{"id":2175,"date":"2012-04-30T11:42:39","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T15:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=2175"},"modified":"2013-11-02T20:27:45","modified_gmt":"2013-11-03T00:27:45","slug":"hall-to-mcnair-september-23-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/hall-to-mcnair-september-23-1982\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall to McNair: September 23, 1982"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"width="250"\"<\/a>\"Letter<\/a><\/p>\n

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

23 September 1982<\/p>\n

Wes McNair
\nBox 42
\nNorth Sutton, NH 03260<\/p>\n

Dear Wes,<\/p>\n

You do have a wonderful gift for finding the dream right
\nin the dark center of popular things, like the Big Cars.<\/p>\n

I like both of these poems. Possibly both of them could
\nbe touched up a bit. Let me ruminate and wander\u2026.<\/p>\n

I think that \u201c\u2026the American Dream parade\u201d is almost
\ntoo much, and it might be too much\u2026 You know, \u201csmiling a
\nlane wide\u201d is almost<\/span> over the line into pop culture itself,
\nnot just about it but it\u2026 Then comes the next: Is it
\nironic or is it celebratory almost? True questions, not
\ndisguised statements.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t understand \u201ctheir future.\u201d That is, I understand
\nit as the<\/span> future or our<\/span> future\u2026and since you say their<\/span> future,
\nwhich is a little strange, I take it you mean something different.
\nWhy is the future belonging to these old cars? As I understand
\nit, the meaning is fine\u2026but the expression is a little strange.
\nHowever, I take it that I am not really understanding what you
\nintend.<\/p>\n

Then I don\u2019t really like the syntax of \u201cmaps\/falling open\u2026\u201d
\nthrough \u201csuddenly the antiques of optimism\u2026\u201d I think it is
\nvery elliptical and hard to follow, and I don\u2019t see that its
\ndifficulty has any function. I would think that it might be
\nmore parallel and easy to (sic) end\u201dAmerica!\u201d parallel to the previous
\nsentence-fragment, and then make a new sentence, although the
\nline would be a bit long. \u201cSuddenly they are the antiques of
\noptimism\u2026\u201d except maybe that isn\u2019t just right. I really
\nthink it might be clarified<\/span> in here. Then I think that the
\nsyntax at the end is also hard to follow, that is, I think
\nthat \u201cbehind\u201d is a little ambiguous\u2026or that whole line is.
\nI think it might need more expression, I think you might need
\nto say \u201cbehind them,\u201d or something\u2026 I have tinkered with
\nways to alter it, and I can\u2019t do it by tinkering\u2026 I think
\nit needs to be spread out a little, said a little more fully.
\nBut I think the whole thing is here and lovely, it is just a
\nmatter of small details.<\/p>\n

I like Mute a whole lot, and think that the end of it
\nis very beautiful, but again I am puzzled by some details. I\u2019m
\nnot sure about the antecedent of \u201cit\u201d in the last line. The
\nfarm? It\u2019s pretty far away\u2026 It could be the name, but then
\nI wouldn\u2019t understand what.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t really understand what happened at the beginning.
\nDid the boy fall into the ice, really and truly, or is it a
\nmetaphor for something else? Obviously there is a pun going
\non, when you say \u201cthe son broke through the surface,\u201d because
\none would constantly speak of \u201cthe sun breaking through the
\nclouds\u2026\u201d It seems like a metaphor because you say \u201cthe
\nsurface\/of their solid world\u201d \u2013 but then I don\u2019t know what
\nit is a metaphor of, or what sort of things it might be a
\nmetaphor of, even. Just a death? Mourning and lamentation
\ncome clear with the second sentence.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t really know why \u201csign\u201d is singular, rather<\/p>\n

2\/<\/p>\n

than the conventional plural notion. Does it really change it?
\nOr does it just mystify it? And why the suggestion of mother
\nand daughter kissing? Of course it need not be that. It can
\nbe that each, separately, touches each\u2019s own mouth\u2026 You see
\nI am wandering a bit in here! I love the old man getting drunk
\nand the mosquitoes and so on\u2026 And the sound stopping. Now I
\nam thinking that \u201cit\u201d must be \u201cname,\u201d but it almost seems as if
\nI ought to know what that name would be, or what sort of thing
\nit ought to be, and I feel sort of kept out or mystified by
\nthe poem.<\/p>\n

This sounds much more negative, about this poem, that I
\nIntend it to be. I like the poem a lot. Maybe you can help
\nme with it.<\/p>\n

Of course it could be this damned head-cold still. But I
\ndon\u2019t think so completely.<\/p>\n

Joey (and I in my own name, for that matter) has started
\nthe campaign. Do not expect anything for a long time \u2013 well,
\ndon\u2019t expect anything ever, I suppose\u2026but don\u2019t expect even
\nshreds for a while. Not because I am slow but because publishers
\nare.<\/p>\n

Love as ever,<\/p>\n

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

\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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

[Click image to view] 23 September 1982 Wes McNair Box 42 North Sutton, NH 03260 Dear Wes, You do have a wonderful gift for finding the dream right in the dark center of popular things, like the Big Cars. I like both of these poems. Possibly both of them could be touched up a bit. […]<\/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":[35294,596,42965,35504,42979],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175"}],"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=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10142,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions\/10142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}