poems for August 14

 Untitled  by James Baldwin; Siesta by Robin Robertson; At the Reception  by Bob Hicok; Here’s a Little Mouse  by E. E. Cummings; Next Time by Joyce Sutphen;   Refusing Rilke's “You must change your life” by Remica Bingham-Risher

belated happy birthday to James Baldwin who would have turned 100  this August 2. The New Yorker republished this from 1962: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/11/17/letter-from-a-region-in-my-mind  Baldwin died so young.  I always loved that he lived in France -- I relate to that a lot.

Nutshell:  I am reminded by this advice by Rumi: "Listen to the presences inside poems:  Let them take you where they will."  For sure, the first two poems provide good reason to do so!

 

Untitled:  I am not sure if Baldwin picked the title of this poem which reads like a prayer. It came up that the overtone of plea perhaps is due to his background as preacher for 3 years.  For sure, he knows how to craft a cadence in the cascading lines, the pause before the repeated

"falling water":"Do not get carried away/ by that sound of falling water,/ the marvelous light/ / on the falling water."  I underline "sound" and "marvelous" which are not repeated with the words that water; the light in the next stanza... and the final word, light.  Simple (which does not mean easy) as in pure, and clear, supported by the sound which contrasts between the round, deep O's and the long "I/light/Blinds/light" with implication to ignore the "phony concerns" (sound of water) and concentrate on the Light, not easy to see.

 

Many present were familiar with the 2 volume set The Fire Next  Time which title refers to the spiritual, "Mary Don't You Weep" and this couplet: God gave Noah the rainbow sign

No more water, the fire next time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fire_Next_Time.  This provides a deeper context for the mention of "falling water" and being "beneath that water".

Paul suggested that the words, "Lord", "Do", "I" could be read down "Lord Do I?" and back up as answer, "I do, Lord". Judith mentioned how James Baldwin is without exception one of the best prose stylists of the 20th century and added this consideration as well:  There is a Jungian belief that people who are "too balanced" live shorter lives as there is "no more work to be done".  Such is the case of Baldwin.  

 

Siesta: We all felt a "sensory wham" in the sound play and rich vocabulary which grounds the reader, connects us to a world filled with vibrant aliveness, in contrast to the title "Siesta".   We picked up on the sounds "churned" by the cicadas, described as "chiding" and "fricative", which by definition,  is a "consonant made by the friction of breath in a narrow opening, producing a turbulent air flow". ( f,v,z, th)  filled Who is resting?  What is his or her story to come up with choice of adjective "bitter" with "understanding" and the poignant but enigmatic "heart-sick wonder" coupled with "all this life"?  Some felt the poem might take place near the Mexican border.   Elaine O pointed out that in the SW most houses are enclosed by walls ridged with shards of broken glass.  

 

At the Reception:  I read the note first, which sounds humorous, cheerful.  The contrast of the title, and first dance, where you think you will witness and wedding reception shifts dramatically in the 4th line where it is clear, the main character is a holocaust survivor.  As readers, we too want to "listen to the locomotive of his heart" and understand the deep intimacy of getting close to him.  Hicok throws in some humor with the mention "or at least pulled a rose out of my ear to show him the magic///" only to quickly return to the horrors this man endured.  The question, "what is normal", is haunting, especially horrifying used in the context of a "factory of death?  

The deft use of "ashes", the simple closure of how "most people look in photos", leaves me thinking about what it is to be alive, how we come across "preserved" in a photograph, what it is we want to be preserved.

 

Hicok has created a different almost mystic atmosphere and you realize his note echoes Rumi's idea that a poet knows "we're in the middle of some enormous energy" and doesn't plan how it will be said but is open to the poem channeling through him.

 

Here's a Little Mouse:  Carolyn captured the spirit of this cat and mouse game on paper with her expressive dramatic reading.  Judith reminded us that Cummings is also a superb classical sonnet maker, and to be able to be so successfully playful takes the skill of an artist.  It is also delightfully visual with 3 suprises of capital letters (SED, Latin for "but"whether it is intended  as that or even as a homonym for what is not SAID).  The parenthetical double o's, like little eyes, "groove" the room and return in the unmodified spelling (look) which has nothing parenthetical about it.  The more you work with it, indeed, the more you'll see.  

                                                     

Next Time: Joyce Sutphen provides A delightful exploration of the very human characteristic of hindsight, but not layered with regret, or self-chiding.  Her honest authenticity is refreshing.  The offering of a quick kiss, or a poem matched exactly to a friend reinforces a sense of being connected to the world where indeed, there is no place to "waste the heart on anger".  In a way, the poem delivers a sermon, but without sermonizing.  I love the feeling of believing her last line, embracing the conviction of her imagination!

Refusing Rilke's "You must change your life".  It helps to know this is the last line of his famous sonnet https://poets.org/poem/archaic-torso-apollo. Kathy shared her delight in saying indeed, when it comes to "Swedish Death Cleaning" and hearing the next generation urge us to "toss out" something we still enjoy or cherish, she will not "change" to suit them.  We create a museum of ourselves -- and there is indeed a pleasure in visiting it!