Hi Doug,
Thanks so much for the information on Mandel whose work I am woefully
unaware of. I'll have to read him, and, yes, Howe's new book too, for I was much
struck by her poem which Anny kindly went out and found,
best,
Rebecca
---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:24:45 -0700
>From: Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Gulag system
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>Hi Rebecca
>
>yes, that's from Life Sentence, a savage book in its way, yet highly
>crafted. Mandel was a wide ranging poet, but he was fascinated by the
>confessionals & did something with that possibility in that book. But
>he did much more in others.
>
>I'll have to check out that Howe. She is good.
>
>Doug
>On 25-Jan-05, at 10:12 AM, Rebecca Seiferle wrote:
>
>> Oh, Doug, can you give me the title? I went to google and kicked up
>> something
>> like 17 titles for Mandel. Is the poem from _Life Sentence_ or
>> something else? I'd
>> much like to read it. Oh and this reminds me, there was a poem by
>> Fanny Howe
>> on Poetry Daily www.poems.com about two days ago that was very good. I
>> meant to mention it on the list for it's a very evocative political
>> poem, though
>> it's probably in the archives now, and can be found easily with a
>> search by
>> author name.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Rebecca
>>
>>
>> ---- Original message ----
>>> Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:05:53 -0700
>>> From: Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Subject: Re: Gulag system
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> Glad you liked it, Rebecca.
>>>
>>> It's from a book of poems very personal, & working in an eerie way to
>>> connect the speaker's jealousy to larger political concerns, or
>>> vice-versa. Very powerful in places.
>>>
>>> Doug
>>> On 25-Jan-05, at 9:39 AM, Rebecca Seiferle wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thanks much for this poem, Doug, I like it very much, especially the
>>>> way it sort
>>>> of breaks in the middle, here
>>>>
>>>>> if it is love that fingers in the mind
>>>>> wake with a touch
>>>>> curious
>>>>> I remember only what was lost
>>>>>
>>>>> plotting my own purges and despairs
>>>>
>>>> as if breaking, interrupted by feeling, into some deep questioning of
>>>> oneself,
>>>> that troubling and being troubled, where these losses and lists
>>>> intersect, so
>>>> many thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Rebecca
>>>> ---- Original message ----
>>>>> Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:58:50 -0700
>>>>> From: Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>> Subject: Re: Gulag system
>>>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>>>
>>>>> Some of the enws has been out there.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm reminded of a poem by Canadian writer, Eli Mandel:
>>>>>
>>>>> Beware the Sick Lion
>>>>>
>>>>> They say Stalin at night
>>>>> sleepless in the suburbs of Moscow
>>>>> drew up long lists of enemies
>>>>>
>>>>> think of that dreadful paper
>>>>>
>>>>> to be sentenced by the pen
>>>>> of an insomniac sleep-writing
>>>>>
>>>>> new stars wheel over Spain
>>>>> bulldozers cut roads through groves
>>>>> in Africa moors rule who once ruled Spain
>>>>>
>>>>> sleepless I pace before barred windows
>>>>> fake-andalusian arches and toward sea
>>>>> a Parador only cuts lines against the dark
>>>>> where dark Greeks and Phoenicians sailed
>>>>>
>>>>> if it is love that fingers in the mind
>>>>> wake with a touch
>>>>> curious
>>>>> I remember only what was lost
>>>>>
>>>>> plotting my own purges and despairs
>>>>>
>>>>> & as a poet, connecting it to questioning himself...
>>>>>
>>>>> This has been a very interesting conversation. And I too was
>>>>> grateful
>>>>> to get the url for the Ash article.
>>>>>
>>>>> Doug
>>>>> Douglas Barbour
>>>>> Department of English
>>>>> University of Alberta
>>>>> Edmonton Alberta T6G 2E5 Canada
>>>>> (780) 436 3320
>>>>> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
>>>>>
>>>>> The poet is ecstatic, having dreamt of this visit for weeks.
>>>>> He takes Erato’s face, dribbling and wild, between his hands
>>>>>
>>>>> and kisses her gently as if she were a runaway teenager.
>>>>>
>>>>> Diana Hartog
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Douglas Barbour
>>> Department of English
>>> University of Alberta
>>> Edmonton Alberta T6G 2E5 Canada
>>> (780) 436 3320
>>> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
>>>
>>> The poet is ecstatic, having dreamt of this visit for weeks.
>>> He takes Erato’s face, dribbling and wild, between his hands
>>>
>>> and kisses her gently as if she were a runaway teenager.
>>>
>>> Diana Hartog
>>
>>
>
>
>Douglas Barbour
>Department of English
>University of Alberta
>Edmonton Alberta T6G 2E5 Canada
>(780) 436 3320
>http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
>
>The poet is ecstatic, having dreamt of this visit for weeks.
>He takes Erato’s face, dribbling and wild, between his hands
>
>and kisses her gently as if she were a runaway teenager.
>
> Diana Hartog
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