Honor Thy Father

-Poet and Writer Honor Moore Explores Her Relationship with her Father in her new Memoir, The Bishop's Daughter

This is the poetry blog. I am not in the wrong place. So why am I sharing my experiences from Thursday night's memoir reading by Honor Moore? Well, first, Moore is a poet and she is well known at The University of Iowa as she taught here in 1996. She currently lives in New York where she self proclaimes to be working on more poetry and another memoir.

This reading was from her newest book, which happens not to be specifically a book of poetry, but a memoire that touches on writing and the process of writing, especially poetry. Poetry plays an important role in the book and clearly, in Honor Moore's life. She read one section of the book in particular that deals with writing very personal family business in the form of poetry as a way of dealing with issues that seem overwhelming in print. Her writing was encouraged by her mother and disapproved of by her father, the well-known Episcopal Bishop of New York, Paul Moore.

This reading was important on so many levels. First, here in Iowa this past week same-sex marriage has been approved by the courts. As Moore's father was bisexual and married to her mother, fathering 9 children as well as maintaining a 30-year relationship with one man; one had to wonder, listening to her read, if these issues would have been relevant if her father had been free to marry a man. I thought about asking this question, hypothetically, to Honor Moore, but decided against it, as it would have been purely speculative in nature.

I enjoyed her reading very much; was interested and inspired by her poetic writing style. The Bishop's Daughter is a personal memoir, but the language, description and view is from the eyes of an established poet, so the material is far from dry or simply factual. There is a rich story woven in this book, a poet's perspective of a sensitive issue, a child's image of her father, a woman's acceptance of her father as a human being rather than an icon. This work is not 'poetry' per se, but it is poetic prose. It is lyrical story-telling at it's very best and the most interesting thing about the reading is that the book is a memoir. There is something in the literal and not fiurative that draws me to this work in particular.

It is also interesting to note that Honor Moore mentioned that most of her poetry touches on the women's movement and her relationship with her father in one way or another, so by reading the memoir, it gives the reader better perspective and understanding of her works of poetry, Red Shoes (2006) and Darling (2001). She has also collaborated on several works, edited a book of poetry from the women's movement and written a biography, White Blackbird about her grandmother, Margarett Sargent.

So, now you know why I'm writing this review in the poetry blog. I hope it inspires you to pick up Honor Moore's newest book, or perhaps touch back on some of her previously published poetry with a new perspective. I know I certainly enjoyed participating in the reading!

-Elizabeth Green

Virgin

Poetry is a divine way to express inner thoughts and perspectives on life. Not only is this something new to me, but so is everything that goes along with Professor Chasar's class. I have never studied poetry to the degree that my peers in this class have, and I am being introduced to many new things. One being a live poetry reading. At first I was skeptical of the attention span I would have while sitting in the audience listening to an unknown name to me, when everyone around me seemed to be squirming in their seats with big smiles waiting anxiously for the speaker to approach the tiny podium. As a young-looking man timidly walked up to the audience after a brief introduction, he seemed more intimidated by the situation than I did. Looking around at a broad age range of audience, I soon realized this is a big deal. The eager listeners encouraged me to take more of an interest in not only Zach Savage, but also poetry readings themselves.

Zach Savich, a former U of I student, quickly broke the awkward silence. He gave a few shout outs, made a few personal jokes, and paused. I sat there, clueless to the references of his former professors and lost in a big room with chairs filled with people. Even though I felt like everything he was going to say would go over my head, I sat there patiently trying to figure out what this was all about.

His smile was genuine. Almost looking as though he did not deserve to be there, he still held his head high and smiled. After giving an interesting brief history of his writing, he introduced his book he would be reading from. Then I felt comfortable. Finally, I thought, this is what I walked down to Prairie Lights to be a part of. Then he raised a question before he read his work aloud: "What do you write for? What do you think of when you write, and how do you portray this?" I paused. Seeing as how I've only written one occasional poem, I really thought about his questions. Is there nothing I am passionate about in my life that I can't, like Zach, write a poem expressing my perspective? Or is what I am passionate for not clearly recognized to the point where I can express my perspective to tell a poetic story? Maybe there is just something I'm not understanding.

Zach's voice was clear, but timid. I felt like he was nervous, which made me nervous too! He finally recited a poem—and, to my disappointment, with little enthusiasm. Or was this the way that his poetry is read aloud? I can not blame him for being nervous, but his presentation did not do his poems justice. Just as we had discussed in class, some poems are written for the page and some for the stage. After putting aside his actual presentation, it was easy for me to listen and understand the context of what he was saying, and really enjoy them.

Zach writes with such romanticism, and he mentioned he draws a lot of inspiration from Shakespeare. This was something I felt I could relate to—a romantic point of view—and after listening to his poems I felt a connection to the whole atmosphere. With each poem, I grew more intrigued, like I was finally understanding why Professor Chasar assigned these reviews.

After all was said and done, the whole experience only lasted an hour. Even though Zach invited us to stay and chat after, I felt as though I needed time to reflect on my experience instead of making random small talk with him. I feel like I am more prepared and have a better mindset for the next reading I will attend.

by Whitney Overmire

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

"Exactly Full"

The upstairs room of Prairie Lights was nearly full on Friday, February 27th, when Craig Arnold stepped up to the podium. As soon as his mouth neared the microphone he jumped right into the reading, catching the listeners’ attention from the first page. Arnold had an urgency and intensity in his frame when reading his work, but when the piece was over he was relaxed and all smiles. He expressed his happiness to be invited back to Prairie Lights, and it seemed that he had established a small following of his work in the vicinity of Iowa City. He made a few comfortable jokes with the crowd, but didn’t keep them waiting for his next poem.

The poems from his book Made Flesh were full of sensory experiences- those of being “exactly full” or seeing that “students are turning to face you like sunflowers,” which evoked feelings of recognition, a kind of epiphany of familiarity with a new perspective. As he read his poetry, I knew the experiences he was describing, but the words he used framed them in a new way. The poems were also rich with consonance and assonance, making the aural experience alone pleasurable. The audience was silent, but with a look of deep interest holding their expressions. Arnold’s poems had a captivating rhythm driving them forward always, and simple yet powerful lines revealing life’s strange quirks: “…one thing is lost and it taught you nothing,” and the familiar yet disconcerting image of a man possessively “yoking” his arm around his wife’s neck to show she belongs to him, while she sits dejectedly, her makeup seeming too heavy, weighing her down.

After his last poem, the one which the book is titled after, the room had an air of quiet contemplation as the audience considered the experience of hearing Craig read his poetry. After a long pause, Craig joked, “Now we get to stare at each other awkwardly.” When he asked if anyone had a question, only one listener seemed to have the courage. “Why and how do you think poetic form liberates narrative from memory?” Arnold repeated the question and paused, giving it much consideration, and then said that with poetry, one can invent such details as to get the effect he or she wants to capture in the piece. He went on to say that one of the most enticing reasons for him to write in poetic form is because of “the groove,” or the rhythms of poetry and the resulting effect. He has experimented with many styles of meter and rhythm, to name a few; blues, jazz, and a meter in which every line has a different number of beats. When I spoke with him after the reading, he said that he usually works with the meter of his poetry from the beginning. He finds that he has an idea that sets the rhythm for the poem, then works with different lines and makes a sort of map in which he plays around with the order of lines.

Laura Jackson

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As of Sunday, January 4, 2009, this blog has been established for the purposes of reviewing poetry readings in Iowa City and at the University of Iowa. You may begin posting at your convenience.