That is, of course, a line from one of the five funniest movies ever made, Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles. It's from the scene where the townspeople are preparing for the arrival of the new sheriff (unaware that he's a "Ni"), and the unctuous and officious mayor is rehearsing his welcoming speech, which contains that line.
Well, there's a new sheriff in New Hampshire poetry circles, too, who received a figurative laurel (in ancient Greece, the laurel was sacred to Apollo, god of, among other things, music and poetry; thus, the recipient of the crown became known as a laureate) and probably a hearty handshake, too, from Governor Maggie Hassan last week. Alice B. Fogel was named Poet Laureate of the State of New Hampshire on Wednesday, in recognition of her body of written work as well as her efforts to promote poetry statewide for almost 30 years.
Poetry has become the redheaded stepchild (ironically, there is a magazine called Redheaded Stepchild, which publishes poems which have been rejected in other places) of the literary world, it seems to me. There is actually a bi-monthly publication, a bible of sorts for all sorts of scribblers, called Poets & Writers. I've always found that name amusing, slightly baffling, and, on behalf of poets (though none has asked me to weigh in on it), insulting in its implication, to me at least, that poets somehow aren't writers.
Mention poetry to 'most anyone and watch them subtly take a step back, shift their gaze, check their watch--unless the poem in question comes from the--as Gary Smith put it so amusingly-- "Nantucket Series," if you catch my meaning, if you get my drift. 'Cause we've all learned from bad and/or ignorant English teachers to fear the stuff. It looks different from real writing, of course, and it's chock full of symbolism and references to Christ and who knows what-all else, and it never says what it really means. What's it hiding, anyway?
Worlds of emotion, wonder and insight into the human condition, to name a few. If you're among the poetry-phobic, help is available in the form of Strange Terrain, Alice's last book, which is basically a twelve-step program for those who might like to feel more comfortable with poems; it'll help you find your own way in to poems--and who knows, there might be some stuff of value in there.
I just referred to Strange Terrain as Alice's last book, but I guess that "most recently published book" would be more accurate. It's been a pretty good couple of weeks for her, at least professionally, because she also found out that Interval:Poems Based On Bach's Goldberg Variations, a book she has been sending out for 11 years (!), was accepted for publication by Schaffner Press in Tucson, Arizona which has never published a book of poems before, but whose publisher dug what she was doing with language as a way to mirror what Bach had done musically in the Variations. It probably doesn't need any more explanation than that, but I couldn't give it even if it did, as I know pretty much nothing about the Bach, and thus don't quite get Alice's poems in relation to it, much as I like the poems.
It may seem reflectively-aggrandizing to have written about this, although if ya can't be proud of a loved one's accomplishments on yer own blog, then what the hell? These are fairly big things, though, and deserve to be celebrated. It's also a chance to say a little something about poetry (you could also visit Alice's website, alicebfogel.com), of which noted New Jersey physician and poet William Carlos Williams once said, in "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower,"
It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
A celebration of Alice and poetry this week, then, on Tuesday from noon till two on wool.fm, with these songs and poems:
Poet Cassandra Wilson
Poet Sly & The Family Stone
Don't Pick A Fight With A Poet Madeleine Peyroux
Death Of An Unpopular Poet Jimmy Buffett
Maybe The Poet Bruce Cockburn
The Poet Game Greg Brown
Poetry Victoria Williams
Poetry Man Phoebe Snow
Queen Of The Slipstream Van Morrison
Eight Line Poem David Bowie
Poem 58 Chicago Transit Authority
Poem For The People Chicago
A Poem On The Underground Wall Simon & Garfunkel
Poems, Prayers & Promises John Denver
Symphonic Poem Danse Macabre Roland Hardtner
Country Poem Pat Metheny
Tone Poem For My Father Mark Egan
Love And Some Verses Iron & Wine
Boxy Variations Uri Caine Ensemble
Disturbance Alice B. Fogel
The Necessity Alice B. Fogel
Something Left Out In The Rain Alice B. Fogel
Starting Small Alice B. Fogel
Elemental Alice B. Fogel
Aria Joseph Payne
Variatio I A 1 Clavier Joseph Payne
Variatio XIII A 2 Clavier Joseph Payne
Variatio XXIX A Ovvero 2 Clavier Joseph Payne
Variatio XXX Quodlibet A 1 Clavier Joseph Payne
Rhymes Donald Fagen
Variation 29 Dmitry Sitkovetsky
Variation 30 Dmitry Sitcovetsky
I don't mean anything by this, but I do want to point out that before she met me, Alice had published no books, won no NEA grants, never been a Poet Laureate--none of it. I'm just sayin....
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