After Long Busyness: A Poetry Blog » South Dakota poets

“After the Swan Dive,” David Allan Evans

ericedits — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:04:18 +0000

South Dakota poet laureate David Allan Evans has a new chapbook out. “After the Swan Dive” contains 21 poems. Each poem’s title is a man’s name, except one, “A Guy at the Fitness Club.” It’s an interesting concept, exploring different facets of masculinity through the varied personalities in Evans’ poems.

Some of the poems are classic Evans, his cut-to-the-chase style intact. “Herb Denton” is the hard-drinking man who never misses work in spite of his habit. “Nate Jackson” revives the athlete poem that the author has always been adept with.

It’s the kind of poetry Evans has always written, only “After the Swan Dive” brings it into focus by dedicating its entirety to the subject.

“After the Swan Dive” is available from Finishing Line Press.

Interview With a Poet: Jim Reese

ericedits — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:48:07 +0000

Jim Reese

Jim Reese is an assistant professor of English and the director of the Great Plains Writers’ Tour at Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D. He is also editor of “Paddlefish.”

His most recent collection of poetry is These Trespasses (Backwaters Press, 2005, 2006), which includes Pushcart Prize nominated poems.

His writing has appeared in New York Quarterly, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, Paterson Literary Review, South Dakota Review, New Delta Review and elsewhere. He is the 2008 National Endowment for the Art’s Writer-in-Residence at the Yankton Federal Prison Camp.

After Long Busyness: If I’m not mistaken, you’re two issues in with Paddlefish. How has it been received?

James Reese: We are reading submissions for our third issue right now. The deadline to submit by is Feb. 28th. Paddlefish has been well received, I believe. We are now getting anywhere from 10-20 submissions a day. Sometimes more. We advertise in three venues–Poets and Writers, Writer’s Chronicle and NewPages.com. You can also go to www.mmcpaddlefish.com for more information on our submission guidelines and to see our online extension which features authors of the Great Plains Writers’ Tour.

ALB: As editor in chief, what’s your overall goal for Paddlefish?

JR: My goal as editor is to publish great literature. Also, to give emerging writers a place to showcase their work. Some of my favorite cover letters are those that read, “This is my first story” or “I just caught a monster walleye today, and I wrote this poem. I hope you like it.” It’s amazing how many writers send cover letters that say they’ve published in more than 750 journals—that’s a lot of journals—are there 750? I’m not interested in that. I think all editors are interested in publishing the best material that comes their way–period.

ALB: What do you hope readers are taking with them from These Trespasses?

JR: Wow, that’s a good question. I mean, I hope they appreciate the poems–appreciate the voices I’m trying to preserve on the page. That they take them home or into the back alleys and say, “Hey, listen to what this guy says–he’s dope!” dodjg dbo (Sorry, my daughter is in my lap as I’m trying to type this)..vgnnf sdgfhgnf

In all seriousness, these girls, that’s the most important thing right now for me in my life and in my writing—I don’t see that ever changing. If something were to happen to me I know they’d have these poems–a better picture of their father than any Polaroid. They’ll always have a big part of me they could take with them every day. A lot of the poems in the new book I’m about ready to shop around are about them. Here’s one that is forthcoming in the Connecticut Review:

A Pony for Paige

Paige, you are only four-weeks-old

and your sister demands she help out.

I hope you know how proud

she is wiping dry skin she calls crumbs

from your face; proclaiming to paint another

red, white and black design you can stare at.

Before that, though, your mother

puts the finishing touches on the barn

she has built in the living room

to house the ponies—blackie Morgan, brown Spirit and

white Joe.

I reinforce the support beams, but can’t

for the life of me figure out how to

secure the ladder to the loft.

Some people might think it odd,

a barn in the living room—let them think

whatever they like.

The creatures awake early here.

Willow galloping with colts, fillies and foal

across wood floors.

Your eyes open ever so slowly

to peek at this parade of wild animals.

In between rides

and morning breakfast

Willow checks, then checks again,

to see if you are awake. When she

finds your eyes open

she cannot contain herself: Look Daddy,

Paige is smiling!

