Thursday, December 09, 2021

The Jefferson Carter Update No One Wants

You might have wondered how Jefferson Carter dealt with my recent Blacking Out of one of his poems. 

You probably didn't, but here's an answer anyway.

Before I even published the piece on Medium, we had this exchange on a private Facebook group over a prior blackout poem I published. His initial comment is below.


Jefferson Carter: Deleting ain't creating.

 

What follows is the rest of our online "talk."


Me: So you don’t believe in editing anything either?
I can see that actually.
Jefferson Carter: Chad, you're being devious. Editing is NOT the same thing as deleting from someone ELSE's text, as if cannibalizing another's work is creative.

Me: Sometimes editing someone's words as I do with erasure and blackout poetry can bring out truths their verbosity hides. Take this recent example. ( I attached the before and after of his poem at this point).

 Jefferson Carter: Chad, truth? You write (erase) with forked tongue!

 

Later, when I published the poem on Medium, first Jefferson claimed he couldn't access it. I just figured he must be banned from there too. Then he gave this version of our exchange on his personal Facebook group.


from Chad Parenteau (who believes erasing is creating):
Jefferson Carter: "Sometimes editing someone's words as I do with erasure and blackout poetry can bring out truths their verbosity hides. Take this recent example."
Truth, Chad? You speak (erase) with forked (and incompetent) tongue!

Of course, Jefferson allows himself to throw in a less thinly veiled insult to make himself look cooler. He knows he couldn't call me incompetent in the group without his comment being deleted.

Jefferson Carter is the Homer Simpson in this argument.

First panel: Homer at doctor's office, crying, saying "Forget you, pal. Thanks for nothing."  Second panel, Homer in cafeteria, saying, "So then I say, "Forget you, Pal! And I storm right out of there!"


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