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
Wall Street creative financial instruments that went bad are not the only sign of corporate greed. While Congress debates consumer protection regulations for the credit card industry, many of the companies it seeks to regulate are rushing to sock-it to customers before it's too late to milk them any further.
The credit card industry has enjoyed precious little regulation over the years and they have in recent times piled on the fees and in many instances raised intrust rates even for well paying customers arguing they must do so to cover losses.
President Obama has urged a series of protections for customers. They include:
Yet a proposal to cap rates at 15 percent failed on Wednesday. A sign that the industry still has power in the halls of Congress.
While some changes are likely to reach the President's desk this secession there will be an interim period of time before they take effect. Meantime, companies are busy tacking on amendments to customer's contracts and hiking fees.
Another ironic aspect of all this is at least one major company who swallowed up several other companies and received taxpayer funded assistance has sent notices to customers current and with good credit scores advising them it is necessary to increase their rates due to industry losses.
Sources: NPR Washington Times Credit FYI
Darn! Had I realized it earlier, I would have joined the President, Michelle and Darth Vader for a poetry reading at the White House.
Another discouraging bit of news... Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma tacked an amendment on to a credit card reform bill that would allow visitors to National Parks to carry guns. It is so lame to slip shit like this into law by attaching it to legislation that is not remotely connected to the topic. And of course, the measure passed 67 to 29 vote. A lot of Democrats folding to the gun lobby. No backbones! 27 Democrats joined 39 Republicans voted for it and another 27 were joined by one Republican and voted to against it. Of course it may or may not survive a House Senate conference, but the fact remains there were a lot of Senators running with their tail between their legs.
In the event you've not already heard, the Iranian - American Roxana Saberi was released from jail in Iran and has been told she is free to leave the country. Last week, Amnesty supporters immediately responded by sending over 26,000 letters to the Iranian government in less than 24 hours urging her trial be revisited openly and that she be released. The details of Ms. Saberi's ordeal were reported here earlier.
Some of my Journal Bits from the past week....
Sadly the weekend is slipping away. On the positive side, I was able to get some positive vibes back into my writing. Yeah!!!
I'm working on both new stuff and rewrites for a particular submission that I've been planning and while the deadline is fast approaching, I don't as of yet feel particularly stressed about it. Surprising as that seems.
Parting thought for the weekend - "I shut my eyes in order to see." ~ Paul Gaucuin
There are a good number of contemporary poets that are not Merwins or Ashberys that nevertheless are exceptional practitioners of the craft and don't get near the attention they deserve. Here are my list of ten who's work I especially appreciate. (they are in no special order)
If you're like me this April, your e-mail swelled beyond the capacity to read on a daily basis. Much of it is due to the influx of poems and poem related material during National Poetry Month. One such e-mail was from PBS Online News Hour with Jim Leher. They do a periodic feature piece on a poet and they are always top notch video feeds with bibliographical information and usually a poem or two. The email was to promote their latest, a visit poet Bob Hicok. I'm familiar with Hicok and I will get around to listening to their piece, but in taking the link to the PBS site, I saw a previous piece I had missed on another poet who I stopped to check out. The poet, pictured above, was Nathalie Handal.
I've missed anything about Ms.Handal up to this point on my poetry radar (which may need servicing) and this was an astonishing discovery. She is well traveled, having I've lived in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the United States, and the Arab world. And while her roots are Palestinian, she is clearly a poet of the world.
I have found some of her poems and posted a few of their links here:
And here us the PBS Video:
Another Video of Nathalie Handal reading - you might need to turn the volume up a bit. This poem captures a portion of the beauty that she compresses within the language of her work. A soft but mighty voice.
In many respects she reminds me of the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.
In 1991 the United Nations General Assembly established May 3rd as World Press Freedom Day. This year there have been a number if international incidents that underscore the fact that there are governments around the world that continue to suppress news journalists from doing their job.
Just since January there are a significant number of members of the press who have been assassinated and a larger number imprisoned throughout the world. Take a look at this list of news journalists who have paid the ultimate price for their work:
Assassinated journalists and media workers
Raja Assad Hameed (Pakistan)
Reporter for the daily Nation and Waqt TV Channel
Killed on 26 March 2009 in Pakistan
Jawed Ahmad (Afghanistan)
Reporter for the Canadian media, including CTV News.