Then back to the Mustangs she trots,

taming first one, then another,

waiting as only a child can wait

for the time when

they can do the tending, tugging

and pulling

together.

Eric, I’m very interested in saving voice(s) on the page, whether it’s mine or say, my grandfather’s or the guys at the prisons I work with. All of us have stories to tell and to me that’s much more important than a box of old photos. I like that box, don’t get me wrong, but in that box, the voice is dead.

You ever have that nightmare, if you had to lose your eyesight or your hearing, which would it be? For me, if I had to choose, I’d have to say I’d keep the ears. I can’t imagine a world without music—without voice.

I just sent my mother a poem about my grandfather—he’s alive yet, in a nursing home in Florida. Unfortunately, he’s not the same man now who raised my mother–who taught me how to fish–to go after what we wanted. His story is very important to my family and I—without poems about him, good and odd, I’m afraid some memories would be lost. So I feel obligated a lot of the time, when something strikes me, to write it down for my family, for others. Words are forever—these voices are going to outlive you and I. Here’s a poem about him—that was published last year in the Paterson Literary Review:

His Secret Stash

by Jim Reese

After my grandparents moved into my

parents’ dining room in Omaha;

after they wound up in South Dakota

one evening after getting the oil

changed in their car;

after the police came and tried to reason

and ask questions about their whereabouts;

we packed their belongings again

and moved them into an assisted living home.

We left my grandfather’s rifles and shotguns

underneath the basement stairwell, against his will.

And now, a few years later,

my own parents are moving

and I inherit the guns.

When I look through the gun cases

a worn black Rolf’s wallet falls out.

I know it’s my grandfather’s although

there is no ID.

Inside are seventeen dollars, three silver dollars;

one for each of his daughters—I’m sure of this,

and an Enderlin Diamond Jubilee token celebrating

the North Dakota town’s 75^th Anniversary.

The token is good for fifty cents at all

Enderlin banks until July 31^st, 1966.

I come to realize that this is his secret stash.

The secret stash he has forgotten about

or misplaced. Or perhaps,

the one that triggered the amnesia,

this disease, this loneliness of memory.

I find his wedding picture

folded and creased five times.

A black and white of my grandmother and him

on the steps of The Little Brown Church.

The pastor is smiling, everyone is smiling.

My grandfather chinless with glee

and my grandmother standing tall, grinning,

her slip exposed.

I try and keep the picture unfolded

as I gently slip it into one of the wallet’s plastic

picture sleeves.

All I can do now

is write this.

Should I send it to him?

Should I send it to my mother

to decide?

ALB: Poetry from the Upper Plains or Midwest is often referred to as “accessible,” often not in a flattering way. Do you think there’s a better description?

JR: I hope I’m not beating a dead horse here—I suppose that’s okay; the horse can’t feel it anyway. But I’ve argued this issue—I’ve written critical papers about the importance of rural voice in contemporary American poetry—here’s my opinion: There is not a single art form that defines the Plains. Common sense values such as physical labor, honesty in human relations, emphasis on the primacy of family and community, and intimate physical, emotional, and spiritual connections to the land are more important now than ever. Plains art forms and aesthetics are different from urban in some respects, but we all share a special connection with the land and are concerned with preserving and sustaining our natural resources which serve as the wellspring of our most basic value systems. Poetry and prose with a Plains and rural aesthetic assert the value of the land, thus making its experience visible and comprehensible to the public at large. In this manner, poetry and prose are also capable of transcending a designation as being merely regional.

Ted Kooser has been quoted as saying, “Poetry is about communication. Anyone in the world can write a poem people can’t understand.” I have that quote pasted outside my office door. If Plains poetry is accessible—good—hot damn! Maybe that’ll bring more readers to the big dance.

New book from S.D. poet laureate

ericedits — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:51:14 +0000

I got word this week that South Dakota poet laureate David Allan Evans has a new chapbook coming out. “After the Swan Dive” is available for preorder at Finishing Line Press. It’s free shipping if you submit your order before Oct. 31. Evans’ stuff always comes highly recommended. His After Long Busyness interview is here.

