Writing the Life Poetic

Playing with the fire 'till the fire played with me

This week, I am possessed by a single stanza of song lyric from U2's new song "Moment of Surrender":

I tied myself with wire
To let the horses roam free
Playing with the fire
Till the fire played with me

This language does what I love most. It threads a mysterious narrative that is engaging enough to keep me on the edge of my seat listening for what might come next. I am branded by the heat of these images and keep returning to them because they are open-ended enough to leave room for me in this story.

And I nearly toppled from the edge of my seat onto the floor when the song took me here:

My body is a begging bowl
that's begging to get back
to my heart
to the rhythm of my soul
to the rhythm of my consciousness
to the rhythm of Yes
to the release from control

Body as begging bowl. Bono, you've outdone yourself.

Most of us have been told to show, not tell in our poems. I write and teach about the pros and cons of each. In this example of a single "show" followed by a consecutive string of "tell," I believe the first metaphor is powerful enough to carry everything that follows without the dangerous weight of explanation tuning out the listener.

What do you think?

Touch Me

Thank you, Mari, for sending me this link to Stanley Kunitz reading one of my very favorite poems of all time!

Fifteen years ago, I memorized "Touch Me" in graduate school. When I recite them, Kunitz's words come through me as if born of my body. As precious as my own past, the poem lives alongside those moments I hold onto and pours out in a sweet mix of grief and tenderness when I am moved to speak of love--as I was at the dinner preceding Mari's wedding.

What a thrill to hear for the first time Kunitz speaking his own poem...I hope you will listen and let me know what you think!

A, you're adorable. B, you're so beautiful. C, you're a cutie full of charm.

The baby books advise that parents start chatting their babies up the moment they arrive, to get them socialized into the fine art of conversation. I'm used to being alone with my thoughts and am not the kind of person who makes conversation to fill the space. So I found this invitation to be a bit challenging. What might Theo like to hear about via these ongoing Mommy Monologues? What types of information would I like to start investing many months before he might ever register receipt of such riches in the memory bank? One day on our early morning dog walk, the answer was obvious: word play!

Theo was snuggled up in his wrap against my chest and zipped inside my jacket, eyes wide open but sleepy. I was drinking my daily chai tea latte. The dogs were a few feet ahead, negotiating in their own private language who would mark which leaf piles to communicate their rightful ownership of this path to all subsequent dogcomers. The air was crisp, the sun was sharp as a knife, I broke out in song: "A you're adorable, B you're so beautiful, C you're a cutie full of charm!" This was a song I had learned in elementary school music class...I could remember how the words went all the way to, "F you're a feather in my arms." And then the song sputtered out.

I decided to improvise my own song for Theo, going through the alphabet letter by letter to come up with a sequential set of adjectives describing him. It was fun. It was challenging. I didn't allow myself to miss a beat. I had stumbled upon a new kind of word play to keep the two of us entertained. (Though it is questionable whether Theo, who fell promptly to sleep, was duly impressed with his alphabet's worth of compliments!) But I digress.

Your turn!

• Choose a person place or thing that interests you a whole lot and write down an adjective to describe it / them, with the first letter of the word starting with A, then B, all the way through the alphabet to Z. Do it quickly, without thinking too hard.

• When you finish, choose something or someone that is the opposite of your original choice. For example, I might choose someone who I didn't admire much--from history or my own life--and then similarly generate a spontaneous list of A to Z adjectives.

• Check out your lists. Did you come up with any fun words that are not a part of your daily language circulation? Circle all of the ones that have the best sound, the most energy, and are the most surprising to you.

• Now write a poem using three words from each list. And see where that takes you!

• Feel free to post your poem here in the comments section for the rest of us to enjoy!

Submit to VoiceCatcher! Join Sage at the February 26 reading!

Great news for all Portland-area literary folk! The third edition of VoiceCatcher, an anthology of Portland-area women's writing, is available in local bookstores and New Season's Markets now. To celebrate, VoiceCatcher is hosting a series of readings throughout February and March.
I'll be reading next Thursday with five other fabulous poets and writers and would love to see you there!

Thursday, February 26, 7:00 p.m.
VoiceCatcher reading featuring: Sage Cohen, Jenny Chu, Christi Krug, Mary McIntosh, Miriam Feder and Lilian Sarlos
Press Club
2621 SE Clinton Street
Portland, OR 97202

Plus, the VoiceCatcher 4 submission window is now open! Work must be postmarked by March 31, 2009. We will also accept submissions at our February and March readings. Poetry, short fiction, novel excerpts, creative nonfiction included. View the complete 2009 submission guidelines.

