I have to say that the greatest influence on my life,
and on my writing, directly and indirectly,
has been my two Children.
-- Raymond Carver
UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Raymond, I am not like you,
Though we've both known drunkenness and despair.
And we've both been influenced by our children,
But I think in different ways.
And I, too, have a brief attention span,
Limiting me to things of a single sitting --
Poetry and short fiction. I speak now of reading.
You were John Gardner's most famous and successful student.
I can only know him from his words,
And seek vainly to find him in yours:
Words honed sharp on a blue whetstone
Worn smooth by the sea,
Found in a handkerchief under your desk,
Then passed from hand to hand.
Blue is the precise word, I believe, for
Your free strophes full of drunkenness and people pissing,
And your spare prose, pared too deep sometimes,
But greater still than larger things.
I hope your too-short life was not so sad as they suggest.
Where did you pass the blade, Raymond,
When your carving days were through?
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7 comments:
I enjoy reading what you write.
Marinela -
Thank you. I'm glad you stopped by. You must be my youngest reader.
I took a quick glance at a couple of your poems. they are very clear and honest. That takes some courage.
Keep writing - I think it is in your soul.
Cheers!
JzB
I'm not so much into modern fiction, but enjoy Ray Carver's stories, like in Cathedral. He was not so PC, though, jzb. Fairly gloomy realism--a bit noirish as well. Or fatalistic--that's the word. Soundtrack by Mingus , or Chet Baker, Bill Evans, etc.
J -
Carver was certainly not PC. why do you bring that up?
This poem, which I wrote several years ago, is a direct reaction to one of his. I believe it was called "The Blue Stones." I can't find the book I had that included it; nor can I find it on the web anywhere.
I don't actually enjoy Carver, but he makes me think, and stimulates my creativity. I once wrote a short story that was a reaction to "WILL YOU PLEASE BE QUIET PLEASE." I'll send it to you if you're interested.
Cheers!
well, that's it. Carver's not PC, and presents a rather bleak view of humanity (at least west coast humanity) yet he's a powerful writer, in my estimation.
Many great writers were hardly do-gooder liberals--Conrad, Ezra Pound, LF Celine come to mind. Sometimes one leaves the politics aside, as long as it isn't Mein Kampf or stalin-like writing.
That said, I'm more of a non-fiction person, preferring history, journalism, economic matters, or essayists (even do-gooder ones, like Thoreau).
Literature may dazzle at times--as with say Conrad's stories, or EA Poe. It may deceive at times, as with the usual commerical potboilers or latest space opera dreck. I contend Lit. deceives more often than it dazzles (or informs, teaches, instructs, etc). That's not such a radical view--Bertrand Russell for one thought literature mostly a sham (--Hamlet is not Napoleon). As did Plato.
(scuzi rant)
Are you kidding? I love a good rant.
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