Poetry & Poets in Rags

We've got the poetry blues this week. We begin with the Syrian poet Adonis saying how the West is indifferent to poetry. We then have former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins saying it's the poets' fault. And we have Ekanpou Enewaridideke, president of Ijaw Peoples Congress, lamenting similarly about Nigerian poets. These are our first three articles. And if you're not into the blues, it's an intercontinental issue as well, as we have dozens more items to click into on all sorts of topics from around the world, and some terrific poetry as usual.

Thanks for stopping by.

Yours,
Rus

Our links:

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Rus Bowden · at 5:53 PM

and resignedly mourns the ongoing divorce between poetry and society. At the same time, he is less than optimistic about poetry's ability to establish itself in the national consciousness.

"We tried in the Western world. We invented political and ideologically engaged poetry, but this engagement killed both the concepts and the poetry," he said. "There will always be great poets, but we can say that poetry doesn't have a real presence in the West."

from The Prague Post: Prague Writers' Festival: Poet paints Arab world, laments fall of poetry in West

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Rus Bowden · at 5:49 PM

as much poetry anymore is the fault of the poets," he said. "It's not the public's fault. There's an awful lot of bad poetry out there. I'd say about 87 percent of the poetry in America isn't worth reading."

It's the other 13 percent, [Billy] Collins said, that he lives for. "Poetry should be transparent. Transparent poems tend to teach themselves."

from The Norman Transcript: Former U.S. Poet Laureate: Country needs better poets

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Rus Bowden · at 5:48 PM

for public consumption. This unwholesome development which takes its origin from a conglomeration of unedited poems written by people without clearly visible literary training or calling poses a mortal threat to poetry.

The relevance of poetry lies in its assertion and projection of an aspect of life of a people.

from Vanguard: Contemporary Nigerian poetry and garbage poetics

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Rus Bowden · at 5:48 PM

The youth of today no longer care whether the words 'British Empire' are attached to an honour. A gong is a gong. And when future generations look back on what we have achieved in this country, they'll see less than they should and all because of a principle that has had its day.

I am part of the establishment now. [--Benjamin Zephaniah]

from Voice Online: Why I accepted an 'empire' award
also The Independent: Benjamin Zephaniah: 'I'm just a normal bloke who writes poems'

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Rus Bowden · at 5:47 PM

who with Shaftesbury engineered the attempted usurpation of the throne by one of the bastard sons of Charles II, that sets the standard for poetic vituperation. In Dryden's caricature, Buckingham

Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong
Was everything by starts and nothing long,
But, in the course of one revolving moon,
Was chemist, fiddler, statesman and buffoon . . .

Swift, Pope, Fielding and Johnson all attacked Robert Walpole, the first British prime minister; Hogarth caricatured him and Gay put him on stage in The Beggar's Opera as the criminal Jonathan Wild.

from The Guardian: Painters and poets have always mocked politicians. It's practically a public service

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Rus Bowden · at 5:47 PM

published his work without approval from the Jordanian government. Jordanian law bans publication of books that could be seen as harmful to Islam and the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

from Gulfnews: Jordanian court convicts poet over use of Quranic verses

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Rus Bowden · at 5:46 PM

is twofold: to separate my existence from the state power of China and to preserve the integrity of my work. Given the present political situation, I have to continue writing in English. [--Ha Jin]

from Granta: Interview

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Rus Bowden · at 5:45 PM

to the first international poetry festival in Taipei in September 2001. However, four poems that Hoa gave to the organising board, which were translated into Chinese and published in the collection of festival participants and the festival's website, are famous works by poet Huu Thinh (Winter Letter and Poem Written at Sea) and Lo Ngan Sun (Beautiful Girl and Standing Before You).

from VietNamNet Bridge: Translator accused of stealing poems
also VietNamNet Bridge: Dao Kim Hoa claims innocence

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Rus Bowden · at 5:45 PM

strengths is that [Edna] O'Brien approaches the other artist not as a subject--as a scholar would--but as a character, which is what any great novelist--as she surely is--would do. Thus, while the poems themselves hardly make an appearance in this life of Byron, O'Brien has copiously mined his correspondence, particularly the incomparable love letters, and the diaries of his last--and, one senses, most important--lover, Teresa Guiccioli, the Italian countess with whom he finally found the contentment that accompanied the composition of his masterpiece, "Don Juan." As O'Brien writes, "for all his swagger and bravado, Byron's real theme was love."

from Los Angeles Times: 'Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life' by Edna O'Brien

