March 5-6

  

Worn Words  by W.S. Merwin; To the Words (9/17/01)  by W.S. Merwin; Chaplinesque  by Hart Crane; my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell  by Gwendolyn Brooks; Schroedinger’s Cat  by  Wanda Schubmehl; Gaia’s Dream  by David Sutton; When I Am Asked by Lisel Mueller 1924 –2020; May Perpetual Light Shine by Patricia Spears Jones

Email with send out of poems for March 5-6:  "Here on the last day of February, I started the day re-reading the preface  to September 11, 2001, American Writers Respond, edited by William Heyen, and the first three poems -- by W.S. Merwin, Tamman Adi, Ai...  Merwin's words seemed to be a timely share. I am reminded of how easy it is in the news to blame a religion, a nationality.  Let us not forget that harm to other humans no matter what the affiliation is wrong. Let us maintain dignified and respectful behavior with poems that champion The Just, as we saw in the Borgès poem last week.

I am so grateful for good discussions as we respond to careful crafting of words in poems each week.

If anyone wishes the short resume of discussion I make each week, let me know. "

Starting the session: “Stanley Kunitz: ‘Most of all, I love being alive. I love the natural world -- and caring and creative people -- and the seekers of justice and truth. Whom do I disdain? Bigots, reactionaries, self-righteous people, zealots, trimmers, bullies, and manipulators.” 

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Nutshell:  

I usually write about the discussion going poem by poem.  This morning, reading more of Heyen's anthology, I reflect on  the difficulty we humans have with language, our tool of expression.   In Patrick Bizzaro's essay, he speaks about "Houses of History made of words";  Wendell Berry shares a 4 page, XXVII point essay that reminds us of the importance of examining ourselves, as we try to understand the words wielded by the dominant politicians, investors, those who believe their promises.

It is easy to bandy about a word like "prosperity", call peace a "beautiful thing", substitute rhetoric without acknowledging a self-righteousness that mistakenly believes "promoting American interests as primary by abrogating international treaties, and standing aloof from international cooperation on moral issues" will ensure "victory" to paraphrase Berry.  He  points out that ends obtained by violence, lead to further violence, and our last two centuries of wars that confirm this.  Calling someone an "enemy" without understanding reasons they might be in a position to hate us, is is not a solution to conflict.

I think all who gather to discuss poems each week feel our attempts to understand how the words are working as we share our collective efforts to sharpen insights are precious indeed.  I thank each and everyone of you.  Poems are not prose, are not essays, but crafted words that express deeper meanings that can help us better examine ourselves.  

Bernie shares  a letter written by one of his friends who is a dharma teacher in Thich Nhat Hanh tradition. (I'm not sure how to hyperlink it).   I agree  that a letter is a small step in activating ourselves.  This particular letter is a reminder of the need for an antidote to our tendency to "tribalize others", accusing them as being wholly immoral and evil.  I am reminded that stooping  to anger interferes with understanding and invites further harm.  

I am also aware that we all can suffer from email overload!  https://www.thensomehow.com/the-email-charter-10-rules-to-reverse-email-overload/

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I have tried to condense as best I can the actual discussion of the 4 pages of poems on March 5-6.

Worn Words: One adjective to describe this short 10-line poem, is baffling.  The repetitions expand with a layering of meaning behind "late" as poems containing age-old wisdom, "worn" as overcoat, well-worn by use,  and of course "words", how they beckon, patiently waiting "almost in plain sight".  The binaries in Robert Graves' poem, The Face in the Mirror came to mind.  

To the Words:  This was the opening poem in the anthology edited by William Heyen, September 11, 2001 mentioned above.  Each selection is dated.  The poem also appears in the 9/30/2001 edition of The New Yorker and Merwin's anthology Present Company.  I apologize profusely -- the last two words are missing.  After and helpless ones, a stanza break then, say it.  

Is it an imperative? or continuation of what the words do... The you... (words) .in all the myriad functions and attributes described in the poem,  say it.   Yes, a statement, but also can be understand as an imperative.  What is this "it", second word of the first line, final word of the poem?

This is an example of the poem which confirms there is never one answer, one way of understanding, and what better expression of the malleable and deep implications of the adjectives chosen to describe words:  indispensable, sleepless, ancient, precious.  The poem feels like a prayer, both an invocation as well as praise for what words do.  The  pacing of  the lines, the space between stanzas accentuate the almost inexpressible power of words.  3rd line: one feels them moving through the ages, no interruption "passed on from breath to breath" , and that very passing then drops through the lines again, age/to age -- and we trust words are charged with knowledge -- but then a sense of contradiction:  knowing nothing... and indifferent .  I am reminded of the ancient wisdom of the gospels:  In the Beginning, was the Word.  

We were surprised by the adjective helpless at the end.  One thought was that words cannot decide how they are or will be used.

In the stanza, "keepers of our names" we were reminded of poetry of remembrance for BLM,  Exhibit at Stanford,  "Say their Names;  Transgender Day.  

Chaplinesque: We discussed Hart Crane (1899-1932), Chaplin's life and work... enjoyed the juicy language, the dual mention of "smirk" as noun then verb, the possibilities of the word "game" as possibly connected to the folly of capitalism.  The "grail of laughter of an ash can" an amazing image we could see, yet feel the ancient sense of "the chalice of salvation".  Why the mention of the Kitten-- is that a reference to a Chaplin film?  We also needed a reminder of the word, covert, as noun, which means shelter.  What makes something Chaplinesque -- makes us laugh at the folly of progress, and yet urges us to embrace the tenderness of our hearts?

my dreams...  Another fabulous Brooks sonnet.  The two capitalized words on line 4 -- what she "bids each lid" : Be firm until I return from hell. Last word on line 7: Wait. Such fierceness of spirit.  Discussion examined darkness, interior life, vs. outside.  The repeat of opening line with the change... hold rhymes with old -- that honey and bread...  a lasting taste, and absolutely hers.   It prompted Judith to remember Edna St. Vincent Millay's sonnet, https://allpoetry.com/Not-In-A-Silver-Casket-Cool-With-Pearls

Schroedinger's Cat:  Bart sums it up.  WOW.  Not an easy experiment, and not an easy poem about illusion, everything and its opposite all at once, here and not, rather like walking in a hall of endless mirrors.  

Gaia's dream:   If told as we were lucky enough to be, this is an amazing hommage to glaciers... you will understand those blue mystery snails in a larger light.  How to understand Gaia, Mother Earth and our place in her dream?  How to understand "Again, she cradles us with cruel love"... I like how at the end, "off for good" could be both "good" as opposed to "bad", as well as "once and for all."  Comments included concern for trees, the danger of the weight of trucks, and Bernie shared this amazing film:https://www.primevideo.com/detail/The-Hidden-Life-of-Trees/0GC1VQR9PCJTN8ICA742WKLPBF some offer rental at $3.99 https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-hidden-life-of-trees/2030450161

When I am asked:  beautiful way to understand the power of words... back to Merwin's wisdom.

May Perpetual : Sounds like Catholic liturgy.  I will be attending a workshop Patricia is leading at Writers and Books (only open to teaching artists alas) next Thursday and ask her about the inconsistent caps at the beginning of lines like "Famine" in the 3rd stanza.  What patterns matter?