Richard Wilbur Sends Thank You Note

Good grief we do get busy though, don't we. The other day I received in the (snail) mail a postcard from Richard Wilbur. He wrote to say Thank You for the birthday card we sent earlier this month (March 2008). Specifically, he writes:

11 March 2008

Dear Mr. Christ,

I'm delighted to have been read at Barnes & Noble by the River Junction Poets. My thanks to you and your associates for the birthday card, and all power to your pens.

Sincerely,

(signed)

Richard Wilbur

Sweet Georgia Brown!

-- "It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued."

River Junction Poets Mission Statement

Wilfred Owen Birthday Party

What
A poetical celebration of Wilfred Owen’s birth, life and poetry.

When
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 7:00 PM

Where
Barnes & Noble Bookseller
3311 Tittabawassee Rd.
Saginaw , MI 48603
phone 989.790.9214

Who should come
Join us if you love poetry or are curious as to what poetry is all about. Join us if you'd like to talk to people whose hearts and minds are more open than closed. Join us if you can agree or disagree with someone's opinion respectfully. Bring a book if you can. It’s OK if it’s from your library.

Why
Find out what poems sound like out loud. Listen in on the group and then find a place where you can jump in and read something yourself. Great fun for the whole family. If you have specialized knowledge regarding our poet, do not hesitate to regale us with your story. Don't expect to leave our event with a definitive understanding of the poet or the poems but please do seek to experience and communicate the joys of poetry with others. Join in our informal discussion of poems we know and love and poems we are only just discovering. Better readers make better writers. Visit with our group where everyone's poetry is valued if not appreciated. If you have a smile to share be sure to bring it; otherwise be prepared to leave with one on your face and in your heart. If you're too far away to join us, create your own Birthdays of Poets Reader’s Workshop. Speak up now and forever share your peace. Tell (bring!) a friend.

How to find the organizer(s)
We are in the Poetry section, near the window that affords a view of Tittabawassee Road. The staff at Barnes & Noble will put up a sign that says 'This space reserved for The River Junction Poets at 7 p.m.' We'll be getting a few folding chairs to add around the coffee table there.

Details
Wilfred Owen (March 18, 1893 to November 4, 1918) After failing to gain entrance into the University of London, Owen spent a year as a lay assistant to Reverend Herbert Wigan in 1911 and went on to teach in France at the Berlitz School of English. By 1915, he became increasingly interested in World War I and enlisted in the Artists' Rifles group. After training in England, Owen was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

He was wounded in combat in 1917 and evacuated to Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh after being diagnosed with shell shock. There he met another patient, poet Siegfried Sassoon, who served as a mentor and introduced him to well-known literary figures such as Robert Graves and H. G. Wells.

It was at this time Owen wrote many of his most important poems, including "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and "Dulce et Decorum Est". His poetry often graphically illustrated both the horrors of warfare, the physical landscapes which surrounded him, and the human body in relation to those landscapes. His verses stand in stark contrast to the patriotic poems of war written by earlier poets of Great Britain, such as Rupert Brooke.
Excerpted from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/305 accessed 3/16/08.

Soldier’s Dream

I dreamed kind Jesus fouled the big-gun gears;
And caused a permanent stoppage in all bolts;
And buckled with a smile Mausers and Colts;
And rusted bayonets with His tears.

And there were no more bombs, of ours or Theirs,
Not even an old flint-lock, nor even a pikel.
But God was vexed, and gave all power to Michael;
And when I woke he'd seen to our repairs.
From http://users.fulladsl.be/spb1667/cultural/owen/soldier-s-dream.html accessed 3/16/08.

Expect more at the Birthdays of Poets Blog. Go now.

All best and see you Wednesday,
Andrew Christ

Legal stuff
Your e-mail address will not be sold or used by me for any purpose other than to promote these special events and the Birthdays of Poets Blog. If you prefer to not receive these messages, reply to this e-mail address (riverjunctionpoets at gmail dot com) and include the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the text of your message.

Parting Thoughts
Research indicates that better readers make better writers. Maybe this is why, in the Poet's Market, editors of literary magazines often recommend poets read more poetry. Are you not aware? You are a cultural event, and so is everyone else. Celebrate your humanity at Saginaw’s Birthdays of Poets Reader’s Workshop. May God continue to bless us mightily one and all. Be sure to thank a veteran for his/her service. Remember: only you can improve the audience for poetry. Please read, discuss and share responsibly. And vote.

