{"id":1705,"date":"2012-03-30T14:38:31","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T18:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=1705"},"modified":"2013-12-13T14:44:43","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T18:44:43","slug":"mcnair-to-hall-september-9-1980-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/mcnair-to-hall-september-9-1980-2\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair to Hall: September 9, 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"McNair-to-Hall-09-09-1980\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Click image to view]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

Sept 9, 1980<\/p>\n

Dear Don,<\/p>\n

I seem never to run out of
\nafterthoughts. This time, I only<\/span>
\nwant to change an article
\n(\u201cthe\u201d to \u201ca\u201d) in poem 3
\nof \u201cThe People Upstairs.\u201d Oh, well-
\nat least this will arrive with<\/span>
\nthe other stuff. The enclosed becomes
\nthe final<\/span> version of 3.<\/p>\n

Wes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

A note from McNair about this letter:<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Below is the text of the poem “The People Upstairs” as I sent it in this letter. The poem is a response to the footfall of tenants in our North Sutton farmhouse as they ascended the stairway to their upstairs apartment, and lived their lives above our heads.<\/p>\n

The People Upstairs<\/p>\n

1
\neach night
\nwe hear them<\/p>\n

ascending the stairs
\ndescending<\/p>\n

deeper and deeper
\ninto the floor<\/p>\n

falling while rising
\naway from themselves<\/p>\n

their weightless voices
\ndrifting out<\/p>\n

of earshot far
\ninto the next world<\/p>\n

2
\no feet
\nforgotten servants<\/p>\n

left out
\nof the conversation
\nof mind and hands
\nwe hear you<\/p>\n

waiting
\nunder the desk
\nwe understand<\/p>\n

your great patience
\nand your<\/p>\n

mystery moving
\nbeyond the cloud
\nof ceiling carrying<\/p>\n

the body dream<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

above our heads
\nthe faint scream<\/p>\n

of pipes dissolves
\nthe corners of rooms<\/p>\n

and feet walk past us
\nin space<\/p>\n

free of the tables
\nlamps and chairs<\/p>\n

which hold us here
\ndying of definition<\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Click image to view] Sept 9, 1980 Dear Don, I seem never to run out of afterthoughts. This time, I only want to change an article (\u201cthe\u201d to \u201ca\u201d) in poem 3 of \u201cThe People Upstairs.\u201d Oh, well- at least this will arrive with the other stuff. The enclosed becomes the final version of 3. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35324,35504,42973,42963,293],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1705"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10971,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705\/revisions\/10971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}