September 4

In the Community Garden by Mark Doty; The Gardener 85  by Rabindranath Tagore; Better Yet  and The Need Is So Great  by Jim Moore;  A Voice I Heard Not Too Late to Make a Difference  by Martin Willitts, Jr.; beware: do not read this poem by Ishmael Reed 

Nutshell:

It takes a group to confirm  the fascinating variety of possibilities of meaning in a group of poems.  The grouping of poems had a subconscious theme of how to deal with the fact of death.  Starting with the glory of "a community" of sunflowers, the discussion branched out to deal with other collective nouns.  The Tagore poem and Moore poem "the need so great) triggered thoughts about the magic of dusk, Bernie's sharing of his poem about silent crows and a breathing invitation and Maura's invitation to come see spectacular sunsets from her place in Victor.  Please contact her if you want to experience the beauty!  

Community returns in the Martin Willitts poem, and subtly in the theme of interrelationship in the Tagore, and Emerson.  The final poem reminds us of the counterpart which destroys it.

Mark Doty:  This captivating poem about sunflowers with a title that suggests "we are all in this garden" subtly  examines the stages of life and the bigger question whether elegy is useful, and our role in lamenting the passing of nature's magnificence as we move from Spring to Winter.  Wonderful adjectives:  sunflower "architecture"... "muscular leaves"... personnification -- shiningly confident... or barely able to hold head up... to be in a rush//to be nothing but form.  Skyrocket passage through the world?  Do flowers desire?  want to live forever?  Projection:  How could they "stand apart from themselves and regret their passing when they are a field (hence the word community in the title) of lifting and bowing faces (like a singing church congregation?) faces ringed with flame.  Comments:  Bernie shared his breathing meditation: "flower fresh; mountain solid" and how he feels like an autumn flower.  Many felt a childlike quality, like children writing letters to God. 

Rabindranath Tagore: (1861-1941)for those not familiar with this poet, Wiki has a good introduction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore  It will not replace the fine aperçu Judith shared who mentioned that most probably he wrote this poem in English (not a translation of Bengali).  We did discuss the old-fashioned use of "an" before a word starting with "h".  No one would pronounce "an hundred" today.  

The reader is immediately swept up in the aliveness of a living poet writing to him/her, no matter that we are reading this poem 100 years after it was written.  He is sending us not just one single flower, but a wealth of flowers on spring dawn, as well as reminding us of all memories that brings from 100 years prior.  

Jim Moore: 2 poems: Better yet: We enjoyed how we went from considerations of centuries, to imagining what happens before we are born.Neil brought up the question why "shame" in the list of "expected" responses to life (see my notes!)[1]

The Need Is So Great : The poem doesn't explain its title, but it certainly evoked many associations with the sense of "calm at dusk" observing the light at the end of day.  Everyone felt the predominance of liquids in late,last light...the repeated leave, with the double punch of meaning as noun and verb... the repeat of light and how it falls on last (of stricken) leaves with the double punch of meaning as noun and verb,  the choice of  stealing, slowly.  Many stories about Copper Beeches -- which indeed are magnificent trees and known for their grandeur, unusual branches running close to the ground, and Elmer told us more about the fungus that curtails their lifespan of a few hundred years.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagus_sylvatica

Emerson:  the introductory poem to the Poets Speak Anthology Water edited by John Roche. I would not have stumbled on the poet Martin Willitts without this anthology!  I was pleased to find a recent poem by him.  

Willitts:  This poem immediately elicited approval with a chorus of oooooooh!!!!  From the 13 syllable title, to the emotional reassurance most of us wanted to keep this poem in our pocket for a reminder of the importance of slowing down, mindful noticing of all the possibilities of vieewpoints.  Unusual vocabulary included "glassful of promises and memories", with the sound of that proverbial glass half full, half empty to explain attitudes towards life.  One trusts the italicized belonging to the now and how the imagination can connect us.  Indeed, if you are on the look-out for "startled energies", you will be amazed by the aliveness. Polly confirmed the ability of the heron to stay in the now.   We were intrigued by the shift on the 26th line, where the "I" becomes part of the whole of the world observed, and we imagine the slow signing adding to the "spell" (although he does not use this word.)  The "voice" referred to in the title now returns in the last five lines, but the reader is now offered a chance to hear it, "in a place sacred only to you".  Indeed, you nod affirmatively at the last line:  "There's room for many possible voices to hear."

Ishmael Reed:  This poem, on poet's walk is definitely political and the poem tile, "many mirrors" calls on  us to look deeply and reflect.   The hunger of the poem... reminded some of Shel Silverstein and story about being swallowed by a boa constrictor.   https://allpoetry.com/Boa-Constrictor  What is this poem with greedy mirrors-- and how are you part of it... Ishmael point out we are all part of it -- if we saw him performing it, perhaps he would point to different people -- his head... his arms... his fingers... his fingertips... and the reader.  He doesn't say "you".  We are statistics.  The final line delivers a multiple punch.  And how do we deal with the empty space left by missing friends?  Are we part of the poem, allowing them to go missing?  Have we experienced losing a friend?  Paid attention to the way people are invisibilized.  

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[1] Better Yet:  

I am not Catholic, but perhaps the poet Jim Moore is and uses "shame"  in his poem "Better Yet" as the well-known feeling that leads humans from one sin to another.  I found this article enlightening -- and was delightfully reminded of C.S. Lewis and Screwtape's Letters!  https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/feeling-shame-is-not-repentance/. 

I also saw this explanation about pride:  in Roman Catholic theology, it one of the seven deadly sins, considered by some to be the gravest of all sins. In the theological sense, pride is defined as an excessive love of one’s own excellence. As a deadly sin, pride is believed to generate other sins and further immoral behaviour and is countered by the heavenly virtue of humility.

Let us hope our guardian angels help us with these matters. 

In terms of the poem's structure, there may be some help to identify what kind of tone is implied.

 It would seem Moore is coupling these paradoxical emotions:  

happiness/sadness

confusion/shame

grief/joy

The usual givens of  joy/sorrow are recognizable -- but perhaps he is implying something about "confusion" -- as the list starts with happiness,

and ends with joy -- having gone full circle.  

I like very much in the poem that he questions  if "wanting to go beyond where I've already been" is a "good thing".  He then couples that thought with "going back to the day before he was born".   Perhaps the poem's title, Better Yet is a loaded gun-- the colloquialism by itself smacks of judgement about the best option...   but perhaps he is making fun of the whole idea of options, desire, hanging on to life.

This explains my sense of a flippancy in his ending.  Aren't we all kicking away for all we're worth "in the dark" ??? 

 

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[1] https://poets.org/poet/jim-moore

 

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[1] https://mag.rochester.edu/walk/about  Poets Walk was the brainchild of Joe Flaherty, founder of Writers and Books who envisioned an interactive community  space for the Neighborhood of the Arts. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2015/06/16/iconic-founder-writers-books-retire/28809565/