A Brave and Startling Truth by Maya Angelou
Mercy by José Antonio Rodriguez
Those of Us Who Think We Know by Stephen Dunn
The Smile by May Sarton
The Work of Happiness by May Sarton
Martin brought in words he wrote about the importance of poetry to allow each reader to see things in a fresh way. This April, celebrating poetry month, we also are celebrating the amazing power of this family of poetry readers to help each other by sharing our insights garnered from such insights.
I loved that Kathy quoted Martin -- when we come to a difficult poem, one with which we struggle, a good question is, "What is it I am missing, not understanding"? Several of the poems today required that kind of intense concentration and focus. I remain so grateful that we go about the work of understanding
in so many positive and varied ways, sometimes humorous, sometimes serious!
Maya Angelou: This amazingly crafted and powerful poem deserved to go up into space! Angelou composed the poem for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in 1995.
It flew into space on the Orion spacecraft in Dec. 2014. She passed away just a few months before the flight. I quote from this article :https://www.nasa.gov/content/poem-by-american-matriarch-flown-on-orion-presented-to-nasa-administrator
“It is fitting that Maya Angelou’s prophetic words be flown not only outside the bounds of our Earth, but on the maiden voyage of a spacecraft that represents humanity’s aspirations to move beyond our planet, to reach higher, and become more than we have ever been,” ... “Through art, and the unique perspective of people like Maya Angelou, our discoveries, and the new facts and expanded understanding brought to us by exploration, are transformed into meaning.”
Her brilliant insertion of latinate eloquence surprises the ordinary (along with SO MANY other juxtapositions… ex. casual space). Seeing the adjective "rapacious" next to "storming of churches", or "religious ritual ... followed by what should never happen-- "perfumed/by incense of burning flesh" ... accentuates the power of this repeated insistence of "when"... this repeated "it" of a brave and startling truth.
What associations do you have with a "brave" truth? I start with a suggestion that this truth" must be pitted in a war against all that keeps us from allowing ourselves to achieve the miraculous. Our positive aspects, we, all of us, people, "on this mote of matter" are juxtaposed with our negative... We are among the "wonders of the world" which she lists so well-- but the startling truth is this: we must "come to it"-- realize the complexity of our contradictions. We are not either "devil" OR "divine" but both.
Each line and stanza exercises a powerful eloquence akin to a great sermon. An example of technique: the length between “rake” and “up”, in the 3rd stanza, the diminishment of “unique” to “identical” (buried in the bloody grass); the racism inherent in the "minstrel show of hate", images of blackface comedy and a screech of invective in the sounds of "faces sooted with scorn scrubbed clean".
Martin called on the generosity of the world response to Ukraine; David reminded us of our alloyed nature as there are plenty of people and nations who confirm the opposite.
Everyone agreed this is a timely poem, an exact description of right now, exposing the depths of our fears, envy, insecurity. Dr. Angelou demonstrates the power of vocabulary and how to weave it.
José Antonio Rodriguez: When we listen to him say his same, the Spanish flows so easily off his tongue, and yet, the poem is in perfect English, pronounced as if a native American. What is "mercy"? The etymology will lead us to "reward", and "pity". It is a complex poem which seems to be practicing a Socratic maiuetics. His questions lead us to ponder, and many were puzzled... Eureka does not come quickly in such a case! If we could ask the stars... he tells us, they will not claim responsibility. He lays out for us our imperfections... that "living mirror we named love"... denied... We are hungry for answers... and stories, --and yes, riddles, ( I think of Zen koans, the Greek Sphinx) as if we know this is what helps us think more deeply -- like gazing up at the "beguiling beauty and metaphorical power of (stars)these distant, unreachable sources of light".
The prophet/fool is another trope... We picked up on his confession, "I'm not saying I'm better than you". Kathy suggested it would be strengthened by saying "any better than you: " and placing a colon or even semi-colon after "you". Our meager tools: words-- how we use them to construct meanings, delve into understanding. This speaks to the trope of the poet as creator, like a god.
Stephen Dunn: How can you not fall in love with the title? He plays with the line breaks from the beginning: "Those of us who think we know" (and who hasn't thought that!!!!! )addressing our human capacity for assumptions, presumptions and the pitfalls into which this leads us... and then rescues the "average bear" by the enjambed "the same secrets" -- tempering the universal with a particular...
What gathering is this able to come together "in a quiet ceremony of tongues" ? The analogy implies some righteously religious sect... and I can see "tongues of spirit" illustrated by flames above the apostles in one of the Sunday school books I grew up with.
David brought up Frost's "Desert Places" which we'll discuss next week. Auden's words also came up: "The stars I know so well... for all they care, I can go to hell" -- (Perhaps this was about the poem "Mercy" above... I felt that Rodriguez and Dunn would have a great conversation about life, our energies, emotions... ). Kathy brought up the shock value of the ending... Not everyone would agree that "words we find/are always insufficient, like love...." Words can change our lives... as can the compassion of love to reach and heal others. Some poems, pieces of music, art have life-changing effects.
This article about the Tower of Babel and how we are growing stupider came up. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/
Who knows what? Who trusts that someone else, for instance scientists or religious leaders have "all the answers" and no longer engages curiosity, desire to find out more?
May Sarton:
We came close to these comments on the back of my copy of her Selected Poems, 1930-1973.
"The intense experience which underlies and unifies her poems has engendered an uncompromising determination to forge and refine the tool for its expression... deep-searching to the point of ruthlessness and very delicate". Basil de Selincourt, The London Observer
"A civilized and intricate way to see"... Robert Hazel, Poetry
"... mature power of recognizing the heart of the matter and expressing it in memorable terms." - Louise Bogan, The New Yorker
Carolyn showed her two copies -- both with a feminine pink touch which does disservice to Sarton's feminist activism. She also described hearing her in person--
The Smile: to see a detail of this angel: https://www.art-prints-on-demand.com/a/sassettastefanodigiovanni/detailofangelmusiciansfro.html
The unobtrusive rhyme, the slant rhymes... the pleasure of unusually fine cadence, traditional use of poetic craft as opposed to the "non-structured drivel" of so much of what poses as poetry these days... She recreates the angel and her realm suggested by the painting... trope of creation...the angel as the artist... I love that last line-- the surprise of marvelously human anger and despair blown to bits! Judith recalled an Elizabeth Browning sonnet. The "seized by the hair" and association w/ rootedness
The work of Happiness: Do you associate "happiness" with "work"? Perhaps a substitute word might be "path". Like life, like marriage, love, most relationships, we receive back what we give to it. This sense of growth is something I relate to-- the optimism involved with "not finished, more to discover"... an invitation to curiosity.
We might not all have the sense of rootedness from an old house, furniture, but there is a timeless quality to acceptance, and a special peace to quietude, and honoring memories. "The root continues to grow deep in the dark" -- and that amazing growth upwards of the tree... the inner work... essential for our well-being beyond the outward appearances. Such blessing.
Valerie mentioned the Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and the story of the man unfairly condemned to prison. When asked if he was angry for this, when he was released after 30 years, his response: If I were angry, that would take my remaining years as well.
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