Killed on 10 March 2009 in Afghanistan
Haider Hashim (Iraq)
Correspondent for the private TV broadcaster Al-Baghdadia
Killed on 10 March 2009 in Iraq
Suhaib Adnan (Iraq)
Cameraman for the private TV broadcaster Al-Baghdadia
Killed on 10 March 2009 in Iraq
Ernesto Rollin (Philippines)
Journalist for local radio DxSY-AM
Killed on 23 February 2009 in Philippines
Jean Paul Ibarra RamÃrez (Mexico)
Photographer for El Correo newspaper
Killed on 13 February 2009 in Mexico
Ando Ratovonirina (Madagascar)
Reporter for the privately-owned Radio et Télévision Analamanga (RTA).
Killed on 7 February 2009 in Madagascar
Said Tahlil Ahmed (Somalia)
Director of Horn Afrik Radio/TV
Killed on 4 February 2009 in Somalia
Bruno Ossébi (Republic of Congo)
Columnist for the online newspaper Mwinda
Killed on 2 February 2009 in Republic of Congo
Francis Nyaruri (Kenya)
Journalist for the independent Weekly Citizen
Killed on 29 January 2009 in Kenya
Shafiq Amrakhov (Russian Federation)
Owner and editor of the online regional news agency RIA 51
Killed on 19 January 2009 in Russian Federation
Anastasia Baburova (Russian Federation)
Journalist for Novaya Gazeta
Killed on 19 January 2009 in Russian Federation
Orel Sambrano (Venezuela)
Editor of a weekly magazine ABC
Killed on 16 January 2009 in Venezuela
Uma Singh (Nepal)
Journalist for daily newspaper Janakpur Today and Radio Today FM
Killed on 11 January 2009 in Nepal
Lasantha Wickrematunga (Sri Lanka)
Editor of the Sri Lankan newspaper Sunday Leader
Killed on 8 January 2009 in Sri Lanka
Basel Faraj (Palestine)
Cameraman for the Algerian TV network ENTV and for the Palestine Broadcast Production Company
Killed on 6 January 2009 in Palestine
The Roxana Saberi Matter
Roxana Saberi is a 31 year old journalist with joint U.S. and Iranian citizenship. She has been residing in Iran for six years where she's been studying for a masters degree in Iranian studies, and reporting for NPR, the BBC, ABC News and other international news organizations. Her plans were to return to the U.S. this year when she completed a book about Iranian culture she was writing.
Saberi was arrested at the end of January initially for purchasing wine (alcohol is banned in Iran) then officials alleged she continued to work as a journalist after her credentials were revoked. This finally converted to charges of unspecified "espionage."
On April 18th she was convicted and sentenced to 8 years of jail in a trial that was short of any international standards.
If you do nothing else to mark this this Word Press Freedom Day, click on these two sites and add your voice to the call for Roxana Saberi to be freed.
I can feel the lazy days of summer ahead, but they aren't quite here yet.
Any of you seen the movie Prairie Home Companion? It was a movie I had been wanting to see. My wife was not real interested and we never saw it when it came out. Cathy did however record it on our DVR knowing both my daughter and I wanted to see it. We've had it for a week or two now, and Cathy decided to make a night of it. We got pizza and settled in and watched it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Both Cathy and my daughter Shannon by the end were fighting to stay awake. Neither were impressed. My wife's explanation as to why I might have enjoyed it was that it reminded her of my poetry... inaccessible.
On a related note, I subjected my immediate family to only one poem this Poetry Month. They seem to believe they are subjected to way more then any sane person should have to endure through their connection to me. So I sent them on the last day of April one poem. They all received one poem from me. I chose the Billy Collins poem, Introduction to Poetry. The poem concludes with the following two stanzas....
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Now Cathy liked the Collins poem, but she responded in an email, "It's the poet that needs to be tied to the chair and beaten with a rubber hose for writing an inaccessible poem...and I'm sure we all know what poet I am talking about. :)
May 1st and I've taken a break from writing today aside from my daily journal entry.
The break from writing a poem is suiting me well so far. There's almost a hour left of the day, I suppose I could get the itch, but I'm thinking not. Who knows, perhaps overnight I might wake up with some brainstorm. Hey, it has happened.
I realized one of my poems that had previously been publish was added to the Johnson County Kansas Public Library's poem a day feature on their Internet site. It can be seen here.
"Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them." ~ Charles Simic
For the third year in a row I've produced a Poetry Month broadside featuring one of my poems that has been previously published elsewhere. They have finally arrived from the printers. I have 100 of them and they are available at your request as long as they last. If you would like one of these please drop me a note with your snail mail address at stickpoet@aol.com. It's just a little something I started doing to celebrate poetry.
Counting the poem for today (which I'm still working on) there are 6 remaining in the April challenge.
I must say that a very badly want to do a free write, without a prompt, without a pre-determined
topic and the pressures that have come with this challenge. Yes, April is the cruelest month!
