Thanks to a tweet from Poem_twet I've found a Stanley Kunitz poem that may be become among my favorites. The opening stanza of The Layers I so identify with.
"I have walked through many lives, / some of them my own. / and I am not who I was, / through some principle of bring / abides, from which I struggle / not to stray." //
The whole poem can be read here.
Upon arriving home today I found rejection in my mail box. No biggie, it's like this is the third rejection in two weeks. Besides, I long ago got over rejection letters. The only real negative is this means I have very little remaining out there for consideration. So, (this is where the big sigh goes) I need to get busy over the next week and get work sent out again. The sort of administrative end of a poet's job is not my favorite part. But once they go out in search of new homes I always feel better afterwards. It's kind of like the tread mill. You are glad you did it when you are finished, but that 45 minutes you were on it really sucks.
Issue 26 of Right Hand Pointing is out. This is an online journal that I'm generally very impressed with. Eons ago they published two of my poems, but I'm not biased. Seriously. a few of the poems in the current issue I really like are:
Check out the whole issue when you get some time...
I can't believe the three day weekend is evaporating so quickly.
Yesterday's Indy race was one of the best I've seen in years.
Rain is hanging in the air awaiting the right moment to let loose. We've had some minor showers but it definitely looks like something is being held back for later.
I haven't read enough this weekend. I did crack open the book Honey & Junk by Dana Goodyear on Friday. It's not a new read for me, but I was finding it even more provoking as I was reading it it this time.
A few journal bits of mine from recent days...
There was an interesting article in the Arts and Entertainment section of the Sunday Kansas City Star. The piece was actually a review of a book titled Play: How it Shapes the Brain and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughn - Avery publisher $24.95
It opens talking about how if you work at Cal Tech's prestigious Jet Propulsion Lab, you better be the best, the brightest an be ready to talk about how you played as a kid.
Vaughn and Brown believe that play is the "stick that stirs the drink." The message I gleaned from the review is that Vaughn and Brown as well as others have come to the realization that schools have become assembly lines for high test scores but real learning is grounded in creativity and creativity is born of play.
While seeing this article is not particularly revolutionary information to me, It marks the second time in oh, something less then six months I've seen discussions suggesting that some of the top flight organizations and employers in the U.S. are reaching the conclusion that they are better served by employees that are well grounded in creativity. This seems to change the whole right brain left brain concept of intelligence vs creativity. I guess being creative is after all a marketable commodity.
KEVIN COYNE writing in The New York Times, attempts to explain why the state of New Jersey is so rich with successful poets of late. He points out that W.S. Merwin's Pulitzer Prize for poetry makes the fourth such poet to win the prize in the past 10 years and he says this is a streak that is unmatched by any other state.
Coyne reports that another of New Jersey's Pulitzer Poetry winners, Stephen Dunn thinks he knows what what it is about the state that has given their poets this edge. “New Jersey’s gift to its poets, is that it's a place of many places."
It seems there are 566 municipalities compressed together in the state with a total population about equivalent to that of New York City. There are in fact more municipalities in the state per square mile than in any other state in the nation. Lots of places provide a treasure trove of places to write about. Each with their own history, their own landscape and so on.
As I read Coyne piece and thought about Stephen Dunn's remarks, I am once again reminded how much emphasis place can have on poetry. Poems are like a snapshot. A story stopped in time. The have a place in time and a geography all their own. I do believe Stephen Dunn is onto something here.
"Give me a waterboard, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders." ~Jesse Ventura 5-11-09
