Friday, July 1, 2011
A couple of weirdnesses. I did my exorcism reading at the Frost Place and then opened my email, from which I learned that Guernica wants to publish "Son-in-Law" and that an NPR affiliate in Santa Cruz has recorded "Ugly Town." Two hard-to-take Harmony poems in one fell swoop. If you happen to have been in the Frost barn during my reading, you'll know why this all seems so strange and, yes, unnerving. If you weren't there, I'll explain that I wrote "Son-in-Law" at about this time last year and that its characters are based on my friend Linda and her son-in-law Steven Lake, who murdered Linda's daughter and grandchildren a couple of weeks ago. And "Ugly Town" appeared in the British journal New Walk last year. It's the poem J. E. Coetzee is rumored to like, which adds yet another layer of je-ne-sais-quoi to the situation. I haven't listened to the recording, but Ruth tells me the reader is sweeter-tempered about the poem than I tend to be.
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7 comments:
Weird & unnerving, even creepy, no kidding -- but still bittersweet?
What a confluence of events.
Wishing you a lovely holiday weekend.
I have to ask: what is an exorcism reading? In terms of things a bit creepy, I am feeling a bit
Carol: I know you know all about the murder-suicide story. But last summer I wrote a poem about the relationship between Steven and his mother-in-law that inadvertently foreshadowed the very bad events that really did happen. So mingled with all my grief about the actual events was my knowledge of having written this poem, which is not the sort of poem that would make anyone in the immediate family feel better. To open my reading at the Frost Place, I read the poem, and it instantly had the effect of releasing a knot in my chest. Afterwards, Baron called the reading an exorcism, and it did feel that way.
Dawn, I wanted to come back today and say CONGRATULATIONS! I just got my email from the Maine Writers & Publishers with the names of finalists for the 2011 Maine Literary Awards. I was so excited to see your name listed! Again, congratulations! Julia
Thanks so much, Julia! I'm pretty pleased about this. And you might have noticed that another of our commenters, Carol Bachofner, is a finalist in the short-works category!
Oh Dawn, I do know what a burden this horror has been to many (I cannot shake it either). I am glad the poem reading did something positive for you! I wonder if we might actually need a category in poetry that covers such release poems. I like the idea of having an exorcism reading every now and again to banish the uglies that pile up in the corners of our lives. We all have those. I recently wrote a poem about my spousal rape years ago (first husband) and it was that for me... a feeling of consolation washed over me when the poem was finished. I felt clean and safe and free.
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