-- "It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued."
River Junction Poets Mission Statement

Happy Birthday Lisel Mueller

Lisel Mueller is passionate about poetry at age 84. Yes, it's true. And I have the evidence to prove it. Yesterday in the mail I received a card from Ms. Mueller. She responded to the birthday card we sent to her shortly after our event honoring her birth, life and poetry. She wasn't at our event, of course - actually she wasn't even invited - because the event took place at the Barnes & Noble bookseller on Tittabawassee Road in Saginaw, Michigan, and she lives in Chicago. We started shortly after 7 p.m. That was the night Dave attended with his wife Wilma for the first time. They are both retired English teachers. Maureen was also there. She is heading back to California for a couple months now to make some dough ray her.

Anyway, about the card. It's magnificent. I so want to find a scanner so I can upload an image of it here. The card is about 3 inches square and opens up and is blank inside except for Ms. Mueller's handwriting. She writes:

3/5/08 Dear River Junction Poets,

I was delighted and honored by your beautiful card with your generous words about my poems. I am so glad that you enjoyed them and that in our present world of internetprose there are still readers of poetry. I am truly grateful, and I hope that, with readers like you, poetry will continue to "live"!

Best wishes to all of you,

[signed] Lisel Mueller

Yes! I want to have this card bronzed. I want to erect a statue. You can send a card to her as well. The birthday card we sent was addressed to her at The Poetry Center of Chicago as follows:

Ms. Lisel Mueller
c/o The Poetry Center of Chicago
37 S. Wabash Avenue
Chicago, IL 60603

Her birthday is today, March 8. How are you celebrating?

-- "It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued."

River Junction Poets Mission Statement

Richard Wilbur

Tonight we had four people at our event at the Barnes & Noble bookseller on Tittabawassee Road in Saginaw, Michigan. Phyllis and her husband Bob were there, as was Tim and myself. We read several poems by Richard Wilbur. Phyllis and Bob brought six anthologies with them. At one point or another, Phyllis has taught from each of these anthologies at Saginaw Valley State University. We found several anthologies for sale that include poems by Richard Wilbur.

I noticed in Harold Bloom's anthology The Best Poems of the English Language, there are no Richard Wilbur poems. But in Wilbur's Collected Poems 1943 - 2004, Bloom is quoted in a blurb: "It is a consolation to read through sixty years of Richard Wilbur's poetry. He should be read in the company of . . . Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens." Interesting!

The general consensus among the four of us tonight was that the group was too small to have a group picture. We signed a birthday card to send to Richard Wilbur. I looked at the website http://www.poets.org/ to see if I could find his mailing address. There I learned that Mr. Wilbur lives in Cummington, MA. I Googled Cummington, MA and found the website http://www.cummington-ma.gov/ which has Cummington's White Pages, among other things. He and his wife Charlee are listed there. I'll put our card to him in the mail tomorrow morning on my way to work. With the card we included the Barnes & Noble store flier which has in it an announcement for our Richard Wilbur event at the store.

Life is beautiful and so can you!

-- "It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued."

River Junction Poets Mission Statement

Richard Wilbur

What
A poetical celebration of Richard Wilbur’s birth, life and poetry. If you missed our last event, don't miss another one! Join us if you love poetry or are interested in learning more about this fine art. Join in discussion with people whose hearts and minds are more open than closed. If you learn from us or we learn from you a thing or two about our featured poet or poetry well then we're having an exceptionally memorable occasion. Note: Richard Wilbur will not be at the Barnes & Noble for this event.

When
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 7:00 PM

Where
Barnes & Noble Bookseller
3311 Tittabawassee Rd.
Saginaw , MI 48603
phone 989.790.9214

Who should come
Join us if you love poetry or are curious as to what poetry is all about. Join us if you'd like to talk to people whose hearts and minds are more open than closed. Join us if you can agree or disagree with someone's opinion respectfully. Bring a book if you can. It’s OK if it’s from your library.

Why
Find out what poems sound like out loud. Listen in on the group and then find a place where you can jump in and read something yourself. Read poetry out loud and have great fun with the whole family as we talk about life, poetry and the pursuit of happiness. If you have specialized knowledge regarding our poet, do not hesitate to regale us with your story. Don't expect to leave our event with a definitive understanding of the poet or the poems but please do seek to experience and communicate the joys of poetry with others. Join in our informal discussion of poems we know and love and poems we are only just discovering. Better readers make better writers. Visit with our group where everyone's poetry is valued if not appreciated. If you have a smile to share be sure to bring it; otherwise be prepared to leave with one on your face and in your heart. If you're too far away to join us, create your own Birthdays of Poets Reader’s Workshop. Speak up now and forever share your peace.

