Heard any good metaphors?

"A thousand naked fornicating couples with their moans and contortions are nothing compared to a good metaphor." ~ Charles Simic, The Gettysburg Review, Winter 1995

Thursday Thought - Charles Simic

"Here in the United States, we speak with reverence of authentic experience. We write poems about our daddies taking us fishing and breaking our hearts by making us throw the little fish back into the river. We even tell the reader the kind of car we were driving, the year and the model, to give the impression that it’s all true. It’s because we think of ourselves as journalists of a kind. Like them, we’ll go anywhere for a story. Don’t believe a word of it. As any poet can tell you, one often sees better with eyes closed than with eyes wide open."    — Charles Simic



In the darkness of my mind
it's cobwebbed cold
strings flap in the current
that blows       grease are frozen
in flight        and still against the hope
that dawn brings a thaw
and wisps of interest that is lacking
as the stars are silent

© 2011 - Michael A. Wells



Closing your eyes... what do you see?

Censoring for the Public / Poetry & Purity

"When the writer knows pretty well that only very few volumes of his edition will be bought... he obtains a great freedom in his creative work. The writer who has in view the certainty, or at least the possibility of selling all his edition, is sometimes influenced by their future sale... almost without meaning to, almost without realizing -- there will be moments when, knowing how the public thinks and what it likes and what it will buy, he will make some little sacrifices -- he will phrase this bit differently, and leave that out."

I found the above quote via the poet Nathalie Handal, who linked an article by Christopher Merrill, Director, International Writing Program, University of Iowa. The article titled The Invisible Procession  appeared in the Huffington Post and addresses of the use of poetry when the world shifts underfoot.  Merrill seems to be asking, are these times not picture perfect for the genuineness of poetry?

I've never considered this to be a positive attribute, but there is an irony in these words. Poets like Carolyn Forche', Pablo Neruda, Nathalie Handal, Charles Simic, and Mahmoud Darwish are a few poets that come to my mind who have have in fact very effectively written poetry of witness.  In each of these cases I think there is clear evidence that their work has been void of the kind of sacrifices of genuineness that panders to what a writer thinks people what to hear. Still each achieves a following because of their art. Maybe because of the purity of their words and not through capitulation. Amen!

The space inside the poem

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships. - Charles Simic

Technorati Tags: Charles Simic,quote,poetics

CHARLES SIMIC - Thursday - Oct 23 - Kansas City - Rockhurst University 6:00 p.m.

The Midwest poets series in Kansas City has once again tapped a top flight reader for its reading series. Poet Laureate Charles Simic, Pulitzer Prize winner, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and winner of the Wallace Stevens Award will be here to read.

Simic has as I count them, something like 28 books (but that is more fingers than have and I may be off by one or two) of which four were released just this year.

The event is at Mabee Theater located at 54th Street and Troost Avenue on the Rockhurst Campus in Kansas City, Missouri. Reception at 6:00 p.m. - Reading starts at 6:30 p.m.

Technorati Tags: Charles Simic,Poet Laureate,Kansas City,Rockhurst University,Readings

Right Here In River City

Sunday I read at the Writers Place in Kansas City for the second CD release party sponsored by both the Writers Place and the Johnson County Library. The two events were an excellent opportunity for the public to hear and meet some of our many local poets and I especially appreciated the fact that the events spanned our Missouri - Kansas boarder. I don't recall ever reading in the Kansas side before, though I have attended a number of readings there. Anyway, the local poets featured in the CD project owe a big thanks to these two sponsors.

Speaking of events... there are a number of exciting happenings that are coming together locally in the months ahead. Two poets I first discovered via poetry blogland will be coming to read as part of an Ethnic Poetry Reading Series in conjunction with Park University. The first one is Victoria Chang who will be here October 2nd, 2008 and the other is Aimee Nezhukumatathil who will be in town on March 26th, 2009. I'll do another post on each closer to their event. Also in October - on Thursday the 23rd, Poet Laureate Charles Simic will be in town as part of the Midwest Poet Series. So there, everyone mark your calendar in advance. I promise to remind you of each event later.

