Here and There by Emily Grosholz
Recurrent Things –by Bruce Bennett
The Charm of 5:30 by David Berman
Tim’s Room by Bruce Bennett
The Charm of 5:30 by David Berman
Tim’s Room by Bruce Bennett
Emily on the Net by Bruce Bennett
Fellow Creatures. by Bruce Bennett
Will see what David picks for September 4. I told him these were originally selected.
Also, he may, or may not use:
The Cat's Fancy by David Berman
Comforts by Bruce Bennett
**we did get a kick out of the two "David Berman's" -- and enjoyed the Charm of 5:30, which
worked in just fine.
As Elaine R. put it, the first 3 poems satisfied all she loves about poetry: first one lyrical… second one funny… 3rd : full of life!
Fat, p. 70
Missing the class. 71
plot: 73
Best Seller 76 -- for writers
Fellow Creatures. by Bruce Bennett
On Not Reading by Bruce Bennett
About Bruce: "Lyrical, virtuoso of his own perception who also attends closely to the lives of others-- to our lives -- in all their folly, sorrow, and beautiful vitality.
Founder of Field and Ploughshares. Horatian wit and Juvenalian indignation."
About Bruce: "Lyrical, virtuoso of his own perception who also attends closely to the lives of others-- to our lives -- in all their folly, sorrow, and beautiful vitality.
Founder of Field and Ploughshares. Horatian wit and Juvenalian indignation."
We thoroughly enjoyed the Emily Grosholz— the lyrical nature of her piece, the enjambed lines which accentuate the nouns in the first stanza as well as enhance the cadence… (In French poetry, more seems to be made of the stride to the “rejet” — so the break between slow/Revolution; rusty/Answer; invisible/Bird
feels particularly special to me as French speaker).
The last line is enviable for its synesthesia…
Your poem, “Recurrent Things” is a witty rejoinder to continue thinking about what it is we miss when we go away… It is one of the poems people might want to ask you about when you visit, wondering if you might be giggling even as we suspect a serious thread!
We spent over half our time exploring “Tim’s Room”. Comments on this included David Sanders’ notes on monologues, the crafting of the short sentences which emphasize the difficulty of the situation. The metaphoric expanse of “room” in the title; the words not spoken to the drunk driver that might help the father (or mother) to address the anger, grievance the complexity of being human and making room for "restorative justice”… works like a pandora’s box, with no clue in the poem of whether this will be a possible outcome. The ending with the echo of “and not even stop” — referring both to the murdering driver/car and the pain… The group commends you for your ability to make us feel so strongly, both the universal injustice of accidents, but also this “microcosmic" example of what we face in macro world where nations and races are wronged… and how how we cope.
Emily on the Net is SO brilliant, capturing both the spirit of Emily’s poetry, but also, the characteristics of the internet, the double-entendre on “Rest” … and more.
I asked those present to think about questions they might have for you about this one… The approbatory smiles made it clear how much it was enjoyed.
We loved as well the villanelle, Fellow Creatures … with Frostian overtones. David S. brought up To a moth seen in Winter.Everyone loved how the form did not lend itself to not sing-song, but supported the sense of unexplainable gesture, feeling.
We ended with “On Not Reading” and again, applauded your cleverness, especially separating this sentence with a stanza break.
I miss not knowing what
life is about
As brought to us in books
those masters penned.
life is about
As brought to us in books
those masters penned.
It is a balancing act… how do you know what life is about if you only write? And yet, knowing life finite, does not each person wish to leave their
own individual mark?
I do not do justice to those present in representing all the angles and observations of the discussion, but hopefully you sense how appreciative we all were to have poems both with masterful form as well as pith.
Will see what David picks for September 4. I told him these were originally selected.
Also, he may, or may not use:
The Cat's Fancy by David Berman
Comforts by Bruce Bennett
**we did get a kick out of the two "David Berman's" -- and enjoyed the Charm of 5:30, which
worked in just fine.
As Elaine R. put it, the first 3 poems satisfied all she loves about poetry: first one lyrical… second one funny… 3rd : full of life!
Just Another Day in Just Our Town -- by Bruce Bennett
That kind of Sprezzatura ( certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it".) is so welcome.
The One Thing by Bruce Bennett
Random by Bruce Bennett
An Ending by Bruce Bennett
September 18, David and Bruce will do a session.
So many poems to choose from!
from Here and Now...
Señpr Tesi... something not meant to be... but what a ball having him.
speeding p. 54
Don't" p. 59: it should have been a great day... but it wasn't... 2 people frozen. You want me to go? OK, I'll go. He wasn't sure exactly what he meant.
An Ending by Bruce Bennett
September 18, David and Bruce will do a session.
So many poems to choose from!
from Here and Now...
Señpr Tesi... something not meant to be... but what a ball having him.
speeding p. 54
Don't" p. 59: it should have been a great day... but it wasn't... 2 people frozen. You want me to go? OK, I'll go. He wasn't sure exactly what he meant.
Fat, p. 70
Missing the class. 71
plot: 73
Best Seller 76 -- for writers
Bruce Bennett
“Coleridge said that poetry must give pleasure, a requirement that Bruce Bennett’s work has long filled to overflowing. It is one of the most enjoyable bodies of poetry I know, which isn’t to say that Bennett does not go deep. Often he compresses realms of wisdom into tight, economical packages. This generous harvest of his new and selected poems will nourish mind, heart and funny bone. Some of Bruce X.J Kennedy onNavigating the Distances, 1999
(on back cover of Just Another Day in Just Our Town
“Bruce Bennett is one of our most distinguished lyrical poets. Like all great verse satirists, he has cultivated a technical virtuosity that he deploys with both principle and sprezzatura. Unlike many of them, he also extends his skill into serious modes and even heartbreaking subjects. This new volume showcases not only his Horatian wit (and occasionally Juvenalian indignation), but also his deceptively plainspoken tenderness as he looks with a clear eye at the way we live now. He is that rarest of lyrical poets, a virtuoso of his own perception who also attends closely to the lives of others—to our lives—in all their folly, sorrow and beautiful vitality.” – David Rothman, from the back cover of Just Another Day in Just Our Town
This review gives a lovely flavor, citing many of the poems in his latest book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXN6GyIHwpw (you tube of The Donald Trump of the Republic)
sampling of his articles in Ploughshares
Bruce Bennett: “David Berman, who had two poems appear in last winter’s issue of Rattle, was the first reader of my poetry for more than 55 years, and for most of that time I was the first reader of his. We met in Archibald MacLeish’s English S at Harvard in the fall of 1961, when I was a first-year graduate student in English and he was in his second year at Harvard Law School. He passed away in June 2017.” Note: For more on formalist poet David Berman, watch Rattlecast #3—David Bermanwas a wonderful member of the Powow River Poets with several awards to his credit, a fine translator and scholar, a distinguished lawyer, and a beloved friend whom we’ve lost to cancer. He studied with Robert Lowell and Archibald Mac Leish, worked with language the way a jeweler works with stone, and served as a kind of yardstick to the rest of us during the many years he graced our monthly workshop. Although he had published excellent work in three chapbooks and many journals, he left the bulk of his work unpublished, as his profession left him short of time. Several of us—A.M. Juster, Bruce Bennett, Rhina P. Espaillat—have acceded to his widow’s desire to submit some of David’s poems to the magazines we most enjoy reading and to which we submit our own work. These two happen to be about David’s relationship with his cat, but they transcend by miles the typical “cat poem” genre.—fromRattle #62, Winter 2018
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