How to find us
We are in the Poetry section, near the window. The staff at Barnes & Noble will put up a sign that says 'This space reserved for The River Junction Poets at 7 p.m.' We'll be getting a few folding chairs to add around the table there.

Details
Richard Wilbur was born on March 1, 1921 in New York City. He studied at Amherst College before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He later attended Harvard University.
Excerpted from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/202 accessed 3/2/08.
In the postwar years, when poets born between 1920 and 1935 often underwent dramatic changes in their writing styles, Wilbur remained someone who mastered a style early and continued to work within it. It is a style in a direct line of descent from Wallace Stevens: unabashedly rich in its diction, urbane in its metrical sophistication, and remarkably light-hearted and playful. His first and second books, The Beautiful Changes (1947) and Ceremony (1950), were influential volumes, and Wilbur was widely regarded in the 1950s as a poet no less important than Robert Lowell.
Excerpted from http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm accessed 3/2/08.

A Baroque Wall-Fountain in the Villa Sciarra
by Richard Wilbur
for Dore and Adja

Under the bronze crown
Too big for the head of the stone cherub whose feet
A serpent has begun to eat,
Sweet water brims a cockle and braids down

Past spattered mosses, breaks
On the tipped edge of a second shell, and fills
The massive third below. It spills
In threads then from the scalloped rim, and makes

A scrim or summery tent
For a faun-m�nage and their familiar goose.
Happy in all that ragged, loose
Collapse of water, its effortless descent

And flatteries of spray,
The stocky god upholds the shell with ease,
Watching, about his shaggy knees,
The goatish innocence of his babes at play;

His fauness all the while
Leans forward, slightly, into a clambering mesh
Of water-lights, her sparkling flesh
In a saecular ecstasy, her blinded smile

Bent on the sand floor
Of the trefoil pool, where ripple-shadows come
And go in swift reticulum,
More addling to the eye than wine, and more

Interminable to thought
Than pleasure’s calculus. Yet since this all
Is pleasure, flash, and waterfall,
Must it not be too simple? Are we not

More intricately expressed
In the plain fountains that Maderna set
Before St. Peter’s—the main jet
Struggling aloft until it seems at rest

In the act of rising, until
The very wish of water is reversed,
That heaviness borne up to burst
In a clear, high, cavorting head, to fill

With blaze, and then in gauze
Delays, in a gnatlike shimmering, in a fine
Illumined version of itself, decline,
And patter on the stones its own applause?

If that is what men are
Or should be, if those water-saints display
The pattern of our aret�,
What of these showered fauns in their bizarre,

Spangled, and plunging house?
They are at rest in fulness of desire
For what is given, they do not tire
Of the smart of the sun, the pleasant water-douse

And riddled pool below,
Reproving our disgust and our ennui
With humble insatiety.
Francis, perhaps, who lay in sister snow

Before the wealthy gate
Freezing and praising, might have seen in this
No trifle, but a shade of bliss—
That land of tolerable flowers, that state

As near and far as grass
Where eyes become the sunlight, and the hand
Is worthy of water: the dreamt land
Toward which all hungers leap, all pleasures pass.

from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171796 accessed 3/2/08.


Parting Thoughts
Are you not aware? You are a cultural event, and so is everyone else. Celebrate your humanity at Saginaw’s Birthdays of Poets Reader’s Workshop. If you have a smile to share be sure to bring it. If you don't, be sure to join us so you'll have one afterward! Thank you and may God continue to bless us mightily one and all. Be sure to thank a veteran for his/her service. Remember: only you can improve the audience for poetry. Please read, discuss and share responsibly. And vote.

All best and see you Wednesday,
Andy Christ


-- "It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued." River Junction Poets Mission Statement

A Postcard from New Hampshire

In June (2006), when seven of us met at the Barnes & Noble in Saginaw (Michigan) to read poems by

Maxine Kumin on the occasion of her birthday, we decided to send a birthday card to Ms. Kumin. We all signed it, and Pat sent it to Norton (her publisher) on behalf of all of the River Junction Poets. Apparently the card was forwarded because Pat received a response from Ms. Kumin late in July. On a post card, Ms. Kumin wrote:

Dear Patricia,
Norton just forwarded the delightful birthday card you and the other RJ poets signed. My warm thanks to all of you. It was a happy surprise to be so closely read in Saginaw.
Best, Maxine, 7-18-06

A few days before our meeting, I read a few essays by Ms. Kumin. Pat, our Newsletter editor, had recommended them to me. I was able to share with our group that night at Barnes & Noble some of that information.

We are encouraged, and you should be too!