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Rus Bowden · at 5:44 PM

as a poet powerfully drawn to figures of mothers and girls, as well as to cityscapes. He also loved animals, in a manner so forthright it has been called Franciscan. Consider "The Goat," the poem by which he is best known outside of Italy, from House and Countryside (1909-1910), in which he celebrated the early days of his marriage. The poem is worth giving in full. It shows Saba in mature command of his resources, an art of plain speech and infinitely subtle suggestion:

I talked to a goat.

from The New Republic: Life As A Poem

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Rus Bowden · at 5:42 PM

packed with meaning and complexity which links the violence of the 1980's Sri Lanka, the genocide in Auschwitz and the vile deeds that resonate in the colonial history of Sri Lanka. In this aspect her [Anne Ranasinghe's] poetry reflects the trends in twentieth and twenty first century women's writing which draws connections between seemingly unconnected things as in Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" (pp.1636-38) where a father's abuse fascism of Nazi Germany, or the poetry of Diane Wakoski.

from The Sunday Times: Two local voices in anthology that transcends time and geography
also The Island: Everything depended on which way the wind was blowing

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Rus Bowden · at 5:21 PM

thus intensifying the single-mindedness of those left behind. Or, as in my jury, dissent is treated as confirmation of the majority view. Thus Holocaust deniers in the style of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, treat evidence that 6m Jews did in fact die as further evidence of a Zionist conspiracy.

from Bryan Appleyard: The Sunday Times: From friendship to fascism in one short step

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Rus Bowden · at 5:20 PM

that most people have a single poem that means something important to them.

That seems to have been the case with [Don] Unrau, who found himself reading "Spring-Watching Pavilion" the way he wants it to exist for him: as a single poem in relation to his own life and as a poem that he can incorporate into his art as a means to view, and even to revise, one of the crucial and defining experiences of his early life.

[by Ho Xuan Huong]

Spring-Watching Pavilion

from David Biespiel: The Oregonian: Ex-medic's Vietnam photos artistically conform to single poem

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Rus Bowden · at 5:20 PM

the life and work of [David Bromige] the "poet, writer, reviewer, actor, farmer, explorer, cartographer, storyteller, illustrator, piano player, driver, swimmer, traveler, brother, uncle, father, grandfather, husband, friend, mentor, [and] inspiration," readers will discover a wealth of "memories, thoughts, impressions and opinions" as well as links to tributes and remembrances alongside details concerning the July 5th Celebratory Afternoon at Ragle Road Ranch near downtown Sebastopol, CA (to which all who knew the unassuming titan or his splendidly crafted and sublimely shaped body of work are warmly invited).

from Judith Fitzgerald: The Globe and Mail: In Other Words: David Mansfield Bromige (1933-2009)

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Guess what? Carol Ann Duffy, Andrew Motion's successor as UK Poet Laureate, published her first official poem this past week. The girl's gutsy (and passionate), alright. More power to her. And, what a relief to leave the seamy side of the fleet street, the one involving smears and tears (with no one ever adequately explaining why Arvind Mehrotra does not now hold the Oxford Poetry Professorship; but, that's another sorry story). This one, for better or verse, involves Duffy's "Politics"; and, quite frankly, it rockets.

from Judith Fitzgerald: The Globe and Mail: Duffy: 1--Commentarians: 0

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Rus Bowden · at 5:19 PM

"there is a country." But then the metaphorical use of "country" becomes apparent when he says this country is located "[f]ar beyond the stars." The reader then realizes the metaphysical nature of the dramatic acknowledgment.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Vaughn's Peace

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Each day is filled with duties one must perform just to get through the day: eating, tidying one's home, caring for family members exemplify some of those activities that are required and therefore must be considered "duties."

And of course, one of the most profoundly important duties is the earning of money to support the upkeep of the body and the home and the family. The speaker acknowledges that much of one's labor is "dollar-strife."

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Yogananda's The Toiler's Lay

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Rus Bowden · at 5:18 PM

that he was happy to let [John] Sargent and others disparage Internet marketing "because that leaves more for us."

