Tag: american poetry

Poetry by Laura Woods
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A sepia-tinged shot of California poet Robinson Jeffers looking out from his stones on Big Sur, with the title of "Roan Stallion" under the text of his name.

Gulfs in Nature: Analyzing Robinson Jeffers’ “Roan Stallion”

It has been almost exactly 10 years since I first encountered Robinson Jeffers. Returning over and over to the riches contained in his Selected Poems, I find a different facet to focus on each time. Sometimes seeking ideas for my own verse—a rhythm to imitate, a novel way to frame a scene. Most often, the straightforward pleasure of luxuriating in great writing.

My most recent return has been focused on (finally) working my way through his longer narrative verse. For anyone who’d care to join me—“Roan Stallion” makes probably the best starting point for this venture (it can be read here in its entirety). It is one of the shortest of his dramas (coming out at 19 pages), a tight, cohesive piece of poetry. While, like its companion poem, Tamar, it set the tone for Jeffers’ explorations of transgressive sexuality and violence in his works, in this regard, it’s really more tame than most of his tales.  In short, Jeffers could be fairly accused of excesses in some of his narratives. But “Roan Stallion”—for a poem that scandalised some contemporary reviewers with its intimations of bestiality—actually avoids seeming gratuitous.

“Roan Stallion” is Jeffers’ take on the trope found in many mythic traditions, of congress between a god and a mortal woman—but cast in the context of his Inhumanist philosophy. The Biblical account of Mary’s divine conception is played against in the poem. But the tale of Leda and the Swan makes for an interesting comparison too. Yeats’ version of the legend (published just a couple of years before this) shares more than a superficial thematic similarity; its differences are also worth considering. I’ll return to this. But first, the plot: […]

Poetry by Su Zi
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A stylized book cover for poet Taylor Byas's 2023 poetry collection, "I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times".

Bright Future: On Taylor Byas’s “I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times”

Reading is a relationship outside of time and distance; however, the reader who encounters something personally known experiences a perceptual intimacy sometimes significant to the course of lives. That known element can be an aspect of identity, or of memory that gains potency in being shared. When an expressive work reveals these moments, there is the temporal consideration: how will time temper resonance?

The reader approaches a work with the entirety of their experience, the force of their life at the ready to engage the perceptions offered by the work. In the case of poetry, the history of the form itself offers potentialities of abundance, of profound reward for the reading experience. We read in search of that satisfaction. […]

Poetry by Don Moss
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A stylized photo of a theater green room, with the scene drunken in appearance and lighting.

POETRY: Don Moss’s “Greenroom” (1998)

The play was not in ordinary time,
He and classmate Mary memorizing,
Words, positions, several costume changes.
And his being coached to be persons other

Than what he was always told he was,
Feeling more marionette than actor,
Eager to cut strings from marshalled head and
Appendages, free a new inner force.

The boy thought himself less fixed on who
He was than most kids he knew, but acting
As the agent needed, not a distraction,
More a fitted piece in a story’s puzzle. […]

Film by Jessica Schneider
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Side-by-side photos of Allen Ginsberg and James Franco, the latter of whom starred as Ginsberg in the 2010 film, "Howl".

Rhythmic Articulation: Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman’s “Howl” (2010)

I remember the first time I read Allen Ginsberg. I was in high school, 16, and in my third year, where within my textbook I stumbled upon the poem, ‘A Supermarket in California.’ At the time, I was too interested in Emily Dickinson and the Romantics to be so astounded by this free verse poem that has since remained with me all these years. I eventually came to learn this is how writing works—or any art for that matter. One might stumble upon it, and at first, it leaves little impression because…well, perhaps one’s mind needs to mature. Reread it, however, and then again years later, and as Don Moss might say, ‘Your imagination will be lit.’

Fortunately, the same can be said about Howl (2010), which I might have stumbled upon when I still had a Netflix subscription. I knew when I first saw this film that it was a good, clever rendering of the story behind Ginsberg’s writing of Howl, as it also touches upon the public trial that followed. Howl, the poem, was published by City Lights Press in 1956 and was later banned for obscenity, resulting in poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti being deemed not guilty in a court of law (seems extreme, doesn’t it?) for publishing said obscenity. […]

Film by Alex Sheremet
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The cover of Bruce Ario's "Selected Poems" alongside a photo of a bearded Bruce Ario from the 1970s or 1980s.