What is poetry? Fresh bread! We want some more! We want some more!

"It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued." River Junction Poets Mission Statement

David Budbill

David Budbill Appreciates Birthday Greetings from River Junction Poets
A few of the River Junction Poets met at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Saginaw, Michigan with other poetry lovers on June 13th, David Budbill's 46th birthday (2006). Altogether we had eleven people there that night. We read about his education in theology, about his children's books, about his being from Cleveland, about his being against war, about his taste for ancient Chinese poetry and about his life now on Judevine Mountain in Vermont. Within the space of an hour and a half or so (from 7pm to 8:30), we had plenty of time to talk about all these things and also to read poems by him from his book While We've Still Got Feet. We found that we liked his poems when they're read a little more slowly than the average speed of conversation. We found the poems very accessible, and a quick reading seems a disservice to them.

While we were together at the bookstore on his birthday, we circulated amongst ourselves a birthday card which we all signed and wrote a few comments on. We sent this birthday greeting to Mr. Budbill in the next few days. Since we didn't have his home address, I decided to search for his address online. I didn't find his address, but I did find the address of the Galaxy Bookshop. The Galaxy is Mr. Budbill's local bookstore and, according to their website, they are Mr. Budbill's favorite.

On Saturday, August 18, 2006, I had the keen surprise of finding in my mailbox a letter postmarked Burlington, Vermont and having the return address of Mr. David Budbill! It was quite thick, so of course I immediately began wondering what could be contained within it.

Mr. Budbill writes: Dear Andrew Christ and all the other River Junction Poets! Thank you all so much for your Birthday Reading for me. What a treat it was to get your card. I only got it now -- two months late -- because the Galaxy Bookshop -- my local bookstore -- just now remembered to give it to me. Thanks again to all of you for your graciousness. Sincerely, (signed) David Budbill

The note is written on heavy stock paper, a folded card with a drawing of a moon or sun above pine trees on what looks like a mountain on the front. The drawing was done by his wife, Lois Eby. Inside the card is printed Mr. Budbill's poem, 'Heaven.' The poem and the drawing are both copyright 2005. Also in the card were Mr. Budbill's business card and a blank postcard which we can use to tell a friend about Mr. Budbill's books from Copper Canyon Press, Moment to Moment and While We've Still Got Feet.

In addition to the card and its contents, Mr. Budbill included advertisements for his CDs. On Songs for a Suffering World, Mr. Budbill performs with 'renown bassist' William Parker and 'international drumming sensation' Hamid Drake. On Zen Mountains/Zen Streets, Mr. Budbill and Mr. Parker join forces once again to hammer out the brilliancies. Find out more about it at http://www.davidbudbill.com/.

Finally, along with all these other things, Mr. Budbill packed in a copy of the first two dozen or so pages of the March 2004 issue of The Sun. This particular issue contains eight of Mr. Budbill's poems and an interview with Mr. Budbill by Diana Schmitt. Among the many interesting thoughts emerging from that interview, I found the following: in a time of war, little poems 'about birds and trees and loneliness and sex and food and joy' are 'weapons in the war for human kindness.'

If you haven't yet, find Mr. Budbill's poems and read them. The world will be changed forever.





"It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued." River Junction Poets Mission Statement

Linda Pastan sends Best Wishes and a Poem to the River Junction Poets
Our Newsletter editor, Pat, recommended in April (2006) that we read Ms. Pastan's poetry at one of our Birthday Poetry events. Late in May, around the time of Ms. Pastan's birthday, nine River Junction Poets met to read poetry she had written. She lives in Maryland, but our group has decided it's fun to meet on the occasion of poets' birthdays and read poetry by them. We met at the Barnes & Noble in Saginaw (Michigan). We enjoyed her poems, and in particular the 'accessible' quality of them. We also enjoyed learning a little more about her - we learned, for instance, that she served as Poet Laureate of Maryland.

I was particularly glad to find this poet. I had not known of her poems before. It was a nice surprise for me to see on the cover of one of her books a comment by William Stafford, one of my favorite poets.

In addition to reading her poems, we bought a birthday card, signed it and mailed it to the addess Pat, our Newsletter editor, had. Ms. Pastan wrote back immediately with warmth and kindness:

Dear River Junction Poets,
What a lovely surprise your card and comments were! Sometimes I forget there is anybody out there reading my poems -- with thanks and best wishes!
(signed)
Linda Pastan
Are you anywhere near Grand Rapids? I'll be reading there in March -- And I have a new book, Queen of a Rainy Country, due in the fall.