The Penguin network http://www.penguin.com/thepublishersoffice features three channels and nine ongoing series of book programming. The strategy, Kennedy says, is "narrowcasting," appealing to librarians and teachers through "Penguin Storytime," to followers of the supernatural through "Project Paranormal" or to poetry lovers with "A Cup of Poetry."

from Hillel Italie: Associated Press: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Publisher launches online channels--CEO sings
also Penguin.com: A Cup of Poetry: Episode 1: "The Aztec Empire"

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Rus Bowden · at 5:17 PM

by John Updike

It looks easy from a distance,

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Baseball by John Updike

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Farewell to Teaching
by George Johnston

Knowing what I now know

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Farewell to Teaching by George Johnston

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Old In The City
by Anne Porter

You grow geraniums

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Old In The City by Anne Porter

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Questions
by Stephen Dunn

If on a summer afternoon a man should find himself

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Questions by Stephen Dunn

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Rendezvous
by Ted McMahon

Let's meet in Santa Fe

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Rendezvous by Ted McMahon

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The Sun Grows In Your Smile
by Linda Rodriguez

When you smile, the air grows warm and soft,

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: The Sun Grows In Your Smile by Linda Rodriguez

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Wild Peavines
by Robert Morgan

I have never understood how

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Wild Peavines by Robert Morgan

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Rus Bowden · at 5:16 PM

of a child's voice in a nearby room that makes a parent feel immensely lucky. To celebrate Father's Day, here's a joyful poem of fatherhood by Todd Boss, who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

This Morning in a Morning Voice

from Ted Kooser: American Life in Poetry: Column 221

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Rus Bowden · at 5:15 PM

[Linda] Rodriguez reminds us of how close Kansans are to animal life. Coyotes stalk fringes of cities and pasturelands. The adaptation of these wily beasts is instructive--we humans also learn environments quickly and well. We share animal qualities of stalking, shifting identities, and forming attachments. A coyote lover is a trickster who both attracts and frightens, like change. The coyote encounter leaves its mark.

Coyote Invades Your Dreams

from Denise Low: Ad Astra Poetry Project: Linda Lynette Rodriguez (1947 - )

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Rus Bowden · at 5:14 PM

Rus Bowden · at 5:11 PM

the beatific Helen? Faustus, who has rejected God to seek omnipotence, is desperate for lasting glory. But how likely is it that this strange apparition will make him immortal?

The lines "Her lips suck forth my soul" convey the intensity of love's first kiss, when all of our being seems to be taken up, yet there is a note of horror too. His soul is quite literally being stolen away, damning him for all eternity. Hell is in these lips and Helena is nothing if not dross.

from Christopher Nield: The Epoch Times: The Antidote--Classic Poetry for Modern Life: A Reading From 'Dr Faustus' by Christopher Marlowe

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Rus Bowden · at 5:11 PM

it carries us to a further memory, the ceremonious offering of flowers to another queenly "whitehaired woman", the "yellow coltsfoot" of stanza one now transmuted by the child's vision to gold. This final picturing truly earns the word, "epiphany".

"Frieze" is from David Constantine's new collection Nine Fathom Deep (Bloodaxe, 2009), and is reprinted here by kind permission of the publisher and the author.

Frieze by David Constantine

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Books blog: Poem of the week: Frieze by David Constantine

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Rus Bowden · at 5:09 PM

I think of inanimate objects. Whatever lives is never a mere object. And no one who raises flowers ever thinks of them as things. We are even inclined to talk to them. I imagine we secretly agree with Gérard de Nerval that "every flower is a soul blossoming out to nature."

"Unless ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe," Jesus declared.

from Frank Wilson: When Falls the Coliseum: That's What He Said: Every flower is a soul blossoming out to nature

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Rus Bowden · at 5:07 PM

Heaven

Henry Thoreau’s last words: "Moose . . . Indian."

from The Atlantic Monthly: Poetry: Heaven

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by David Lehman

Homily

Man has the will

from The Atlantic Monthly: Poetry: Homily

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Rus Bowden · at 5:06 PM

by Edward Beatty

The constant tapping seemed to come from the sun,

from CounterPunch: Poets' Basement: Beatty and Kowitt

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Rus Bowden · at 5:06 PM

on the reverse side of the hill, when we heard the cry: "Stretcher-bearers!" and presently a man ran up to say: "Captain Graves is hit!"

That raised a general laugh, and we walked on: but all the same I sent a stretcher-party to investigate. It was Richardson: the shells had caught him and Corporal Chamberlen among the wire. Chamberlen lost his leg and died of wounds a day or two later.

from Daily Times: Purple Patch: Stretcher-bearers! --Robert Graves

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Rus Bowden · at 5:05 PM

by Robert Conquest

from The Guardian: The Saturday poem: Afterwards 'recollected in tranquillity' by Robert Conquest