Technorati Tags: Aimee Nezhukumatathil,Victoria Chang,Charles Simic,poet laureate,readings,Kansas City

Poetry in the News

• Semic - pleased to be back at his writing desk - "Washington is very much in my mind and will undoubtedly be the subject of many poems." [Story]
• Before the Mississippi Department of Education pats itself on the back for raising educational standards, it needs to take a long look at what those standards are. [Editorial]
• Is poetry's future as bright as its past? [Editorial]
• 1,000,000,000,000 Web pages! Somebody who doesn't have at least one Web page in cyberspace should feel totally insignificant. [Op-Ed]

Simic stepping aside as U.S. poet laureate

Charles Simic will be stepping aside as U.S. poet laureate at one term. He has asked not to be considered for a second term as he wishes to spend more time writing. Hard to argue with that.

I like Charles Simic as a poet and I believed his background made him a good choice for the post. An immigrant with a childhood that experienced war first hand. Simic had sensory talents that I suspect are enhanced by these experiences and has had a gift of ability with his writing that reach a level that many don't achieve.

As a poet laureate, I would have liked him to have been a little more out front. Perhaps this is not a part of his personality. Of course his departure means a search begins again for the next laureate. I have a list in my head of several men and women who I believe would be extraordinary candidates. I am hopeful that perhaps we will see a woman this next time.

Post Peek

mood: relaxed
listening to: Question 67 and 68 / Chicago


For what it is worth, my one time assessment of my peek biorhythms on the 29th of January was somewhat disappointing. It did seem my productivity in the office was remarkably better, but as for any feeling that it manifested itself in a positive way in terms of quality or quantity of writing, it was unconvincing. I suppose I'll make note of my next optimum period where all the rhythms come together and assess it again.

More rejections yesterday.

Here's an interview with the current U.S. poet laureate: What are you doing to increase the public’s interest in poetry at a time when cultural alarmists insist that reading is on its way out?

Enough blogging - time to write!

Looking into the future...

You may not have cracked open your 2008 planner yet, but take note that Oct. 23, 2008 - Charles Simic, current poet laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner, reads from his work at the Midwest Poets Series on the Rockhurst University Campus. Simic is one of several poets whose work I like to read and reread - especially when I find myself in a writing funk. His work is like a jump start to the creative processes inside my brain.

"In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover things." ~ Rita Dove

I heard Charles Simic talking about the great thing in writing poetry is discovering things about yourself. How true!

Poet's Pulpit

So you wake up one morning and "poof" you're the poet laureate. Okay, it didn't quite happen that way. First you get a call from out of the blue and you mull the offer around in your crowded head, bounce the idea off family and finally call back and say, "yes, I'll do it."

Then comes that fateful morning when you realize "you are it!" This has come and passed for Charles Simic. So what's going on with him?

For all the fan fair and hoop-la about raising the interest in poetry in this country by recent past laureates, Simic is not as passionately optimistic. He views Americans as a people who are not particularly proud of our literature and he is not inclined to believe you can force the issue. Oh, I'll admit that a part of me wants to be more idealistic about the picture than that, but perhaps Simic is more reality grounded here. At any point, we all really do know that the evangelism of poetry is not going to bring everyone the their knees in verse.

If I were asked to do a state of the union on poetry, I believe first of all, not a lot of people would tune in. There is a large segment of society who really could care less. Still, for a good many people poetry remains a valued commodity. And like the American economy, the leading indicators here are truly mixed.

It seems fewer presses are turning out poetry. Yet we are seeing poetry all over the Internet. There are few economic success stories among contemporary poets, yet MFA programs are everywhere. To be sure, there are a significant number of people who do in fact turn to poetry, but it is also true that this is a representatively low percentage of the American public. Simic is right, as a nation we do not proud of our literature, poetry or otherwise. Our interests are splintered and divided among so many possibilities it is like vying a piece of the Nielsen ratings.

