Friday, November 3. 2006
Help Me Find Poets
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Well I would suggest that you put my book on the list…..Wait a minute! - I don’t have one out yet! ….Meanwhile you might try Robert Thomas’s "Dragging the Lake."
Apparently he read at my old Alma Mater’s Lunchtime Poetry Series in ‘03 — but it looks like it ain’t online no more. Shame.
Is this poem somewhat representative of his work?
http://www.poems.com/sleeptho.htm
Is this poem somewhat representative of his work?
http://www.poems.com/sleeptho.htm
Robert,
"Dragging the Lake" is his latest book out from: Carnegie Mellon University Press. (for further info. - http://robertthomaspoems.com/) I got hooked on his poetry with this:
The Man Who Could Not Fly
Off work, at the corner of Howard and Spear,
I walk past windows of Parmesan wheels,
ropes of garlic, and cheese from the white oxen
of Tuscany. The bay breeze salts my throat.
My wings carefully folded against my spine,
six layers of gilt-edged feathers
folded each morning like an origami crane
to fit inside my crisp tucked shirt,
begin against my will to ripple, to chafe.
A burning in my shoulder blades spreads
down my ribs as I get closer to the pier.
Pigeons strutting on the plaza give way
to the gulls and forked-tail terns of the sea.
On the sidewalk downtown, men and women
pass me to converge at the edge of the water.
The first ones are already aloft, gliding
toward the Farallon Islands, just visible
in the distance. A woman takes off her coat,
drops it in the street, and the power of the dark
blue pinions that emerge is unbelievable, lifting her
as she cries klea, klea to the rasping krrekk, krrekk
of a man whose white scapulars beat into the gale.
They have forgotten everything but the lashing wind,
the occasional glint of a fish far below, and the glare
as they dive toward the sun. I take off my shirt,
and my huge, unwieldy wings slowly unfold
and compose themselves. Heavy as armor,
they hang useless and serene. Why must I
come day after day to watch those appalling
plunges, that awful hovering, the ecstatic
shrieking wheels while I stand in the dusk,
my iridescent plumage dignified and rigid?
First published in The Sewanee Review. ^
"Dragging the Lake" is his latest book out from: Carnegie Mellon University Press. (for further info. - http://robertthomaspoems.com/) I got hooked on his poetry with this:
The Man Who Could Not Fly
Off work, at the corner of Howard and Spear,
I walk past windows of Parmesan wheels,
ropes of garlic, and cheese from the white oxen
of Tuscany. The bay breeze salts my throat.
My wings carefully folded against my spine,
six layers of gilt-edged feathers
folded each morning like an origami crane
to fit inside my crisp tucked shirt,
begin against my will to ripple, to chafe.
A burning in my shoulder blades spreads
down my ribs as I get closer to the pier.
Pigeons strutting on the plaza give way
to the gulls and forked-tail terns of the sea.
On the sidewalk downtown, men and women
pass me to converge at the edge of the water.
The first ones are already aloft, gliding
toward the Farallon Islands, just visible
in the distance. A woman takes off her coat,
drops it in the street, and the power of the dark
blue pinions that emerge is unbelievable, lifting her
as she cries klea, klea to the rasping krrekk, krrekk
of a man whose white scapulars beat into the gale.
They have forgotten everything but the lashing wind,
the occasional glint of a fish far below, and the glare
as they dive toward the sun. I take off my shirt,
and my huge, unwieldy wings slowly unfold
and compose themselves. Heavy as armor,
they hang useless and serene. Why must I
come day after day to watch those appalling
plunges, that awful hovering, the ecstatic
shrieking wheels while I stand in the dusk,
my iridescent plumage dignified and rigid?
First published in The Sewanee Review. ^
Hey Carol, good question. Honestly, in this first semester, I’m aiming for exposure to other poets I whose work I might resonate with. Obviously my intent in the next two years is to develop more specific areas of craft to study, and to inform my reading (and writing) with those goals. But for now, I’m grazing, and looking for themes to emerge both from what I write and what I like to read. Sometimes it’s a forest-for-the-trees kind of situation. Anything you notice?
His autobiography The Winged Seed, and Ararat, are on my to read list.
Any focus for the list beyond resonance? American, or other? living or dead? classic canon or anyone?
If you wanted to look at anthology-scope you might get a great chance of someone piquing your interest. You might look at
Lane’s Breathing Fire 2. For discussion http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/2005/08/its-been-some-34-years-since-al-purdys.html
Any focus for the list beyond resonance? American, or other? living or dead? classic canon or anyone?
