Kay Ryan Birthday Reading

Hi All - Please join us on Thursday 17 September 2009 as we meet on the occasion of Kay Ryan's birthday. We will meet at Belle Epoque (map attached), 809 Adams St, Bay City (989) 894-2589. Beginning at 7 pm, we will read the following poems and answer the related questions. Any contributions of your own for discussion, sharing, etc. will certainly be welcomed. NOTE: Kay Ryan (pictured, right) will not be there. See you then! ~Andy


Sharks' Teeth

by Kay Ryan

Everything contains some
silence. Noise gets
its zest from the
small shark's-tooth-
shaped fragments
of rest angled
in it. An hour
of city holds maybe
a minute of these
remnants of a time
when silence reigned,
compact and dangerous
as a shark. Sometimes
a bit of a tail
or fin can still
be sensed in parks.

From http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20903 accessed 22 August 2009.


Question for discussion:

As we get to know the silence(s) of this poem, do we understand the poem better?

Are the words of this poem full of zest?





The Niagara River

by Kay Ryan

As though
the river were
a floor, we position
our table and chairs
upon it, eat, and
have conversation.
As it moves along,
we notice—as
calmly as though
dining room paintings
were being replaced—
the changing scenes
along the shore. We
do know, we do
know this is the
Niagara River, but
it is hard to remember
what that means.

From http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20196 accessed 22 August 2009.



Question for discussion:

What do you suppose the people at the dinner table are talking about?




Patience

by Kay Ryan

Patience is
wider than one
once envisioned,
with ribbons
of rivers
and distant
ranges and
tasks undertaken
and finished
with modest
relish by
natives in their
native dress.
Who would
have guessed
it possible
that waiting
is sustainable—
a place with
its own harvests.
Or that in
time's fullness
the diamonds
of patience
couldn't be
distinguished
from the genuine
in brilliance
or hardness.

From http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20263 accessed 22 August 2009.



Question for discussion:

Is it a kindness that this poem is as short as it is?

Kay Ryan Poet Laureate

Kay Ryan is being selected as the next Poet Laureate. Read about it here in the New York Times.

Kay Ryan

Kay Ryan Thinks the River Junction Poets Are Great - She Told Us So Herself

On Thursday, September 7th, 2006, I was among seven people who met to read poems by Ms. Kay Ryan. Although we live in mid-Michigan and Ms. Ryan lives in northern California, we met on the occasion of her birthday. Some of the group are regular members of the River Junction Poets, the poetry group in Saginaw (Michigan). We met at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Tittabawassee Road. We met from 7 to 9 p.m. and learned a little about Ms. Ryan and her poetry. For instance, we learned that she enjoys teaching introductory writing at a college in northern California. We learned from Garrison Keillor's new show that she has a 'literary friendship' with Dana Gioia. And we observed that Ms. Ryan has a wide variety in her poems. Her poems sometimes have humor and sometimes they are philosophical. We read enough to see that much and more.

While we were there, we bought and signed a birthday card to send to Ms. Ryan. I took the card with me, and the next day I found her address online. I addressed the envelope and put the card in the mail. On September 15th I received a response from Ms. Ryan in my mailbox. How cool is that! Ms. Ryan addressed her card 'to the River Junction Poets c/o Andrew Christ.' She writes:

To the River Junction Poets of Saginaw - What a wonderful birthday surprise! I think you're great. Thanks. (signed) Kay Ryan 9-12-06

I particularly enjoyed that she underlined the word 'great' twice. On the other side of the card she added

'(This is a spare page from a fine-press book made by printing students in San Francisco.)'

On one side of the card is a poem titled 'Crustacean Island,' and on the other side of the card is a poem titled 'A Cat/A Future.'


Crustacean Island

There could be an island paradise
where crustaceans prevail.
Click, click, go the lobsters
with their china mitts and
articulated tails.
It would not be sad like whales
with their immense and patient sieving
and the sobering modesty
of their general way of living.
It would be an island blessed
with only cold-blooded residents
and no human angle.
It would echo with a thousand castanets
and no flamencos.



A Cat/A Future

A cat can draw
the blinds
behind her eyes
whenever she
decides. Nothing
alters in the stare
itself but she's
not there. Likewise
a future can occlude:
still sitting there,
doing nothing rude.



Thank you Kay Ryan - no longer a stranger - another friend we haven't met yet.

"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