On another note, I was reading the comments on a post by Kelli and checked out Ouroboros Review that received a thumbs up by Maya. It has a very professional on line presence. I was truly impressed. I also noticed Deb Scott has a couple of poems in the most recent issue.
Two other reviews I like have releases up...Right Hand Pointing - issue 25 and Autumn Sky Poetry - issue 13
Meanwhile, back to the poem I was working on.
I suppose one could argue that poetry has become a habitual aspect in my life. Without considering this in a negative connotation that is often associated with the word habitual, I have up till now viewed this in the context of what I have considered a lifestyle. For several years, I have convinced myself that a poet (or any artist) would only enhance their level of creativity by developing a lifestyle that had a vigilant awareness to their surroundings that allowed them to constantly be open the the poetry in things.
What would follow or at least one would hope- transforming theory to reality, is that by achieving this poetic point of view, it could only result in good things in connection with their work. If you hand not fully achieved a poetic lifestyle, to the extent you were striving to get there, again would be a positive thing, no?
Perhaps achieving such a state of mental awareness and focus has noting to do with improving the poet's work. What if it is simply symptomatic of a neurosis?
Ugh! I almost forgot to mention that I'm reading tomorrow at the Westport Branch of the K.C Public Library.
118 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111I
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Yes, I've been silent a couple of days, but don't think that I'm not still going on the poem-a-day challenge! I was sifting through some of them this evening and I can say there are four or five that could have some potential. Yes, there are some really bad ones, but truth is you've got to be willing to put a lot of bad ink on a page to get there.
In poetry news elsewhere, I was delighted to see W S Merwin win a Pulitzer for his book The Shadow of Sirius. I cannot say that I believe the book warrants the prize as I have not read it. But I am very fond of Merwin's work and have nothing but praise for Migration for which he won a National Book Award. I am anxious to read his new one. You can find an interview for NPR by Terry Gross of Merwin here. Also, Ruth Stone was a runner up this year. I must remember to read some of her work, I haven't read her for a while.
Oh, and three cheers for Sandra Beasley - 2009 BARNARD WOMEN POETS PRIZE AWARDED TO SANDRA BEASLEY
If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution. ~Wallace Stevens
KANSAS CITY, MO.- The exhibition The Poetics of Space is on view April 10, 2009–March 14, 2010, at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Through photographs by William Christenberry, Lynn Davis, Walker Evans, Todd Hido, Anthony Lepore, and Mike Sinclair, among others, the exhibition reveals the mysterious and poetic worlds dwelling within domestic, urban, and natural spaces. The exhibition includes more than 20 photographs by 17 artists from the Kemper Museum’s permanent collection.
Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net
Today, for the second time this week, I received rejections on submissions.
I guess the positive side of this is I'm being rejected by better caliber journals. Hey, you've got to look at the positive.
Back to the drawing board.
Today is Blogger Appreciation Day. With that in mind I like first to express my sincere appreciation for those people who stop by Stickpoet from time to time and occasionally offer some comments. (Ok, I don't mean spammers, I've had a rash of them in the past ten days. Their posts are moderated and never see the light of day.)
Occasionally we do have some thought provoking exchanges here and other times I do my thing and people keep coming back. So thank you to all who visit this site and take the time to read.
There is another whole group of people out there for whom I am also appreciative. These would be the bloggers who write the blogs I go to on a regular basis. There are many that I read, but among the most regular are the following that I'd like to acknowledge:
These are just a few that I follow, but they are pretty regular in posting and each offers something I especially like.
Joannie for instance is very eclectic. Her posts range from poems to pictures of various culinary endeavors she undertakes and I have especially found her how-to videos worthwhile. They generally are of technical nature related to computers and writing.
Ivy is like inspirational. I mean her dedication to her craft and how she goes about it is an excellent example for the rest of us.
Kelli is funny, I love Tuesday at the Confessional. She will from time to time post some of her work, but I especially have enjoyed her insight over the several years that I have followed her blog.
Sandra often features information about other poets and their book releases and occasionally provides an interesting commentary on a poetry related topic.
Christine is like dark and edgy. Ok, I mean her poetry not exactly her. This is a good thing- I mean it is writing I appreciate and enjoy. There is often a dark humor about it as well. Most of her posts are things she is working on, written but some interesting art as well.
Mary will pose exceptionally thoughtful questions or insights and always seems to generate a lot of feed back from her readers in the comments. Mary truly have succeeded in creating dialogue with her blog.
There, a little bit about why I enjoy each of these blogs and appreciate the work they do to post on a regular basis, fresh ideas or work. Thanks to all of you!
