{"id":3789,"date":"2012-08-14T10:41:50","date_gmt":"2012-08-14T14:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=3789"},"modified":"2013-12-18T22:16:39","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T02:16:39","slug":"mcnair-to-hall-august-14-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/mcnair-to-hall-august-14-1984\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair to Hall, August 14, 1984"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a>\"Letter<\/a><\/p>\n

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

August 14, 1984<\/p>\n

Dear Don,<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad you like my poem. And I\u2019m happy to say
\nI like the poems you sent, too. I\u2019d have responded
\nearlier about them, but house guests have recently
\nprevented writing of any<\/span> kind. More:<\/p>\n

I like<\/span> the language of \u201cSums.\u201d The odd spellings
\nand usages of the poem create a mysterious barrier,
\nwhich are undoes as if entering a time capsule.
\nThe language is strange and delicious<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ragpicker\u2019s Horse\u201d is charming and funny,
\nwith its bits of pictures. There\u2019s a wonderful
\nna\u00efvet\u00e9 in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Walk in the West Country\u201d is also a good new
\npoem, singing its way to a conclusion that \u201cencloses\u201d
\nlike the fence. I like the repetition of \u201cstone\u201d in the
\npoem, and especially the image of the man as a leaf.<\/p>\n

2\/<\/p>\n

The \u201cmutter\u201d of the sheep is wonderful, esp. in the way it
\nmocks the utterance of the poem itself. I do wonder about
\nthe word \u201churl\u201d in line 2 \u2013 it seems too active
\nor violent for what sheep do when they eat grass.
\nDo I miss some allusion in the hurling of Roman
\nherds?…<\/p>\n

\u201cWaking the Next Morning\u201d is fine, too. I do like
\nthe odd perspective on an event. I\u2019m not sure I
\nlike the title, is all. Maybe \u201cThe Word,\u201d as \u201cThe
\nRepeated Word,\u201d would be better?<\/p>\n

I suggest a few small changes in \u201cPhototropism.\u201d
\nIt seems to me \u201clong and pale,\u201d five lines from the
\nbottom, pushes the erotic analogy too far
\n(toward a cartoon) and ought to be dropped.<\/p>\n

Maybe that section of the poem could go like this:<\/p>\n

just so, in August,
\nwrapped. tight
\ndaylily buds tip
\nforward\u2026.<\/p>\n

(like the way
\nthis word <\/del>word links
\nthe to sections
\ntogether, echoing \u201cbelow\u201d)<\/p>\n

3\/<\/p>\n

I think the next-to-last line of the poem is confusing
\nwithout a comma between \u201crises\u201d and \u201copens.\u201d And
\nI think you ought to consider<\/span>, at least, whether the
\njade plant clutters the poem somewhat, interfering
\nwith the human-to-plant analogy the poem
\ncenters on. One more possible thing to consider is
\nwhether the daylilies should have a location in the
\npoem. The phrase \u201ceast-by-south\u201d halfway suggests
\na location, after all, and there is a strong sense
\nof location in the opening lines. I\u2019m not sure<\/span>
\nsuch considerations should lead to changes, but
\nmaybe<\/span> so.<\/p>\n

I guess I don\u2019t like \u201cFelix\u201d as a whole,
\nthough it contains an extraordinary<\/span> image, the
\nmost striking are in this entire batch, for me:
\n\u201chis skin wrinkled and puffed\/ from thirty years
\nof soaking in his watery chair.\u201d WOW! I think
\nthe image collides with \u201ctwenty-five-years-old
\nforever,\u201d though. And it seems to me the speaker<\/p>\n

4\/<\/p>\n

is more articulate than he ought to be. I think you
\nought to try and make him communicate roughly
\nthe same thing in a different, more trucker-like,
\nlanguage.<\/p>\n

About \u201cRichard.\u201d I love<\/span> the idea of the poem,
\nand I think that idea would be better in execution
\nif the language were altered somewhat. I think
\nthe poem\u2019s language should somehow get closer
\nto the perception of the boy who actually experiences
\nthe disparity between the people acting as if the
\nworld all made sense, and the nonsensical world
\nitself. I do think you need to retain the voice
\nof an amused, older person in the poem, but I
\nfeel that the voice you have becomes too<\/span> knowing in
\nthe lines between the two colons (only there),
\ntaking the poem too far away from the boy\u2019s
\nconsciousness. With a few changes, this will be
\na wonderful poem!<\/p>\n

5\/<\/p>\n

All other comments will have to wait until next
\nletter, as I\u2019ve got to run to get this letter into
\nthe mail and get to my teaching at Merrimack
\nValley College (my last night there). I hope
\nthis is helpful \u2013 and I\u2019m sorry for the delay.<\/p>\n

Love,<\/p>\n

Wes<\/p>\n

PS \u2013 Note, with poem, enclosed!<\/p>\n

WHAT IT IS<\/p>\n

It is not what,
\ncarrying that
\nafterthought of legs,
\nhe runs to, and not
\nwhat his interrogative, foldy
\nface detects
\non the floor, because
\nit is always changing, always
\nturning out to be
\nsome other bug
\nor bush his nose wanted,
\nleaving his tail
\nsmoldering
\nbehind, and
\nit is never
\nafter all that scratching
\nand lifting of leg,
\nenough: not even
\nafter he joins
\nthe dinner party, smiling
\nupside-down
\nand rolling
\nhis testicles, not even
\nin his whimpering sleep,
\ndreaming in the tips
\nof his paws
\nthat he is chasing
\nit, that very thing
\nwhich, scratching,
\nhe can\u2019t quite
\nreach, nor sniffing find,
\nbecause in the perfect
\nbrainlessness of dog,
\nhe will never know
\nwhat it is.<\/p>\n

D- Is the second \u201cafter\u201d (in \u201cafter he joins\u201d) OK, or does it
\nrepeat, awkwardly \u2013 Should I use \u201cwhen\u201d instead?
\nW<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

Read\u00a0What It Is<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n

Read Sums<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n

Read My Friend Felix<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n

Read Visiting Richard<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

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

[Click image to view] August 14, 1984 Dear Don, I\u2019m glad you like my poem. And I\u2019m happy to say I like the poems you sent, too. I\u2019d have responded earlier about them, but house guests have recently prevented writing of any kind. More: I like the language of \u201cSums.\u201d The odd spellings and usages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2341,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60366,35504,77589,42963,293],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3789"}],"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\/2341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3789"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11423,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3789\/revisions\/11423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}