Interview with a Poet: Chad Lee Robinson

ericedits — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:03:49 +0000

A while back, I was talking with South Dakota poet laureate David Allan Evans at a writers’ conference at which he had just coached the participants in writing haiku and senryu. He recommended that I interview a poet named Chad Lee Robinson for the blog. So I did.

Robinson was born and raised in Pierre. He holds a degree in English from South Dakota State University. His haiku, senryu and tanka have appeared in over thirty print and online journals, including Acorn, Bottle Rockets, The Heron’s Nest, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, and Mayfly, and in countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Romania, the UK and the USA. His work has also appeared in a number of anthologies, including Red Moon Press’ annual Red Moon Anthology each year for the last four years, and most notably in Baseball Haiku: The Best Haiku Ever Written About the Game (W.W. Norton, 2007). He is a member of the Haiku Society of America, the Haiku Poets of Northern California, the Tanka Society of America, and the Skipping Stones Haiku Group. Chad has also been the Plains & Mountains Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America since 2006. He currently lives in Pierre with his wife, and helps his dad run a small grocery/catering business.

After Long Busyness: How did you find your way into haiku?

Chad Lee Robinson: All it took was one haiku, and I was hooked.

The first haiku I ever read was in the Fall of 2002 in a creative writing class at SDSU. The professor, South Dakota Poet Laureate David Allan Evans, put the following haiku on the chalkboard:

a crow

settled on a bare branch

autumn evening

Written in about 1680 by Basho, Japan’s first and most famous haiku master, this haiku contains images not unfamiliar to me, but presents them in a new way. It was a revelation to me that this was poetry. I was immediatley drawn to its smallness, to its brevity, to its clear and uncluttered images, and to its impact. After class I went straight to the campus library and checked out every book I could find about haiku. I had to write some haiku as an assignment for class, and I’ve been writing them ever since.

ALB: The Rapid City Journal recently sponsored a haiku challenge, soliciting haiku from readers, and received over 200 responses. What is it about haiku that resonates with people?

CLR: There are so many reasons, and each person’s is probably different. Some might say they like haiku because they don’t like reading longer poetry. Others might say it keeps them focused on their surroundings, on the small details of daily life. For some it may be more spiritual, and for others more for the fun of it. The list goes on and on.

ALB: What is the key to writing a good haiku?

CLR: I don’t know if there is a “key” to writing a good haiku. At the risk of sounding like a text book, here are a number of elements found in successful haiku:

A) immediacy – haiku should be written in the present tense;

B) common language and natural syntax;

C) literal imagery – images should be sharp and clear and should make the reader use one or more of the senses;

D) conciseness – most haiku are written in less than 17 syllables; adding words to reach a certain syllable count is not advised;

E) a sense of season – this can be done by either naming the season (spring, summer, fall, winter) or by using an image that evokes a certain season (ie, pumpkins = autumn);

F) suggestion – readers of haiku don’t want to see the whole cow; show them the cow’s lips or the cow’s udders; also choose words that make sense within the context of the poem but that will suggest more than one interpretation;

G) juxtaposition of images – most haiku have 2-3 images in them; the images you choose for your haiku should add depth to one another and create layers of meaning; the images shouldn’t be thrown together at random;

H) sense of mood – don’t tell the reader how to feel, let the images do the talking.

This is probably far more technical than I need to be. One thing I’ve found to be true about haiku is that haiku are easy to write but they’re hard to write well. Whether you’re writing haiku to publish or just for fun, you should always write about things that mean something to you.

ALB: Name some of the best publications/websites for readers and writers of haiku.

CLR: Keep in mind: what’s listed below barely scratches the surface of what’s available on the internet and in print.