So I've just finished posting today's poem on Poetry Asides written from the prompt for the day: So We Decided To (blank). This is the earliest that I've finished one in a number of days. With today's poem, we are now 40% through the month of poems challenge. Even doing a basic draft a day is no piece of cake. It takes a lot out of you.
With my poem finished, and the Giants baseball game is already over for the day, I will retire to some reading in a few minutes.
Hope all of you had a joyous weekend. If you celebrate Easter, then a Happy Easter to you, if not, I bid you best wishes the same.
The WESTPORT BRANCH of the KANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY will host a reading by a number of local poets on April 22 between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. and the public is invited. I have agreed to read at the event.
The library is located at 118 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111
For more information you may call the Westport branch at 816.701.3488.
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The past few mornings the cable news shows have been buzzing with talk about the President giving commencement speeches at Notre Dame, and ASU. The controversy over Notre Dame of course comes from the viewpoint expressed by some Catholics that Obama should not be invited to speak at a Catholic institution of higher learning because they believe his public policy on abortion is contrary to that of the Church's teachings. Of course so was President Bush's public policy on the Death Penalty and Pope John Paul had adamantly opposed the war in Iraq as well, but that didn't keep President Bush from being invited.
The ASU controversy is a little different and actually quite amusing if you consider the past history of the University. Notre Dame is conferring an honorary degree upon President Obama. Not an unusual exercise for a prominent speaker a University commencement. But ASA earlier in the week said their would be no honorary degree for the President. Sharon Keeler, a spokesperson for the University put it this way, "Because President Obama’s body of work is yet to come, it’s inappropriate to recognize him at this time." Following this news the chatter and editorial writers have taken on the ASU's position.
The East Valley Tribune from the Phoenix, Arizona area calls the oversight "an odd gap that besmirches the image of an excellent institution." And MSNBC's Contessa Brewer pointed out that in 1986, Kermit the Frog received an honorary degree from Long Island Southampton College and further expressed her disapproval of ASU's decision.
A list here provides some interesting names of past recipients from ASU. They include Barry Goldwater in 1961, three years before he received the Republican nomination for president and only eight years into his U.S. Senate career. There is George Romney in in 1962. He of course lost the GOP nomination for President. Sandra Day O'Connor (first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court) in 1984, just three years into her 25 years on the Court. Rita Dove in 1995 - A Poet U.S. Laureate.
Anyway, I'm thinking we haven't heard the last of this.
POOF! The draft removed by me work work on for future submission.
* the prompt for this poem was to writ something about a Friday.
Poof! This draft removed by me to work on for future submissions
*the prompt was to write something dealing with memory or memories.
Routine
If I didn't do it everyday,
a pile of work got in the way
and played up differences
enough to sway the karma
an altogether different direction-
and people stop to flirt with me
or promise me more, or disagree
and take my shine all away
stalling progress for the day.
If summer rain would run and hide
and leave me all alone to cry
so the parched earth would soak
it up, how the world would that all look?
And I'd be stalled in all I do
to finally make it up to you.
The things we've missed
and things all broken
what's left, just a token.
The prompt for today was write about something that had to day with clean.
Sun Bleached Bones
Quarter of 11 and I'm just now getting my poem for day six posted over on Poetry Asides.
I'm excited that the baseball season is under way, I'm going to catch up on scores from some games today and then head to bed. My Giants play tomorrow opening at home against the Brewers in an afternoon game. Go Giants!
It's not like I'm about to crack or anything, but when you are in a funk and writing bad stuff it's a downer. Through several efforts today I concluded with another piece that I am unhappy with. The problem is they were not getting much better as the day went along.
I could of course claim this all sucks and chuck it. That would be one way of dealing with it. But anytime one's writing turns south, as hard as it is, the best thing one can do is write through it. Walking away from it is usually not a formulary for success. So after day five, I have four that washes and one that could grow into something. I suppose I should not complain- just keep writing.
I've completed my poem for day four - the prompt was to write about an animal. For some reason I was not enamored with this prompt, but I charged ahead. It is not a poem that will appear here, but I did post it on the Poetic Asides blog as required as part of the daily challenge. I'm hopeful the Sunday prompt is more agreeable with me.
This morning I attended an Undergraduate English Symposium that was held at the Diastole in Kansas City. A poet friend Amy Davis was one of the presenters and I attended both to support her work and to learn what I could from the presentation. The Diastole is a magnificent facility both inside and out. It has a tremendous collection of artwork in various media and the tranquility that exudes from this place is beyond belief.
