Billy Collins, former United States Poet Laureate, has a humorous poem (“Introduction to Poetry”) that I read as an explanation for why poetry is repugnant to so many people:
…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 meant.
Collins’ poetry is wickedly humorous much of the time, and being a rudimentary poet myself, I can tell you that writing poems with humor is hard work. Then again, so is writing an eloquently simple phrase about nature with a tight curl to it, one that also leads the reader into a spiritual “ah ha!” the way Mary Oliver does (“In Blackwater Woods”):
…Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars…
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation…
It is likewise stunningly difficult, to write unadorned, casual sentences that nonetheless flow together in such a way as to evoke the reader’s emotions. Marie Howe does that all the time, opening the door to some ghost of human experience as if entering Wegman’s with a shrug (“The Star Market”):
The people Jesus loved were shopping at the Star Market yesterday.
An old lead-colored man standing next to me at the checkout
breathed so heavily I had to step back a few steps…
Recently I spent four evenings in a poetry workshop at Writers & Books in Rochester. Twelve of us were prompted and taught each night by a different instructor. We learned about moving time with a single sentence, creating distance with a single word, revising lines without mercy, and changing from first person to third as if hopscotch.
There was a pregnant high school English teacher two weeks from her due date, whose husband gave her the class as a gift. Some of her verses had killer metaphors that left me speechless. I wanted to give her some feedback, which was our job, but some of her lines were so penetrating all I could do was sit there with my mouth open. The youngest member of the class wrote poems about ordinary things like getting out of bed or opening a gate, but then landed on a wisdom I would have thought years beyond her reach. Another woman, with a speech impediment that made her readings awkward, wrote poems that brought tears to my eyes.
You get the drift. A dozen people strained and sweated two hours each night to corral ordinary words into a sentence creating an extraordinary image; who gladly spent hours counting syllables and stacking words until they fell into a fortunate rendering. Wonderful.
I think of poetry as word painting, the art of creating a compelling image that evokes the reader’s own emotions and memories. To read Li-Young Lee’s “Blossoms” is every bit the experience of awe and wonder as is a fantastic watercolor, stunning gouache, or exquisite oil painting. Maybe one day I will render that kind of written painting.
If you haven’t read any poetry lately, check out the poets mentioned above. There is a renaissance of poetry blooming all around us.
Cam — excellent report! I envy you in your having been at this workshop. I noticed in your comments
on books I had recommended, you did not pick up on the book of poems titled _Migration_ by
W.S. Merwin. Pam and I heard him do a reading at Butler University some years ago and I
bought this book after that and have enjoyed seeing the other things he wrote at other
times.
I wish I could recall the clergy person whom I heard some years ago who promoted the use
of more poetry in homilies. After that, I often quoted a poem prior to giving a homily and
usually said, “It has nothing to do with the homily; it is something you can mull over if
the homily doesn’t interest you.”
Unfortunately, I never did ask for a poll on how various folks in various “folds” felt
about the poems and whether any of them “went forth” and read more poetry
because of that practice. I’m sure there are some folks who totally ignored
that effort.
Finally, have you solved the issue of how clergy in this day and age can
convert any creations, poetic or otherwise, into some sort of income?
To live off such creations has surely been possible with only a few
people.
Norm Morford
normanmorford@outlook.com
Indpls., IN
I do enjoy Merwin and often use his poetry. I have, for the past 25 years, used poems in place of one or more of the biblical readings on Sunday mornings. Most often, we have Hebrew Scripture, a poem, and the Gospel, with the poem a thematic bridge. So 25 years x 52 weeks plus all the ones I read while looking and didn’t use!
Wonderful. Thank You. Could you pleas share my email with the woman with the speech impediment. I stutter and would love read her poetry. Thanks,
James
Annapolis,MD
Greetings, Mr. Sargent. Thank you for your comment, but alas I do not have her email. I will see if I can find it. Cam
Cam YOUR words bring an appreciation to poetry not felt before. Heard Billy Collins at a college commencement. He comes across as gentle and wonderful as his words do. Happy your poetry class was such a positive experience for you.
Hi Abbie, yes, he does seem like a gentle soul in person, which makes his humor all the more wonderful. Thanks, and so happy to hear from you!
As Always Cam, you inspire me, now I need to read some poetry. Cindy
Miss you!
Two thoughts, Cam:
1) I’ve never read “From Blossoms” until now, and it is gorgeous. Thank you for sharing it.
2) Your writing, even in prose, is poetic and inspires in me an honest, lighthearted hopefulness. Keep on doing what you do.
Yay! “Honest, lighthearted hopefulness” is more than I could ask for. Thanks.