Here are some websites that should provide a way into haiku on the internet without having to sift through the garbage to get to the good stuff:

www.hsa-haiku.org is the Haiku Society of America; publishes Frogpond, one of the most well-known English-language haiku journals.

www.modernhaiku.org is the website for Modern Haiku, arguably the most prestigious journal in which to have a haiku published.

www.geocities.com/bottlerockets_99 is the website for bottle rockets. A huge success story, this is the most Zen-flavored and fun haiku journal out there. Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary.

www.brooksbookshaiku.com is home to Brooks Books, a publisher of haiku books as well as Mayfly, a small but powerful little journal that showcases the individual haiku at its best.

http://home.earthlink.net/~missias/Acorn.html is home to Acorn: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku. Another top haiku journal that’s also celebrating is 10th anniversary.

http://www.theheronsnest.com is home to The Heron’s Nest, a quarterly online journal and print annual. Another one that’s celebrating its 10th anniversary. Features a 5-member editorial board. One of the best haiku journals on the market.

http://www.simplyhaiku.com The largest online only haiku journal, Simply Haiku publishes a range of Japanese-style verse such as haiku, senryu, tanka, haibun and many more. Well worth a thorough read.

There are a number (too numerous to mention here) of great haiku collections by individual authors as well as anthologies out there. Here are some haiku anthologies that proved to be helpful to me in getting started as well as ones I go back to again and again:

The Haiku Anthology, 3rd edition, edited by Cor van den Heuvel (Norton, 1999)

The New Haiku, edited by John Barlow and Martin Lucas (Snapshot Press, 2003)

Haiku Moment, edited by Bruce Ross (Tuttle, 1993)

The Haiku Handbook, edited and complied by William J. Higginson with Penny Harter (Kodansha, 1985)

Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac, edited and compiled by William J. Higginson (Kodansha, 1996)

Haiku: A Poet’s Guide, by Lee Gurga (Modern Haiku Press, 2003)

Interview with a Poet: Andy Thorstenson

ericedits — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:33:47 +0000

Andy Thorstenson lives in Hot Springs, SD, with his wife and two children. He was born in Vermillion and began writing poetry in college.

I have gotten to know him through the Write Now! Writers Conference, which was held in Hot Springs in March. He was one of the event’s organizers and, being familiar with this blog, invited me to give a presentation about how writers can use blogs, social networking sites and other online venues to get their work out into the world.

Andy’s book of poetry, “crossing the 100th meridian,” came out last year. It is imbued with a definite sense of place attributable to the author’s travels in exotic locales around the world. Andy reveals a close connection to the landscape through his astute observation and keen interpretation of the surroundings.

After Long Busyness: The first time I read “crossing the 100th meridian,” I was struck by how connected the poems are to the natural landscape. When a poem has a person in it, he or she has a small role. Was it a conscious choice to keep people out of your poems?

Andy Thorstenson: The book itself was intended to be a collection drawn primarily from a sense of place, beginning with the title. So I attempted to make landscapes and natural events central to the inspiration in these poems. In so many instances, I find the inspiration for poetry comes not from human elements but in natural occurrences. This is not so much a conscious choice but reflects where I am most attuned and where my descriptive skills reside.

Oftentimes the person in the poem is me because I write primarily from personal experience. I have been fortunate to visit fantastic places and witness phenomenal events, the result being poetry highlighting the grace, beauty, and wisdom of nature with me as the astonished chronicler.

ALB: At times, you have a somewhat technical/scientific vocabulary in your poetry. I’m thinking of lines like: “the upper mandible adorned with/a reptilian protrusion,” from “pelicans.” Where do word choices like that come from?

AT: Some words come straight out of field guides or technical references for plants, animals, or geology. Many of these words have Greek and Latin roots and have typically been limited to use in science. But they have such good sounds and can often be deduced from context or their relations to other more common words. I hope that they don’t carry along their academic baggage but instead give readers or listeners a sense of fine, descriptive detail. Poetry is the place to expand the boundaries of language and, in doing so, expand the opportunities to imagine the extraordinary.

Certainly I am guilty of using adjectives from science as descriptors for nontechnical subjects. “Tannic” for instance, is usually used to describe an acid, but that should not preclude the term from being used as a color to describe “turbid tannic bubbles.”

In some ways, my hope in writing is to create readers who will take the message to observe more critically and to consider thoughtfully the words they use. To discard mundane figures of speech and reconsider preconceived or cliché descriptors. Finding an unusual usage of a word by making a verb of patina, an adjective of flora, or an adverb of rhythm makes words unusual but still understandable. Taking the common word “unraveled” and unnegating it makes it “raveled.” This causes a reader to pause and decipher its meaning.

