When my own writing needs a perk, I open Zukofsky and read from "A" - particularly sections "22" and "23." It can be opaque, but I love the intensity.

We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom.

I had lost something in my youth and made money instead.

I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp, gaunt names that never get fat.

Most of the time I'm not really attracted to writing that's focused on filling and fighting it out within a well-defined container. I like work that gets out in the world and lets the world shape the poem.

Money is sullen And wisdom is sly, But youth is the pollen That blows through the sky And does not ask why.

Ironically the blog has re-opened the essay as a good form for me. I like to look and make commentary! If I sense my essays are good, I try to resubmit to another place in pulp and several of them have been variously published in newspapers and magazines.