Surprises in a Burgundy Tassel

Craig Arnold steps from stage left and jumps into the microphone, poetic images issuing from his mouth – no introduction necessary.  He stops and his oratory spell is broken into a full smile.  After iterating his gratitude for being back in Iowa City visiting Prairie Lights on February 27, Arnold jumps right back into his vocal groove reading a selection of poems from his new book Made Flesh. 

 His rhythm varies from staid, tapping his foot for emphasis, to frantic: words quickly falling out of his mouth with gestures punctuating his speech.  Nimble is the word that most comes to mind, while listening to him.  He speaks very quickly during some parts, but his annunciation never suffers, always making the sounds clear and precise.  Without taking into account the wonderful imagery conjured by his voice, listening to Arnold is enjoyable in itself.  The alliteration, assonance, consonance and rhyme make his performance a treat to the ear.  More than once, I found myself a little confused at what was actually happening in the poems, instead lost in the simple pleasure of its sound.  However, there were a few unmistakable images that really stuck with me.

One of my favorites was the scene where a young man tells a friend of his romantic feelings for her, only to be rebuffed with “don’t be silly”.  He sits and focuses only on a burgundy tassel that’s hanging on the table, the image that he will link with this moment forever.  Though part of a longer, more complex narrative, this scene stuck out to me so much because of its meticulous detail.  I was thrust into the intense feeling of the young man who has spilled his heart but is ignored, so he focuses on something outside himself rather than take a closer look at his present emotional turmoil.    

Following the reading, when asked why use poetry as the form to convey what could be prose, Arnold responded that he liked the groove in poetry which can be subtle or blatant.  He likes the rhythm to be irregular enough to surprise and delight, which exactly sums up the experience I had at his reading.    

                                                                                                                                        -  Shannon Green