One of the things that I get in trouble for with Mikka Mi Amor is that it is self-gratuitous, that whole, it's my wonderful life and I write poetry, so let me write about my wonderful life kind of thing...
That most certainly is not Mikka Mi Amor, though some poems may tend to go that way and many people will misread it that way.
If I were to write that kind of poetry that I hate, I might, for instance, get all descriptive about today, this nice day I spent with my family. I could punctuate the poem with the bit of uneaten cookie left casually on the edge of a table. I could encourage the reader to share that descriptive version of my reality as I see it.
But I hate that kind of poetry. It bores me utterly.
I hope it can be seen that Mikka Mi Amor tries to do something differently. I think many if not most of the poems are actually trying to say something, not just presenting a portrait.
For example, Poem 36, When I'm late to work, is less about me kissing my wife on my way to work than it is about me emphasizing a value system that puts care over production; it's an argument to make the quality of life better. It is, dare I say, a challenge to the conventional wisdom that life's value is determined by GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
But even if the poems are doing what I detest, just presenting a portrait, that's why I added the glossary, to make it worth something more.
- Bones