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Rus Bowden · at 5:04 PM

I like the idea of the fakirs, and the sky like a Monet, and the image of being as snug as a contact lens is great. The honesty that we look for in our reflections in our lovers' eyes is very touching. Most of all, though, I think it's the tantalising promise of touch which gives this poem a good physical sense of sensuality. [--John Siddique]

from The Guardian: Poetry Workshop: night

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Rus Bowden · at 5:02 PM

by Christian Wiman

from The New Yorker: Poetry: Five Houses Down

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The "World-Famous" Lipizzaners
by Julie Bruck

from The New Yorker: Poetry: The "World-Famous" Lipizzaners

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Rus Bowden · at 5:02 PM

[by Javairia Henry]

Paintings on the face of brick

from PBS: Newshour: Weekly Poem: 'Graffiti'

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Rus Bowden · at 5:01 PM

Fragile Light

Pale green glow of the jaded

from Portsmouth Herald News: Random acts of poetry: Fragile Light

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Rus Bowden · at 5:00 PM

demand to be heard. "Bags of Bones," by Dunya Mikhail, from her overlooked collection The War Works Hard (New Directions, 2005), discusses the good fortune of a mother who is blessed with a gift from her son. What luck, she says,

To give your mother back,
On the occasion of death,
The handful of bones
She offered you
On the occasion of birth?

Mikhail's searing sarcasm exposes the true cost of war.

from Powells: Review-A-Day: Half of History

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Rus Bowden · at 5:00 PM

By Peg Boyers

from Slate: "The Fate of Pleasure" --By Peg Boyers

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Rus Bowden · at 4:59 PM

"that when we knock on the final inner door of the most secret chamber, there is nobody at home". Whatever the reasons for A. S. J. Tessimond's relative obscurity, this is not a charge that could ever be brought against him.

Attack on the Ad-Man

This trumpeter of nothingness, employed

from The Times Literary Supplement: Poem of the Week: Attack on the Ad-Man

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Rus Bowden · at 4:58 PM

difficult relations full of blame and seduction, like real men and women; the animals will be real animals, alien beings in nature, not our toys and servants; and God, who exists outside of time, will enjoy himself watching human beings spin out their endless tragicomic story. As Milton says of his Adam and Eve at the end of "Paradise Lost," "The world was all before them."

from The Washington Post: Poet's Choice By Katha Pollitt

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Rus Bowden · at 4:50 PM

in 2002 by Borough President Marty Markowitz after teaching poetry at Lincoln High School for 33 years. "Selecting Ken Siegelman as poet laureate was one of my proudest acts as Borough President," said Markowitz.

On May 7, 2008, the world premier of Fade to Zero, the Hollywood film based on Siegelman’s life and poetry, was first shown at Kingsborough College.

from Brooklyn Eagle: Ken Siegelman, Brooklyn Poet Laureate, Remembered

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Rus Bowden · at 4:36 PM

as a plain-spoken woman who loved poetry--Iran's Rumi and America's Robert Frost were her favourites and that her pacifism marked her out as a true Iranian.

'She didn't believe that we always have to fight and quarrel and be violent and have death,' he said.

from Daily Mail: YouTube martyr Neda 'deliberately targeted' by Iranian paramilitaries, claims fiancé

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Rus Bowden · at 4:36 PM

as a child who was always happy, and who enjoyed writing poems and playing her baritone horn, will not get that chance she relished to play basketball at the camp.

from El Paso Times: 11-year-old from San Elizario slain during weekend

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Rus Bowden · at 4:35 PM

of poetry and won dozens of awards, including a Western States Arts Federation award in 1988 for his collection "Desire." He was also Sonoma County's second poet laureate, serving from 2001 to 2003.

Known for his avant-garde style and razor wit, Mr. Bromige was considered part of the San Francisco poetry renaissance of the late 1960s and early '70s, colleagues said. His use of language and dialect was so subtle yet exact that a reader would not always absorb a poem until after finishing it, said Pennsylvania poet and friend Ron Silliman.

from San Francisco Chronicle: Poet, teacher David Bromige dies

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Rus Bowden · at 4:35 PM

a man with an unshakable faith and also a wicked sense of humour. He was a gentleman, a poet, singer, honky tonk piano player and above all a wonderful father and husband.

from Gympie Times: A community leader

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Rus Bowden · at 4:34 PM

to Randy [Brunk]. She became a contract educator for the district, working with gifted students, teaching public speaking and poetry.