Of course I want to see poetry promoted. And I am already pleased to know from things Simic has said that he is not about to set out to define what poetry is or should be to readers or poets. To create "ramps for poetically handicapped people" (borrowing a phrase from Billy Collins) is not going to bring America to some profound awakening about poetry. The best we can do is to support the art, gain exposure for it, and let it reach those who are receptive to it.

Simic is in his own right a very talented poet. I believe he can be a outstanding ambassador for the art. Like everyone else, we'll have to set back and give him time to develop his methodology.

I will not complete any of those sentences

I was ecstatic at the news the Charles Simic was to become the new poet laureate because I had only recently discovered his poetry and found him to be an excellent read. This week however, I read a piece in the Boston Globe that only accentuated my excitement.

David Mehegan of the globe staff wrote a piece in Simic on August 18 that provided a little more insight into Simic the laureate. Mehegan reports that Simic doesn't yet have a plan for his term but says, "All those sentences that begin with, 'Poetry must...,' 'The purpose of poetry is to... , 'Readers of poetry should...' -- 'I will not complete any of those sentences." I can't say enough about what a delight it is to hear these words.

Even after Donald Hall's tenure as poet laureate, the handcuffs that Ted Kooser slipped around poetry still leave marks on its wrists. Simic is insightful enough to see the divisiveness trying to mold and shape what poetry is or should be has brought to the art. Enough!

The Immigrant Poet Laureate

Jilly presents an interesting take on the selection of poet laureates in the U.S. While this is not totally new information to me, she has presented some good reference material and demonstrates the tendencies toward NE geographies and the male gender. Much will be made of it because much was made of it the last time, a NE male then too.

In my own humble view, there are quite a few women I believe would be excellent candidates. I am perhaps more bothered by the gender issue than the geographical one. Why? I suppose being from the Midwest I should have been jumping for joy at the Kooser appointment. It turns out that his being from a neighboring state meant little of nothing to me.

I believe what may say a lot about the latest selection, and a very positive way to view it, would be that Simic is a first generation immigrant to the U.S. This at a time when our own American culture seems to be at such odds with our own American heritage. Simic was born under the dark shadows of very troubling times in his native land. I've seen in his work a more worldly view of life and I think this is a good time for Americans to experience a poet with such background.

On another note my copy of Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak arrived on Friday.

on writing differently

Love this quote posted on Dana's blog - And with perfect timing:

"Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships. " — Charles Simic

But don't stop there.... her blog is a great read for poets.

A New Poet Laureate

It was not long ago that another blogger poet Cindy turned me on to a poet that had somehow slipped under my radar in spite of his acclaim. I've previously mentioned this in earlier blog posts. The poet is Charles Simic. Imagine my surprise when reading my e-mail, I learned that Simic has been named to fill the Poet Laureate post this fall replacing Donald Hall who will only serve one term due to his health.

This is somewhat a bittersweet moment in my view as I have especially enjoyed the Hall period. Hall was such a refreshing voice to me following Ted Kooser. Kooser is enjoyable, but in my view lacking in the depth that Hall's work shows. Additionally, while Kooser was and remains a strong advocate for broadening the consumer base of poetry, I believe he has done so at the expense of dividing those in the literary arts themselves.

Simic is an immigrant. He was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in1938. Living as a child under the shadows of Hitler and Stalin. His family came to the U.S. in 1953.

Like Kooser, Simic is not a difficult read. Like Hall, there is clearly more depth to his work. He is no Bly or Ashbery, but he is a brilliant mind and I have enjoyed what work of his I have read. I believe he'll bring a positive voice to the position.

The Guerilla Poetics Project has blogged on Poetry Live & it is worth taking a look at quickly - Like before it goes away!!! It is a nicely put together site and merits the attention of the poetry community at large.

Here is a really cool site. If you enjoy awesome photos - check this out: street:haikuby an xiao. I'd love to do some collaborative writing with photos like these.

Only recently I've been turned on to Charles Simic. How he had slipped under my radar I cannot say. Here is one of his poems to enjoy: My Noiseless Entourage