Mike, blog post #1

My initial response to e-poetry based on the pieces assigned so far is a positive one. After reading (and watching the flash poetry) the assigned poems I believe I have a better understanding of what electronic poetry. Until now, I was unaware of how technology has changed the face of literature. In a way I would say that this has perked my curiosity on the subject. At the same time, I do have some points of confusion. "The Mermaid" for example left me feeling somewhat confused. The poem was clear, and easy to interpret. The electronic version was difficult to read and did not, in my opinion, help strengthen the authors message. After reading the text only version I understand the significance of the electronic version's strange nature. If I had looked at the electronic version first I probably would not have understood the significance of the rippling effect on the screen.
However, I understand that a part of the point to reading this e-poetry was to do somewhat of a comparison between electronic and simple text literature. "The Best Cigarette", was not largely enhanced by the electronic version, in my opinion. This causes somewhat of a paradox for me, as the clarity was the same between the electronic and text versions, the very complaint I had about "The Mermaid". I can make definitive statement that I either like or dislike electronic literature. I am certain that it is something I want to learn more about as I understand now that it is so vastly different than regular print, or text literature.