Thinking Outside the Cardboard Box

Mattapoisett. Poetry Capital of the World

Today’s poetry news begins with an announcement: A poetry reading is about to take place! We wanted to include details of this reading simply because we think it’s fun to say Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. More poetry news brings us to the EU. Do you have any idea who the EU President is? Might be good to know if you’re an aspiring poet. Look, we know it’s hard to get a book published and land a university job teaching. But maybe it’s time you approach things differently. Our advice is to become the president of the EU and then publish a book of haikus. It worked for Herman Van Rompuy,who views politics and poetry to the beat of eight syllables. In a brief interview the busy politician said, “Moreover, haiku is brief, which is convenient for people who have no time to labor over long poems.”

Well said, Herman, although a bit verbose.

The other way to get ahead in poetry would be to move to Saudi Arabia, where poetry is really valued. And when we say ‘valued’ we’re talking real-cash-money value. In a poetry competition called The Millions’ Poet, the winner eloquently waltzed away with $1.36 million.

Now let’s visit poetry’s true nature — competition. Over in Oxford, three lauded wordsmiths are competing for the title of Oxford University’s professor of poetry. The election for this university position opened up recently due to last year’s unwelcomed sexual friskiness (a.k.a sexual harassment) in the workplace. This year, the top three candidates are Geoffrey Hill, Paula Claire and Seán Haldane. The one with the best chance so far is Hill, who is 77-years-old.

Out Of The Woods

Here’s a bit of sage wisdom to the young, blossoming poets of the world: If you want to earn a gainful career from poetry, all you have to do is become president of the EU. Once you’re president of the EU, invest in oil. While you’re investing in oil in Saudi Arabia, strategically leave your poems behind with an enthusiastic publisher. Upon completion, all of your poetry dreams will come true. Or you can just wait till you’re 77, when Oxford comes a-knocking.

Now that you’ve hatched your master plan, take a minute and read a poem.

On Reading Crowds and Power

by Geoffrey Hill

Cloven, we are incorporate, our wounds
simple but mysterious. We have
some wherewithal to bide our time on earth.
Endurance is fantastic; ambulances
battling at intersections, the city
intolerably en fête. My reflexes
are words themselves rather than standard
flexures of civil power. In all of this
Cassiopeia’s a blessing
as is steady Orion beloved of poets.
Quotidian natures ours for the time being
I do not know
how we should be absolved or what is fate.

2

Fame is not fastidious about the lips
which spread it. So long as there are mouths
to reiterate the one name it does not
matter whose they are.
The fact that to the seeker after fame
they are indistinguishable from each other
and are all counted as equal shows that this
passion has its origin in the experience
of crowd manipulation. Names collect
their own crowds. They are greedy, live their own
separate lives, hardly at all connected
with the real natures of the men who bear them.

3

But hear this: that which is difficult
preserves democracy; you pay respect
to the intelligence of the citizen.
Basics are not condescension. Some
tyrants make great patrons. Let us observe
this and pass on. Certain directives
parody at your own risk. Tread lightly
with personal dignity and public image.
Safeguard the image of the common man.

– Lori Huskey