The Minneapolis Poet: Bruce Ario’s “Selected Poems” Now Available

Bruce Ario’s “Selected Poems (1980 – 2022)” is now available for purchase from AUTOMACHINATION publishing. It features  a major, 150-page essay from his literary executor, Dan Schneider, examining Bruce Ario’s life and work. Our film, “From There To There: Bruce Ario, the Minneapolis Poet”, is also available for streaming on Patreon. You can watch the film’s latest trailer on our YouTube channel or learn more about the film here. The first part of Dan Schneider’s introduction to Bruce Ario as writer is reproduced below: […]

Poetry by Jessica Schneider
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Poetic Pragmatism: on Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Shampoo”

Too often young writers fall into the nebulous trap of attempting to be philosophical or spiritual without any practicality to ground them. As example, it’s not uncommon to see young poets write about clichéd themes with indistinct language, as their verse falls within familiar, tired tropes ultimately resulting in some limp attempt at poetry. Again, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to approach a poem, mind you, but when starting out, it’s typically better to start small, e.g., write about how much you enjoy drinking a cup of coffee, or what you notice while on line at the grocery store, or simply the pleasure you feel (for the gluten tolerant) when eating a bagel. Furthermore, it is important to keep mindful that all these pedestrian events can be philosophical if rendered well.

Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) is regarded as a 20th-century poetic darling, who wrote much in the same vein as Marianne Moore, albeit less cerebral. Despite her thin output, Bishop managed to create several successful poems evoking a child-like eye, such as “The Map,” “The Moth-Man,” “The Moose,” “Questions of Travel,” and “In the Waiting Room,” among others. Her verse can be gentle and comforting, unpretentious and inviting, with all the while her narrative unfolding quietly and uniquely. Readers should be encouraged to study her Complete Poems (again, a thin output compared to many other poets), but her poetic approach can nonetheless offer some aid to the otherwise lost, disillusioned writer. […]

Poetry by Jessica Schneider
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A stylized photo of African American poet Robert Hayden, in sepia tones, wearing his trademark thick eyeglasses under a cloudy sky.

READ THIS POET: Four Poems by Robert Hayden

If there is one common denominator that remains imperative when applied to literature and poetry specifically, it is the demonstration of craft. After all, anyone can write a political screed, but that doesn’t mean such a work is well rendered. Rather, to be presented with a skilled mind that has not only put great thought into each line but also has consideration for the reader—well, this makes all the difference. Thankfully, Robert Hayden was this sort of poet and person. An African American who grew up in the slums of Detroit, Michigan, he spoke adamantly of not wanting to neglect his history and experience, nor to be limited by either. Much of his career seemed to involve a need for his own identity—to write what he wanted, rather than what activists might have expected of him. ‘There is no black poetry or white poetry, there is only American poetry,’ Hayden states in this interview, dated March 1975, wherein he also notes his opposition to the way Black writing is presented—that is, as sociological works rather than literature.

Much of Hayden’s poetry found online are his more historical leaning poems involving the Black experience, e.g., “Middle Passage,” “Frederick Douglas,” “The Whipping,” and “The Ballad of Nat Turner,” among others (including his great boyhood classic, “Those Winter Sundays”). However, this essay will not be discussing any of those wonderful poems. Rather, I wish to address those poems involving his more personal experiences, as well as how he used nature observation for his distillation. Why should these fine works be overlooked? Alas, one such poem is “Ice Storm”. […]

Poetry by Jessica Schneider
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A photo of a young, red-haired Bruce Ario in a hat, eating seafood.

The Revered Rebel: Bruce Ario’s “The Lovely Tree Branches”

It’s not uncommon for the artist to live in search of validation. After all, life’s navigation can be painful, especially when forced to interact with those unable to appreciate or recognize the value in one’s work. Just reading about Vincent Van Gogh and how his many peers thought him a nobody, or how Paul Cézanne’s father would rather his son have become a lawyer or banker—the frustration is evident. Sure, a parent wants his kid to make money, but at what expense? What if Cézanne had instead become Banker Paul rather than Painter Paul? What a loss the world would have suffered.

The life of an artist is one of sacrifice. To pursue it, one must be willing to adapt to the slog of overlooked, lower-rank jobs, and forgo the material. This is not to say that one must inevitably accept a life of poverty, but to expect a high-rank career is highly unrealistic, given such an occupation would likely leave one with little creative time. Yes, Wallace Stevens was president of Hartford Insurance, but he chose that job over an academic career because the work yielded little drain on his brain. While providing him with a comfortable living, selling insurance is far from glamorous. Moreover, Hart Crane was lucky enough to land a job as a copywriter, and Vivian Maier worked as a nanny, affording her the freedom to walk with her employers’ kids and photograph.

And as for me—even while spending several years working in a technical field, I recognized the lack of glamour in such a pursuit, but it paid the bills. This did not, however, stop me from encountering the small-minded and envious individuals who felt the need to reduce my writing talent to a moment of air quotes, dismissively referring to me as a “writer” who “took herself too seriously.” (Must I have the imprimatur of fame?) […]