Year 2014

* rivers

José Angel Araguz Leave a comment

In Eugene, Oregon this week – which means good food, good talk, and walks by the Willamette River.

A friend this week asked me if Ohio had made its way into my writing since moving there a year ago. Not having thought on this subject before, I was surprised at my response, mainly that moving around so much places me back into myself, back into the places I have known.

The Ohio, the Willamette, the Rio Grande, the Susquehanna – the waters I have known are all connected, in the words I write and in the, uhm, science-y geographical way too.

The poem below, from The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse, shares some of this feeling. I am moved by the image of a man sleeping on the current, trusting to wake up in the same world, if only a little different.

* current affairs *

* current affairs *

At the riverside village – Ssu-kung Shu

My fishing done, I have returned, but do not moor my boat;
At the riverside village the moon will set just as I go to sleep.
Even if during the night the wind wafts me away,
I shall only reach the shallows where the rushes bloom.

***

Happy blooming!

Jose

* a stone’s throw memory with charles wright

José Angel Araguz 2 Comments

This week I’d like to celebrate Charles Wright being named the new U.S. Poet Laureate.

I’ve always suspected him to be an introvert, but his reaction to the news sinches it:

At times self-effacing, Wright shies away from the public eye and was reluctant to take the post. “My wife kept nudging me to do it and also others have said, ‘You know, you should do it.’ And I hadn’t done it before when it was offered to me and I always felt sort of bad about that — that I snuck into the shadows where I am more comfortable,” Wright said to Jeffrey Brown in a phone conversation on Wednesday. “I’m going to try to pull up my socks here and see what happens.” *

The poem below is from Wright’s book, Sestets, and speaks to the feeling of the reserved, quiet kid speaking up in class that the above quote rings with.

* a Roman road, yo *

* a Roman road, yo *

It’s Sweet to be Remembered – Charles Wright

No one’s remembered much longer than a rock

is remembered beside the road

If he’s lucky or

Some tune or harsh word

uttered in childhood or back in the day.

 

Still how nice to imagine some kid someday

picking that rock up and holding it in his hand

Briefly before he chucks it

Deep in the woods in a sunny spot in the tall grass.

***

Happy chucking!

Jose

* Read the rest of the article on the big news here.