December 19, 2019

Welcome

News and Jabber

Here's a link to Dylan Thomas reading "A Child's Christmas in Wales." 

enjoy it!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv4-sgFw3Go. And here's a link to the text:

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/xmas.html

While looking for something to chat about today, I decided to see what August Kleinzahler was up to. I've been a fan of his for years despite rarely reading whatever is available online, came across him quite by accident some thirty years ago. His language is always enchanting, full of good stuff. A quotation from wikipedia:

Kleinzahler is the author of ten books of poetry, including The Strange Hours Travelers Keep and Sleeping It Off in Rapid City. He has also published a non-fiction work, Cutty, One Rock (Low Characters and Strange Places, Gently Explained). Allen Ginsberg commented: "August Kleinzahler's verse line is always precise, concrete, intelligent and rare - that quality of 'chiseled' verse memorable in Basil Bunting's and Ezra Pound's work. A loner, a genius."[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kleinzahler

And so, I come to this poem, one of those I wish I were good enough to write myself:

Watching Dogwood Blossoms Fall In A Parking Lot Off Route 46

Dogwood blossoms drift down at evening

            as semis pound past Phoenix Seafood

and the Savarin plant, west to the Turnpike,

            Paterson or hills beyond.

The adulterated, pearly light and bleak perfume

            of benzene and exhaust

make this solitary tree and the last of its bloom

             as stirring somehow after another day

at the hospital with Mother and the ashen old ladies

             lost to TV reruns flickering overhead

as that shower of peach blossoms Tu Fu watched

              fall on the riverbank

from the shadows of the Jade Pavilion,

              while ghosts and the music

of yellow orioles found out the seam of him

              and slowly cut along it. 

by August Kleinzahler, from Sleeping It Off in Rapid City, 2008

Who knows about Basil Bunting? He's more than worth a look.

Today's Assignment

I said in my last email that I had written several poems, none of them useful as the assignment. I made another effort that wasn't quite as bad as the others. Anyone else have a comment about it?

Next Assignment

The next assignment is to write a poem about something you would never, never, ever do. Or, about something you would never, never, ever do again. Or both.

Next Meeting

The next meeting is on Thursday, January 2, 2020.