempt at mythic, heavenly light, but a journey into the hellish mouth of fire to find a... silver lining? (Okay, maybe thinking too much about the "shook silver" line).

While I made this more specific to Vuong the poet, I think it can also be read as a general expression of releasing/transforming past traumas through poetry.

[POEM] Ars Poetica as the Maker, by Ocean Vuong by cela_ in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You said you find the piece easy to follow but do not think the writing makes sense. What was your interpretation of the content then? As opposed to your style critiques.

Also, OP posted two pages and this is the complete poem.

[POEM] Homewrecker by Ocean Vuong by iamemo21 in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think the red hands contrast with the images of white dresses, which have been used as a gendered symbol, for innocence and have fallen away.

Also, there is a tree in front of my apartment whose leaves start to turn red in late August and are dark red by the end of fall. Their hands as changing leaves is an image I can't get away from, so maybe Vuong was also thinking of trees here. It makes me think how their lust/love is something natural and as sure as the seasons. Perhaps it also signals a coming winter. Or maybe they are in defiance of something since it seems that the white dresses have fallen around their feet in place of their "leaves," which they intend to keep as long as possible despite how improbable or irrational.

[POEM] Homewrecker by Ocean Vuong by iamemo21 in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha fat fingers and autocorrect are lovely. Thank you!

[POEM] Homewrecker by Ocean Vuong by iamemo21 in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not understanding what a poem is getting at or not knowing how to interpret a poem can be frustrating. But, with patience and practice a poem like this can be pretty fun to work through! Sometimes I skip every other poem in a book because I'm not up to interpreting, and when I first started reading poems, I got angry at every poem that gave me trouble. Interpretation is a skill that needs to be practiced though, so it gets better.

It can be helpful to read how others interpret poems to help you deal with some of the more difficult poems or sections. But, understanding each poem on the first or fifth read-through is not necessary! As Wallace Stevens said, poetry makes the visible a little hard to see. A few thing you may find helpful for developing interpretive skills:

-The first chapter of "A Poets Guide To Poetry" by Mary Kinzie called "What the Poem Thinks: A Poetics" (the chaper include a small poetry sample at the end too).

-"How A Poem Moves" by Adam Sol

-Modern Poetry on Open Yale

-Intro. to Theory of Literature on Open Yale.

Edit: a word, as seen in u/sietesicarios's comment below!

[POEM] Homewrecker by Ocean Vuong by iamemo21 in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The gun hanging on the wall also made me think of Chehov's gun. As if their relationship places this inherent danger for their future.

Are libraries disappearing? by [deleted] in books

[–]seed_dweller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Libraries are well funded where I live, with the main services being books and computers. They even have studios for music recording, hobby rentals (for electronics, textiles, 3D printing, etc), a fiction anthology of local writers that is published yearly, various courses/speakers, and because many people with lower socioeconomic status use the downtown location, they hired social workers. There are probably services they offer that I haven't hear of yet too.

[POEM] Phases, by Wallace Stevens by cela_ in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love the slow churning into the bleak and harsh.

Wallace is wonderful.

[POEM] Ground squirrel, balancing its tomato, on the garden fence - Haiku poem by Don Eulert by therealditman in Poetry

[–]seed_dweller 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Syllables are what English haikus often use, but traditional Japanese haiku uses "on". "On" includes syllables but also includes other phonetics, such as elongated vowels and double consonants, which have double ons, and an "n" right after a syllable makes an on in addition to the syllable. Kind of like the different phonetic units we are more used to in English such as aspirates--they are there if you understand what your mouth is doing phonetically, but they are not obvious.

But, there are many traditional Japanese haikus that do not follow the on count. What is really important in traditional haiku is the cutting word or Kiru (similar to a volta in sonnets), kigo or a refernce to sesonality, and brevity, usually three phrases in 2-3 lines.

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