Live from Listowel Writers' Week (part 2)
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What themes do the poems explore in this episode?
Welcome to the podcast version of Sunday Miscellany, which differs from the radio version for rights reasons. We hope you enjoy the program. This first poem is, I guess, about place. It's about here, in a sense, and it's about places that kind of become mythical. It's called September Returning. A fireplace raising an eternal plume, the house packed and still, totally quiet, a stopped clock kind of silence. The sun we no longer see is drawing a band of yellow beneath the blackish blue sky. Over the lights of the stole, I once thought I could see the lost land of Atlantis or high Brazil. Now, through the window, the fields like so much emptiness, the leaves like forgetting the fall, making gaunt silhouettes of the trees against the sky.
I cannot yet comprehend how each breath of wind can relieve them of their station, leaving like mist from the mouth, opposite of kettle steam or chimney smoke.
How does the poem 'Father Figure' reflect on personal relationships?
It is the band fading. It is the leaves leaving. It is the breath growing light from the fireplace, the plume rising still.
And this next poem kind of came from a quote, which is something along the lines of people who don't have fathers in their lives, kind of spend their lives collecting father figures. And I wish that quote was from some kind of very heady place. It's actually from Kill Bill, volume two, no less. But anyway, so this poem is called Father Figure. I lay my head in the crux of my elbow and watch sideways as he dresses worn out Levi's and a green blue plaid shirt sleeves are old on his days off. He lets me follow him as he mends this or that around the new house, which is very old and in need of the heavy hammering sounds of a new man. His hands are hardened, coarse as the stubble on his chin, dark and covering like the coffee grounds I think should taste like cocoa, but never do.
What is the significance of the poem 'The Fox' in the context of temptation?
I watch the shirt buttons close like eyes opening on their sides. Will time make such a man of my body? I stand sideways in his shadow, waiting to see what is to be mended next.
And this final poem, when I showed this to my partner, he asked me what it's about. I said, go away now. Don't be asking questions like that. What's the poem about? And he said, well, I think it's about temptation. So I thought, OK. I'm going to say it.
How does the poem 'Night Swim' address grief and healing?
It's called The Fox. I must be moving quietly then, for I've seen him once or twice, flashing ahead of me, bright, shiny, orange under the street lamps like a small, shifty guide. And I want to ask, where are we going then, Fox? What's in it for me anyway? My feet are tired and they're saying, go home, go home, but I think I'll keep following. Fox turns and for a moment his gold coin eyes are two lumps in my throat saying, not tonight, cowboy. Listen to your feet. How far can I push it before he slips off down some side alley or into some bush? But I don't think Fox really wants me gone. I follow him right to the shore.
What historical context is provided in 'The United States vs Ulysses'?
and under a pale moon he leaps, growing scales and a fin and then splash. Jump in, he says, jump in. You'd be sure to drown, but sure, convince yourself you can swim. I think to turn and run, but there, dancing in that faraway sea, Fox is whatever I want him to be. Thank you. So this song is called Wolves, in a similar vein. And it's about, I suppose, a wolf in sheep's clothing. Someone you think you knew but you didn't. In care, you might call them a snake. Ooh.
How does the poem 'Cahal' connect personal memories with broader themes?
No man is an island We are built from blood and bone But there will come a time
When I got to know Margie in the early 1960s, she was the last tenant left in a red brick terraced house on Gardner Street in Dublin. She had a single room on the top floor in what was once the servants' quarters. Many houses on that street were almost derelict at the time. Margie was elderly, always breathless, frequently dizzy. Her only source of drinking water was a tap in the basement, so every day she had to negotiate the five flights down. All she'd ever carry back up in her enamel bucket was a couple of quarts. Any more and she'd never make it back to the top of the house. She used to say that climbing those steps was like calvary.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What themes do the poems explore in this episode?
0:02–1:13
2
How does the poem 'Father Figure' reflect on personal relationships?
1:13–2:33
3
What is the significance of the poem 'The Fox' in the context of temptation?
2:33–3:08
4
How does the poem 'Night Swim' address grief and healing?
3:08–3:54
5
What historical context is provided in 'The United States vs Ulysses'?
3:54–4:54
6
How does the poem 'Cahal' connect personal memories with broader themes?
4:54–6:17
7
What insights are shared about the creative process in this episode?
6:17–7:19
8
How do the contributors reflect on their experiences at Listowel Writers' Week?
7:19–36:42