<<First Name>>,
When I was a kid, I would sometimes look at a spot on a map and imagine what it was like to live in that place.
This week's interview is of Chuck Joy. He's a poet, yes, and a child psychiatrist. But he's also the poet laureate for Erie County, PA.
And so in the course of interviewing Chuck, I started wondering what life is like in Erie. Specifically, what is the poetry scene like in Erie? Chuck answers this and other questions on the Bidwell Hollow blog.
I've not yet taken Bidwell Hollow on the road, but if I do, Erie is on the list. It sounds like there's plenty of poetry, and perhaps other literary arts, taking place in the Flagship City.
Thanks for reading,
Nick
P.S. A poem by Chuck is at the bottom of this email.
"There's often fear with that, also, in how your imagination starts to play with you, especially the mind of a genius like Tolkien." – Dome Karukoski, director of the film, "Tolkien," on J.R.R. Tolkien's World War I experience
Submit a Book Nerd News item for consideration. Email it to me: nick at bidwellhollow dot com. If your item is selected, you'll get credit in this newsletter.
TRUTH
By Chuck Joy
as poet becomes poem
the voice goes first
given over to phrasing
every line its tune
vision diminishes
any room, no matter how crowded, recedes
eye contact reduced to resting the gaze
your eyes hungry birds, other eyes their nests
each nest exerting its unique attraction
posture, standing, become dance
any movement, sometimes personifying certain actions
body English, always powering the breath, the trumpet
hitting a sweet spot wah wah, kicking up a knee
soon clothes in fact the body gone
the poet not naked, transparent
all barrier removed, straight
through to the truth
— Truth from Charles Joy. Copyright 2019. Used with permission of the author.