Ms. Pastan wrote her response on the back of a proof of an older poem of hers, to be published 'in a forthcoming issue of MSS.' Here's the poem:

At My Window

I have thought much
about snow,
the mute pilgrimage
of all those flakes,
and about the dark wanderings
of leaves.

I have stalked
all four seasons
and seen how they beat
the same path
through the same woods
again and again.

I used to make a multitude
of trains, trusting
the strategy of tracks,
of distance.
I sailed on ships
trusting the arbitrary north.

Now I stand still
at my window
watching the snow
which knows only one direction,
falling in silence
towards silence.

Pat included Ms. Pastan's response to the birthday card in the River Junction Poets Newsletter. We hope to receive more responses from other poets as a result of this fun activity which brings us closer together, broadens our metaphorical horizons and connects us in a poetical sense to friends we haven't met in person.

We thought it was particularly delightful to receive the note from Ms. Pastan early in June (2006), so soon after we had sent the birthday card, and then on June 8th to hear Garrison Keillor read a poem by Ms. Pastan on his daily radio show 'The Writer's Almanac.' He read her poem 'After an Absence.' Coincidences can so tickle the cranium!

To update this story, I wrote to ask Ms. Pastan specifically where and when in Grand Rapids (MI) she will be reading. She will be reading at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids on Tuesday, March 20 (2007) at 7:30p.m. Hopefully a few of us River Junction Poets will be able to travel to Grand Rapids to hear her read then.

And now for another update: in my kitchen, I have a poster measuring ~11x14 inches announcing Ms. Pastan's reading at the Wege Ballroom. I drove to Grand Rapids with Sandy and Marion for the occasion. Sandy teaches English at Central Michigan University and Marion is a tireless advocate for poetry in Saginaw, Michigan. In fact, she is one of the founding members of Saginaw's poetry group, the River Junction Poets.

Pam Luebke of Aquinas College and Ms. Pastan allowed me to videotape Ms. Pastan that evening. I am glad to have the event captured digitally because I have never personally witnessed so many people at a poetry reading. Apparently some of the teachers at Aquinas expected to see their students there. After I do some editing, the video will run on Midland, Michigan's public-access television station, MCTV-3. I will also send a copy to Ms. Pastan.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, the audio recording of this event was of such a poor quality that the video production was scuppered.





"It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued." River Junction Poets Mission Statement

Rita Dove

Rita Dove sends Best Wishes to the River Junction Poets

In August (2005) thirteen of us met at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Saginaw, Michigan to read poetry by Rita Dove on the occasion of her birthday. During our time together, Pat, our Newsletter editor, said, "I wonder what she's doing to celebrate her birthday?" A few comments were made, and then Pat said, "Why don't we send her a birthday card?" So we did something we had never done before: Pat bought a birthday card, everyone signed it, and then Pat mailed it to Ms. Dove's publisher who forwarded it to Ms. Dove. Pat must have included the P.O. Box number of the River Junction Poets, because that is the address Ms. Dove sent her response to. We received a note from her in September of 2005. Here's what she wrote:

Dear River Junction Poets,
What a surprise to receive a birthday card from all of you! This has never happened to me before; it's such a sweet gesture.
It must feel terrific to be part of a group of like-minded people who gather to discuss each other's poetic efforts -- I think it's the best way to hone your craft and find your own voice. To have such a group of serious poets read and discuss my work is an honor. Thank you for marking my birthday as you did, and thank you for letting me know about it! Your card is propped up on my desk, where I can look at it and smile.
Best wishes to you,
[signed]
Rita Dove

We were thrilled to receive any response at all from such a highly esteemed and accomplished poet. The fact that she served as U.S. Poet Laureate came up during our time together. Pat quoted her note to us in the River Junction Poets Newsletter. That Ms. Dove responded with such warmth was just beyond our expectations. Ms. Dove's thoughtful response has encouraged us to send birthday cards to all the living poets whose birthdays and poetry we celebrate.

"It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued."

River Junction Poets Mission Statement

This was us on January 16th, 2008. We met at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Tittabawassee Road in Saginaw, MI to read poems by Philip Levine. We talked about him and his work, the Spanish Civil War, ourselves, you name it. And isn't that the hallmark of great poetry? It includes everything. Nothing is out of reach for great poetry.

Click the picture to see a larger version of it.
Left to right: Andy, Marion, Maureen, Bev, Roz.
Photographer: anonymous fellow citizen
Guess which three are River Junction Poets?





"It is our goal to appreciate and improve our talents, to share our own work and to communicate the joys of poetry with others. Everyone's poetry is valued." River Junction Poets Mission Statement