Poetics of Geography

There are poets whose work is laden with geography. I believe place is important in poetry be it a geographical location or at least a place in time. We often build around such places real or imaginary to help create the image of the moment. I often think of poetry as a picture of words rather than pixels. You can’t very well take a picture without establishing a place and or point in time.

Just a few poets that come to my mind, for whom a good portion of their work seems tied to place, are: Robert Frost, Donald Hall, Ruth Stone, Ted Kooser, and Gwendolyn Brooks.

I took a random look at some of my poetry over the past couple of years and begin to notice that there is little evidence of my Missouri roots it my work. This fact has caused me to wonder if “place” is so important in poetry, why my work is not more reflective of my Missouri roots. Certainly I have established no strong ties to the region with my writing.

Given this lack of a dominant Midwest or Missouri view in my work, I have to ask myself if it is suffering from a strong geographical point of reference. While I don’t have an immediate answer to this question I have posed, I believe it is worthy of consideration. And so I muddle with this idea and hope the internal discourse produces some resolve soon.

Perhaps we are getting close

There is a growing sentiment among Republican members of the Senate that the American military action in Iraq has not, is not and will not work. One by one GOP Senators are leaving the ship. It is about time.

The handwriting has been on the wall for a very long time. The American people fell out of favor with this war long ago. The majority of Democrats in Congress have tried to deliver on an exit strategy but have lacked enough bipartisan support to do so. Many of those Republicans abandoning President Bush have been ardent defenders of this failed war. Their numbers are eroding so quickly that Defense Secretary Robert Gates today canceled a South American Trip as we approach the July 15 date for a report on the President's surge of troops. No doubt the President will argue he needs more time. More time equates to more deaths and more expense.
Few Americans have any idea what this war is costing the U.S.

I'm not referring to the money for military support and rebuilding Iraq (which has failed to do much but pad the pockets of contractors), those figures are readily available. And while they are shockingly high, I am talking about the intangibles... the things we cannot see, like:

• The loss of American respect overseas.
• The boost this war has given to recruitment of those terrorists who hate us the most.
• The stress that will be felt on our economy for years to recover from the unbudgeted hundreds of billions of dollars spent.
• The impact this war will have on the mental health of families of returning veterans.

It is true that the exit from Iraq will likely not be a pretty sight. As bad a the government was that we took out, it provided a minimal amount of stability in the region. I know all the arguments for overthrowing the government in Iraq. For every valid argument to take out Saddam Hussein, there are a half dozen equally bad or worse leaders of nations we do nothing about. The argument for overthrowing Saddam was just an add on to the otherwise misinformation that the Bush Administration used to build it's case for this war.

The men and women serving this country in uniform have not lost a war, they were given an unrealistic mission that was a mistake from the start.

The only questions that remain, are how to best extract ourselves from this. What kind of help can we realistically provide an unstable interum government that has been ineffective and struggles for legitimacy amid a civil war that has at the very roots a long history of religious disagreement, intolerance, and fear that spills blood on the streets daily, much less resist outside forces.

My hope is that in the next couple of weeks, enough Republican members of Congress can finally do the right thing and help put an end to our military presence and bring our troops home.

Quote for the Day

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.

~Salvador Dali

So Many Questions (draft)

Gravity driven cracks of despair
Map the years of his face
And give character
Where otherwise none exists.

Reading him offers more questions than answers—
Like why has he so little to say
Verbal or otherwise?

If time has been kind to him
It would be subjectively debated.
Perhaps he was not meant to live this long—
Or he could be far younger than imaginable.

He seems so alone. Why is he alone? Is he really
Alone— was there ever someone in his life
That smoothed out the cracks
That ask so many questions.

An Oral History Not Withstanding (draft)

Counting stops
Momentarily—

Across the acres of indifference
To a score no one cared to keep

And narration will not reveal
A winner as such
And maybe that an event was
Ever held

Will be in doubt,
As the birth of a sparrow
Claiming nothing to its credit
Passes without notice.

WISHING EVERYONE A SAFE & HAPPY 4TH

Things I'm Thankful For

1. A radio knob that responds to my prompt
2. The rhythm of her breathing beside me each night
3. My glasses that have become my eyes
4. A book of poems always within reach
5. Seeing a part of yourself in your children
6. And recognizing the individualism in your children as well
7. Four legged friends that look up to you
8. The cycle of a baseball season and knowing a new one comes each spring

Tuesday Flashes~

• Cheney was central voice in torture debate -He helped lay path for Gitmo interrogations / The Washington Post
• Editorial -Soft on Crime - New York Times or, it all depends on who the criminal is. Guess what Paris Hilton and Scooter Libby don't have in common.
• I see Paul Wolfowitz has a new job. Hey maybe he can get his girlfriend yet another plum job....
• Mary Ellen Solt, Poet of Words and Shapes, Dead at 86 /New York Times
• World-wide reading against the regime of Robert Mugabe
• "War and Peace Art Exhibit" - More than 100 artists and writers have contributed their work toward a "War and Peace Art Exhibit" this month at a gallery in Makawao, Hawaii. The exhibit includes a signed poem titled "Ogres" by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet W.S. Merwin and several prints about the war in Iraq by nationally known artist Sandow Birk. The exhibit attracted more than 500 people on opening night and has had crowds in excess of 150 people on several other nights. / Star Bulletin