Coffeehouse Junkie

National Poetry Month [1] is over. Asheville Wordfest [2] is still echoing throughout the city. And I finally got around to reading O: The Oprah Magazine‘s first poetry issue. O is not a magazine I read, ever. And it is not a magazine I consult for American poetry. All I can say is that Oprah stole my idea.

Back in 2007 I wrote: ‘Why not promote National Poetry Month with appearances by Andi McDowell, Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Connery, Sarah Mclaughlin, Lawrence Fishburne or add [your celebrity/starlet here]. I know, I know, that sounds so like a consumerist. . . . Promote poetry with flashy, sexy people?!? Yeah.’ [3] In spite of all the criticism, I think O magazine pulled off a great opportunity to promote poetry in America using the vernacular of the culture, a fashion show.

First, a word from some of the critics. Gawker’s snarky take on O magazine’s poetry issue [4] points out that Maria Shriver selected ‘poems from athletes, actors, writers, musicians, and poets that no one has ever heard of because most Americans can’t name a single living poet other than Maya Angelou. . . .’ My favorite critic so far opens his article in the Sunday Book Review of The New York Times [5] with:

The signs of the coming apocalypse are many, but none are starker than this Web headline in the April issue of O: The Oprah Magazine: ‘Spring Fashion Modeled by Rising Young Poets.’ Yes. Spring fashion. Modeled. By rising young poets. There follows a photomontage of attractive younger women. . . in outfits costing $472 to $5,003.

Um, for the record, my author photo shoot did not require a $995 jacket [6] Truth be told, it costs $20 and I found it in the clearance aisle at a discount store in Nashville. Then again, I’m not a young attractive female poet. But I must admit, ‘Spring Fashion Modeled by Rising Young Poets’ is a great marketing move to push poetry into the mainstream American culture. The New Yorker [7] reports:

Rachel Eliza Griffiths. . . [said] that someone contacted her in December about modelling. The day of the shoot she was informed she’d be photographed as ‘the Romantic poet.’ Her photograph shows her on a bed of sand with a large paint brush, pretending to paint the letters of her poem on an enormous wall.

Ironically, O features Maria Shriver’s interview with Mary Oliver, stating:

Oliver says that when she was very young and had decided to become a poet, she made a list of items she would never have: a house, a good car, fancy clothes. Unfortunately, Oliver was not featured in a fancy photo shoot and did not have the opportunity to wear fancy clothes. . . .

The highlight of O, for me, is the Mary Oliver interview. [8] I especially enjoy Mary Oliver’s response to the question, what does it mean to be a poet? ‘I consider myself kind of a reporter. . .’ says Mary Oliver. ‘I never think of myself as a poet. . .’

Though I offered the idea in 2007 to promote poetry with flashy, sexy people, I would never have the budget to pull of a spring fashion photo shoot as a way to introduce poetry to the ‘golden palace of mass culture.’ Nor would I have the opportunity to meet and interview Mary Oliver.

But allow me to offer something that professional opinionators and journalists may have overlooked. Mike Tyson, [9] Ashton Kutcher [10] and Dan Rather [11] were introduced to poetry at a young age by people who they admired and respected. In Mr. Kutcher’s case, it was a poem his father wrote. To my knowledge, Larry M. Kutcher has never published his poetry. But that doesn’t matter to his son, Ashton Kutcher. For me, that’s the legacy of poetry. It’s not a spring fashion ‘photomontage’ in a flashy mainstream magazine. It’s not the academic snobbery of ‘Important Literary Folks.’ The legacy of poetry is a poem a father shares with his son. Or a mentor encouraging a young boxer with a couple lines of verse that advise to ‘stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit.’ This is what will promote poetry in America: fathers, mothers, and mentors sharing poetry with young readers.

NOTES: [1] National Poetry Month [2] Asheville Wordfest [3] How to Promote National Poetry Month [4] Are You Ready for Demi Moore’s Poetry? [5] Oprah Magazine’s Adventures in Poetry David Orr’s disclaimer: ‘First, only a snob or an idiot complains when the magic wand of Oprah is flourished in his direction. . . . Second, O has been running an intelligent and professional book section under the direction of the former Publishers Weekly editor Sara Nelson for some time now, using excellent critics like Francine Prose. . . . Finally, it’s all too easy for Important Literary Folk to sneer at anything involving fashion.’ He continues: ‘And yet. ‘Spring Fashion Modeled by Rising Young Poets.’ The words are heart-sinking. For some readers, this will be because poetry represents a higher form of culture that can only be debased by the commentary of Oprah Winfrey and the pencil skirts of L’Wren Scott.’ And Mr. Orr concludes: ‘But that’s precisely the trouble: for an overwhelming majority of the culture, almost every poem has an inscrutable ending, even the ones that aren’t actually inscrutable. . . . All poets and their readers can do is stare half-longingly, half-fearfully across that great divide at the golden palace of mass culture. . . and sigh.’ [6] Fashion Extremes: Celebrate Your Unique Style [7] O Magazine’s First-Ever Poetry Issue [8] Maria Shriver Interviews the Famously Private Poet Mary Oliver[9] 24 All-Star Readers on the Words That Rock Their Worlds: Mike Tyson [10] 24 All-Star Readers on the Words That Rock Their Worlds: Ashton Kutcher [11] 24 All-Star Readers on the Words That Rock Their Worlds: Dan Rather

From my grandfather’s poetry book, After Every Summer Rain, published 10 years ago. He passed away this past weekend.

It is a question I am often asked after a poetry reading. I usually offer a tongue-in-cheek reply, ‘Metallica, Blind Guardian, and Johnny Cash.’ The deer-in-headlights look I receive is ‘gold standard’ (as one writer puts it). I guess they expect something like ‘Whitman, Ginsberg, and Bukowski’ or some other literary trinity.

Specific books inspire me more than specific poets. During April, 32 Poems blog published poets who offer their list of five poetry books you need to read. I enjoyed reading what other poets offer as recommended poetry reading. But I often wondered if the five books chosen by the featured poets were more a literary bumper sticker proclaiming themselves serious poets or, like indie rock musicians, a list of obscure books that no one knows but should know how important they are.

So, I am not going to offer a list of five poetry books that inspire me. I’ll stick with my initial reply, ‘Metallica, Blind Guardian, and Johnny Cash.’