ALB: When I have heard you read your poems, they come to life, revealing a dimension that’s not apparent on the page. How much do you consider the aural impact of your poetry when you write?

AT: The impact of crisp words, sounds that play with adjoining sounds, and phrases that increase the tempo of spoken words are critical to poetry. Cadence, inflection, and tempo add immensely to a poetic work. I don’t have a completed poem until I am satisfied with the way it sounds aloud.

Reading my work aloud is an integral part of the writing and particularly the editing process. New words emerge in this process, content becomes clear, and syntax carries the piece to its natural conclusion. I want the spoken poem to underscore the emotional root of its meaning. The literal content of a poem can perhaps be best understood from the printed page, but its essence can be best felt from the spoken word.

A friend heard an early version of the orchid show and laughed upon hearing the phrase “a mate for pollinate” — this in a poem where rhyme is virtually absent. That one small laugh opened an amazing door for me to explore the possibilities of using sound to deliver more than the words alone are capable.

Another aspect of spoken word is the theatrical part, the performance. Compare the printed sheet music of any inspirational song with a live performance of that same piece and that should apply to the printed page versus a poem performed aloud. The author has an entirely new set of tools to deliver the content of a poem. Increase the tempo for drama, highlight the interplay of sounds for humor, emphasize the critical words to enhance their impact and poetry becomes a living creation.

And here’s a poem from Andy, reprinted with his permission:

Pelicans

Who could expect them to be so primeval,

their eyes close-set and

rimmed in a striking vibrant yellow,

their bills garish orange.

the upper mandible adorned with

a reptilian protrusion

that would be the envy of any

jurassic pterosaur flashing for a mate

designed undoubtedly at the dawn of flight

flying like tankers on

broad wings with bulky bodies

slow, level and steady

on the water so swanwhite and graceful

as they are doubled in reflection

on the windrippled mirror of the lake

seven of them,

bowing in near-unison,

heads, long necks and beaks submerge and

arise to toss back some equally ancient fish

quivering in the orange folds

of their pouchy throats

as it passes.

South Dakota poet: Andy Thorstenson

ericedits — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:10:37 +0000

I met Hot Springs poet Andy Thorstenson through the Write Now! Writers Conference, which he helped organize. His book, “Crossing the 100th Meridian,” draws from the landscapes he has spent time in. It is a poetry of place, nearly devoid of human inhabitants. He observes the surroundings with the keen eyes of a scientist. He uses a technical vocabulary that still comes off as poetic. But he also combines words to come up with new ways of describing the world: “the skystretching red walls of tapeats creek” and “a valleyswide underground trickling of water.”

Andy is blessed with the soul of a poet and the eyes of a scientist. As Whitman was an adept observer of people, Andy is an observer of the natural world.

What I’m Reading Right Now, part 4

ericedits — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:56 +0000

Poetry: The Bull Rider’s Advice: New and Selected Poems, by David Allan Evans

As I’ve said before, Evans, South Dakota poet laureate, is one of the reasons I am a poet today. This collection comprises poems from his books spanning from 1976 to 2000. It also has a section of new poems that have the feel of cleaning up unfinished business. That makes me look forward to what he has coming up next. I’d recommend The Bull Rider’s Advice to anyone looking for an overview of the poet’s career. But his best books, in my estimation, are Train Windows (1976) and Hanging Out With the Crows (1991).

South Dakota poet: Doug Cockrell

ericedits — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:43:09 +0000

A colleague of mine recently gave me a book of poetry by Doug Cockrell, who I think he said lives in Huron, SD. The book, “A Strange Descending” published in 1992 by Eagle Earth Press of Brookings, SD, is a collection that features various insects in each poem. My colleague said that Cockrell has struggled with psychological issues for a long time and that the poems are metaphors for those struggles.

The characters here are lacewings, dung beetles, trapdoor spiders, gnats, crickets and many others. Behind each of them, though, is the author.

It’s been a surprisingly great read. The poems are remarkable for their keen observations of the nature of the insect world and its symbolic connection to us. Also notable are the accompanying drawings by Julie Wolf.

Cockrell has lived in Redfield, SD, and graduated from South Dakota State University in 1975.