If you wanted to look at anthology-scope you might get a great chance of someone piquing your interest. You might look at
Lane’s Breathing Fire 2. For discussion http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/2005/08/its-been-some-34-years-since-al-purdys.html
Hi Pearl, thanks for the link. I’m focusing on contemporary as much as posisble, since my background is in criticism so far, and I’m looking to strenghten my understanding of contemporary voice. I prefer works originally written in English to translations, since so much of translated poetry is the work of the translator. That said, I also read Spanish, and enjoy facing-page. Anthhologies are probably a great place to get ideas for the list — though a lot fo what I want to investigate is what makes a body of work (i.e. book) into a cohesive whole, so I’m focusing on actually reading complete books to that end. Thanks for any thoughts you might have.
Robert:
It is interesting to see your list and hear your thoughts as well as that of others. Early Occult Memory Systems by Fairchild is good. I sat in on a Masters Wriers workshop he did- impressively creative mindprocess he has.
Li-Young Lee - here is someone I have casually read and love, I’d like to get into his work more myself. Likely a good choice.
Louise Glück - I’m not knowledable about Ararat
but I have read someo f her other works. She is a tough voice to get into for me anyway, but an important one none the less. I’d think a good contemporary for your list.
Dorianne Laux is great! I like how she takes on humanity in her work. Reationships, love loss, She reminds me of Sharon Olds in a small way (who I am quite fond of) though her language is perhaps not as direcy as Olds is.
I could sugest some others but our tasts may overlap, I probably appreciate abstraction perhaps more than you do.
I do think the faculity list for Pacific looks exciting.
It is interesting to see your list and hear your thoughts as well as that of others. Early Occult Memory Systems by Fairchild is good. I sat in on a Masters Wriers workshop he did- impressively creative mindprocess he has.
Li-Young Lee - here is someone I have casually read and love, I’d like to get into his work more myself. Likely a good choice.
Louise Glück - I’m not knowledable about Ararat
but I have read someo f her other works. She is a tough voice to get into for me anyway, but an important one none the less. I’d think a good contemporary for your list.
Dorianne Laux is great! I like how she takes on humanity in her work. Reationships, love loss, She reminds me of Sharon Olds in a small way (who I am quite fond of) though her language is perhaps not as direcy as Olds is.
I could sugest some others but our tasts may overlap, I probably appreciate abstraction perhaps more than you do.
I do think the faculity list for Pacific looks exciting.
Hey, thanks Michael. I think probably good for me to branch out into more abstract stuff as well. I’m not looking to box myself in (nor "lose my voice" as they all warn about MFA programs) — just read great poetry and learn from it. So if anything strikes your fancy send it my way. I’ll also keep watching your blog for tidbits of course.
I’m really excited to meet Dorianne Laux and learn from her. The more I check them out, the more I realize I couldn’t ask for a more appropriate faculty for where I’m at right now in my writing process.
I’m really excited to meet Dorianne Laux and learn from her. The more I check them out, the more I realize I couldn’t ask for a more appropriate faculty for where I’m at right now in my writing process.
I highly recommend Cecilia Woloch’s "Late" and Barbara Jane Reyes’ "Poeta en San Francisco."
A few Living poets that I reread OFTEN:
August Kleinzahler (Green Sees Things In Waves)
Jean Valentine (Door In The Mountain)
Henri Cole (The Visible Man)
Gary Snyder (Turtle Island)
August Kleinzahler (Green Sees Things In Waves)
Jean Valentine (Door In The Mountain)
Henri Cole (The Visible Man)
Gary Snyder (Turtle Island)
Great tips, thanks. Gary Snyder is coming to the Ojai Poetry Festival next year:
http://www.ovlff.com/poetryfestival/poetryfestival.htm
http://www.ovlff.com/poetryfestival/poetryfestival.htm
Contemporary?
Anything from http://www.brokenjaw.com/ broken jaw press or from http://www.brickbooks.ca/ (they have a favorite books link)
Currently reading aubade from broken jaw press.
Anything from http://www.brokenjaw.com/ broken jaw press or from http://www.brickbooks.ca/ (they have a favorite books link)
Currently reading aubade from broken jaw press.
Hey, thanks for the plugs for my poems! As far as who I’d recommend, you might try Gabrielle Calvocoressi’s book The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart. There’s an excerpt from her long poem "Circus Fire" at http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16914, but the excerpt doesn’t really do justice to "Circus Fire, which is an amazing poem.
Thanks for stopping by, Robert. I’m looking forward to reading Dragging_The_Lake. Ain’t it grand to be someone’s homework? (Especially when student-selected.)
