Out of curiosity, what term do you use most often in normal conversation? In writing?

I've been reading a poetry anthology edited by Billy Collins where he (Billy) capitalizes the first words of lines I know weren't capitalized in their originals. It is a little off-putting. Seems like most poets I read do capitalize occasional poems, but nowhere near consistently. I think it's mainly a problem for people who aren't used to reading through enjambment.

This sucks. You can't hold a metaphor straight for an entire line, but I'm getting called on inconsistent disses?

I got "God turned his head," but yours is better. Also, leave "sin" on the end of line 3.

AlChemy: If he's right on line 4, change it. The second stanza is perfect, both translated and not.

I warn you, it may star Jeff Bridges. In which case it won't make any money anyway, and everyone should just pirate it.

I do know the show and remember the song, which plays over a scene where the hero levitates using aerosol cans, among other things.

Who's sensitive? All the Western women I know are well-adjusted and untroubled about things like whether they should be more or less feminine in the workplace. None of them think that, as far as the West goes, either sex dominates things; nor would they be able to say what either sex would dominate if it did. It's nice. We drink a lot and play Scategories. You're the ones who seem conflicted about things.

I'm going to call myself Sofia Coppola and the movie Lost in Translation with scary foreigners instead of cute Japanese ones and nobody as lovely as Scarlett Johanssen. God knows it'll flop for exactly that reason.

Disqualified. I'm tired of anything heroic being a metaphor for Jesus. Heroic things seem to be metaphors for Jesus because Jesus himself is a metaphor for heroic things.

After we've given everyone a chance, I'll post my interpretation and see how far off it is. I've definitely got line 5, but now I'm worried about 6, which for me involved the unlikely word "resurrect".

Truly. But all this 'men don't understand women, women don't understand men, men are pigs, women are pigs' stuff is completely alien to me now. I guess there's nothing like living in a misogynist Muslim country to make people figure out their priorities.

Having just submitted a poem comparing Islamic terrorists to annoying mosquitoes, I'm in no position to talk.

The older I get, the more I realise how influenced I am by the whole O'Henry/sci-fi ironic twist. When I want to be literary, I tell myself it's O'Henry; when I'm realistic I tell myself it's sci-fi. You know he's buried in Asheville, NC, where I've spent a lot of the last eight years. The Islam movie is going to be pure visually-stunning plotless ensemble drama. Maybe unfortunately.

"I promised that from now on I would write only for the Lord... [Jesus is] the ultimate supernatural hero, the ultimate immortal of them all."
- Anne Rice, October 2005

It's not just that it's too focused; it's something like making a poem almost entirely out of images of a character named Sexy Sadie breaking the rules and making fools of everyone. Saying that the worm is only bringer of death (where Poe's is death/some grand lord-or-mascot of death) isn't enough. At least my Conqueror Worm is a mezcal worm and not anything to do very literally with death. And besides, I wrote it drunk, that's got to count for something. Yes, I can't think of a better image for Bush at the moment - but that is our job, isn't it? To come up with new hard-to-think-of images that seem so obvious and perfect to future generations looking to rip off easy images?

No, it's neither too vague nor too obvious.

It's funny how no part of this conversation has any connection to my life or any woman I know. No, wait, that's not funny...

I think that's because he's mainly discussing the conflict between the West and bin Laden's brand of jihadism, and not Islam in general.

PS AlChemy: I really dug the rhyme and half-rhyme this time, and the way your rock references reflect the rock referencing of a million Vietnam War movies.

I often agree with you, or at least grant you certain points, while you never agree with me. I'm sure by your logic this means you're winning.