I'm proud to be the poetry editor this year and really hope that all Portland-area women writers will submit their work!

The Articulate Conception: The Courtship

In January, I introduced you to my column,  The Articulate Conception which appears in The Writer Mama Zine published by The (fabulous) Writer Mama Christina Katz. The second installment of  my journey toward publishing, partnership and parenthood, "The Courtship" is now live! Tune in to the Goldilox-esque quest for a writing career and relationship that fit just right!

Crowning: a poem by Kevin Young

In celebration of my son Theo's five-month birthday, and with thanks to Erika Dreifus for sending me here, I share with you Kevin Young's poem Crowning from the New Yorker. There's nothing like a soul-expanding birth poem to trigger the tear floodgates in a sleep-deprived new mom! I hope all of you out there who may be better rested than I find it equally moving and beautiful. Happy birthday, Theo, purplest flower of my heart.

Your questions about Poetry for the People answered!

A big thank you to Christina Katz for featuring an interview with me on her fabulous blog! If you have questions about my Poetry for the People class, you're likely to find an answer there! Of course, send any additional questions my way via the comments section and I'll be happy to answer 'em!

Poetry for the People!

Poetry for the People scholarship awarded!

Thanks to all who applied for the Poetry for the People scholarship! for the class that starts March 11! I'm delighted to announce that the scholarship winner is...Sara Furch! Congratulations, Sara, and welcome to Poetry for the People!

Truth be told, I had a terrible time choosing; I wanted to award free tuition to every single fabulous poet who applied! What I can say to comfort myself--and anyone who was hoping for a scholarship and didn't receive one this time around--is that this is definitely a tradition that will continue with all future classes. So keep on applying! You can even send in the same application next time, to make it easy. I very much hope I will have an opportunity to learn and enjoy poetry with you all!

Jason Mashak publishing success

Jason Mashak was one of my first poetry friends in Portland. A masterful bringer together of people, he introduced me to many of my most valued poetry colleagues and friends, most of whom are named below. Over the past few years, I've watched Jason transform from a talented poet to a talented, focused and dedicated poet--one who is meeting much acclaim these days. I wanted to share and celebrate his two most recent publications with you: Heavy Bear and the Refined Savage Poetry Review. Bravo, Jason, for writing such fine poems and sharing them with the rest of us! (Both publications also feature the poems of poet and friend Dan Raphael. Check 'em out!)

I asked Jason to share a bit about his poetry journey with us. He replied:

It's been a long, strange road, where I started young and naively full of ideals and frenzy and, somewhere around mile marker 33, I saw myself in the reflection of old car windows... looking haggard and curmudgeonly... and I noticed the papers I was carrying were now coffee-stained, scribbled upon, and folded into airplanes -- some crashed upon mad fields of battle, others reaching the moon's orbit... but nonetheless in-hand, and every bit a part of that wind-swept journey.  Mostly, for these bringers of flight, I give credit to living mentors and friends:  Doug Marx, Bill Shively, Dan Raphael, Sage Cohen, Christopher Luna, Sean Patrick Hill, Chris Cottrell, Emily Riley, Brittany Baldwin, Bill Bell, Colin Smith, the Multnomah Village Writers group, and more.  They were the traveling companions who helped me know when to stain, scribble, or fold.

jm

Jason Mashak (b. 1973) is a Michigan native who spent his teens and early 20s in Georgia and Tennessee before living eight years in Oregon.  Since 2006, he has lived in the Czech Republic, where he writes, edits, and invests much of his time with his baby girl.  His first book, Salty As a Lip, will be published by Haggard and Halloo Press (Austin, Texas) in 2009.  You can keep tabs on him via facebook.

The love poem winner is...

Hello and happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks so much to all who participated in the love poem contest! I received many beautiful poems and am so grateful that you took the time to share your favorites with me! I wish I had a dozen books to give away. But alas, I have just one.

The winner of this Valentine's Day love poem contest is Mark Bricca––for sharing the poem Love Does That by Meister Eckhart.

Congratulations, Mark! You'll get your copy of Writing the Life Poetic as soon as it is available this April!