In the 1970s, Randy enjoyed acting in a number of productions with the Whittier Community Theatre

from San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Educator Marianne Emma 'Randy' Brunk was 82

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Rus Bowden · at 4:33 PM

led to her father, Kirk Forbes', authoring of the book, "Dear Kristen," which Kristen's mother says covers her daughter's journey through Kristen's "journal entries and our family's email updates." The book also includes poetry Kristen [Forbes] wrote and a great deal of information on the vaccine for HPV as well as numerous organizations fighting the disease.

from The Pilot News: Daughter's passing leads to acclaimed book

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Rus Bowden · at 4:33 PM

of the Starr Academy, a private high school at Rawhide Boys Ranch near New London. He played bass guitar and was involved in writing music, poetry, reading, skateboarding and video games.

from Appleton Post-Crescent: Young people killed in Green Bay crash left many friends behind

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Rus Bowden · at 4:32 PM

and was a 1989 graduate of Glenbrook South High School. Always a writer, he wrote a poem called "Hope, The Pink Bug," which was put into a time capsule assembled by the school in 1987.

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he majored in literature and creative writing. In addition to writing short stories and poems, he was a songwriter and guitarist. After college he played regularly at Grandpa's Place in Glenview, and he later played with several bands in San Francisco.

from Chicago Tribune: Stephen R. Kustra, 1971-2009: 'Free spirit' drawn to San Francisco

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Rus Bowden · at 4:27 PM

that showed potential," said Cathy Hawes, the school's director [said of Antonio Marks]. She called his death a tragedy.

"Antonio had a really big heart," Hawes said. "He would often help other students. He was a really good athlete and he had some talents as a writer. He would write some poetry."

from Herald: Slaying is town's worst nightmare

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Rus Bowden · at 4:27 PM

sent his son Neal, Jr. on his first birthday. The poem was written while he was serving in Vietnam.

I'd miss the little things

from Lake Stevens Journal: McAfee dies at age 69

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Rus Bowden · at 4:26 PM

in Hillsboro and attended Century High School, where she was in her junior year. A member of Honor Society during her middle school and high school years, she was very involved in choir. She enjoyed singing, playing her guitar and music in general. She also loved to write poetry.

from The Oregonian: Mayra Noriega, 18, Century High junior

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Rus Bowden · at 4:26 PM

who has died aged 92, that "you are the best poet of your generation". Often associated with the Beat writers, Norse began publishing in the early 1940s, befriending and collaborating with leading 20th-century literary figures, among them WH Auden, James Baldwin and Allen Ginsberg. The author of 12 books of poetry, Norse was nominated for the US National Book award in 1974, but never achieved the success of his more celebrated peers.

from The Guardian: Harold Norse

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Rus Bowden · at 4:25 PM

(there's more than one) on Google, what you'll find for the poet is the Dick Grossinger-Kevin Karrane anthology, Baseball Diamonds, in which she has work alongside Tom Clark, John Sayles, Philip Roth, Fielding Dawson, Roger Angell and A. Bartlett Giamatti; records of two readings at the Grand Piano (one a Punk Rock Reading--a quintessentially Actualist event--with G.P. Skratz & Michael-Sean Lazarchuk, the other with me); a reading & chat with Alan Bernheimer on the radio show In the American Tree (MP3); and mention of her participating in an Actualist Convention video among the archives of the defundt La Mamelle artspace.

from Silliman's Blog: I had just gotten off the phone with a reporter for . . .

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Rus Bowden · at 4:24 PM

at writing poetry. She won many awards and came in first place for the best rose in the rose show.

from Duluth News Tribune: Joyce Marilyn Robertson

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Rus Bowden · at 4:24 PM

the Bearded Witch of Ocean Park--or, as [Charles] Bukowski fondly referred to her in one poem, Old Snaggle-Tooth--[Frances Dean] Smith had lived in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica for decades.

Her work under the pen name FrancEyE was published in poetry journals and gathered in the collections "Snaggletooth in Ocean Park" (Sacred Beverage Press, 1996), "Amber Spider" (Pearl, 2004), "Grandma Stories" (Conflux Press, 2008) and "Call" (Rose of Sharon Press, 2008).

from The Los Angeles Times: FrancEyE, prolific Santa Monica poet, dies at 87

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Rus Bowden · at 4:23 PM

wife, and grandmother, loved baking, writing poems, an avid bingo player, and loved her pets, "Fuzz" and "Pee-Wee".

from The Marion Star: Kathleen L. "Kathy" Stithem

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Rus Bowden · at 4:22 PM

working on appeals and complaints about the system for other prisoners and writing essays on anarchism and poems.

One of the people who wrote to him in prison was Belfast man Sean Matthews, who helped organise his last farewell in Northern Ireland.

"In his writings he had expressed the wish that his ashes be scattered here--he had accepted that he would die in prison," he said.

from BBC News: Anarchist's ashes lough scattering

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