The name itself is quite interesting. Diastole, pronounced (dy-AS-tuh-lee), is a medical term for the interim between heartbeats, when the heart muscle relaxes. Systole is when the heart beats and delivers life's blood downstream. The heart rests following each systole, and fills with the blood of the next pulse. This period, the heart at rest, is Diastole.
Amy's work is consistently fresh and very tight. She is somewhat of a master of reduction to the lowest necessary denominator when it comes to words. I especially enjoyed hearing the changed directions that some of these poems took in rewrites. It was well worth the time, besides being enjoyable.
The prompt was: The Problem with (fill in blank)
The Problem with Poetry
It wants to be.
Just be—
that’s all. To exist
apart from the shivering
cold of rainy spring afternoons
and melancholy silence
that hangs thick as molasses
in the air.
Poetry wants to be held tight
and listened to. To be seen
not just heard.
To lie spread-eagle
on the page; bare,
and hear only the gasp
at its raw form.
Do not argue with poetry.
Not out loud.
Any disagreement should come
as a sweet discourse
within the mind.
Judge not what is said
in those lines before you.
They are for their own part
playing out what latitude
you have allowed them—
and in the end, it is the mind
that is at fault, not the poem.
Just about a half hour ago I completed my day two poem based upon a prompt of outsider. And now that I'm done, I'm thinking about all the "outsiders" that are not getting anything out of national poetry month.
Of course, we poets and poetry enthusiasts may well be in the minority. I suppose who constitutes an outsider here is open to debate, but I really think that it has more to do with groups drawn by a common likeness. There is probably more likeness among those who cling to the love of poetry than those who don't. Among those who don't there may be a wide range in the level of disinterest. For example those with little or no exposure to poetry may comprise a portion of the whole. Then those who were exposed to it and had a strong distaste for it. Then more casually disinterested people and so on.
It seems each year I ask myself what is the big deal that sends some people running from poetry? I am again processing that question in my mind tonight.
Yes, I've got poetry. I successfully met my day one challenge. A poem off a prompt about the origin of something.
I must confess, it rhymed. I believe my penitence will be be 2 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Marys. Oh yeah, and go forth and rhyme no more.
For a bit of a treat, here Stephen Dunn reads Talk to God from his book, What Goes On—Selected and New Poems 1995-2009. Check it out.
I want an Eskimo Pie.
I want it cold
and hard as marble.
I want to peel the chocolate layer off
in two halves.
First eat the vanilla inside.
Hold the chocolate clothing;
admire its sheen.
Afterwards consume it-
until we are one
and the rush of dopamine flashes
inside my arcade head
sending me round and round
in a ball of worked up heat
wanting more and more.
Thursday night I was fortunate enough to be in the audience at a Kansas City reading by Aimee Neshukumatathil. Aimee read from her book Miracle Fruit, her latest book titled At the Drive-In Volcano and from a newer, yet to be published manuscript.
Aimee's writer voice is not the particularly powerful voice that I usually am drawn to. Nor did she quite seem to meet the template for an academic poet. She is perhaps more in the style of Naomi Nye… a gentle voice, a voice of knowledge, a voice that is zealous and vibrant, a layered mingling of her pedigree and contemporary American culture. Among my favorites from the reading, Corpse Flower, Swear Words, and Fishbone.
She’s a very relaxed reader who commands the audience attention with a balance of humor and casual storytelling in addition to her poetry. Her tone of voice when reading is a pleasant and reassuring one.
I enjoyed reading through Miracle Fruit last night and today. Her poetry is tight and neat and relies upon a wide range of knowledge of the plant and animal kingdom as well as ethnic and cultural insight.
As news of this has trickled out to the mainstream media slowly, I'm sure some of have perhaps heard that Nicholas Hughes died on the 16th of this month at his own hands. Nicholas was of course the second of two children born to Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.
He was in 46 and made his home in Fairbanks Alaska when he was a prominent fish biologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Not surprisingly he inherited his fathers fondness for fishing and nature.
His passing might have only made the local papers, but the the word of his suicide made the news around the U.S. and across the Atlantic in Europe as well. He was after all the son of Sylvia and Ted. There is so much tragedy associated with the family already and this will only rekindle the debates about his mothers death.
Nicholas was less in the limelight than his sister Frieda who like her mother wrote poetry and and painted as a serious artist herself. In a statement by Frieda released as she departed for Fairbanks she noted that her brother had been battling depression for some time.
Already I've seen stories that have popped up talking about a "suicide gene." There is statistically a high percentage of suicides among individuals who have lost a family member to suicide, but so far not real scientific evidence that links the act directly to genetics. It is true that the conditions, both environmental and by some predisposition to depression may increase the tendency but that linkage is more indirect.
