It seems that I can still go down the rabbit hole for hours at a time.
I’ve been listening to recordings of Charles Reznikoff reading his poems. And so I’ve been off in another world.
Michael Leddy, whose blog Orange Crate Art was a model for this collection of notes you’re reading, sent me a note about PennSound. I didn’t know the site existed.
It’s a wonder, and I’m still exploring this archive of recordings.
The Reznikoff poems are here:
https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Reznikoff.php
I think the poem Michael suggested to me is the best introduction:
It’s about a stray dog. There’s a gap in the recording of several seconds, so don’t give up.
If you want to follow along, the passage is in the section of Reznikoff’s Poems: 1918-1975, that originally was published as By the Well of Living and Seeing and the Fifth Book of the Maccabees, p. 113 of the second section of the complete poems. If By the Well doesn’t ring any bells, it was originally published in an edition of 200 copies. It’s a marvel that we still have Reznikoff.
I do understand why, especially in a democracy, we need to know the landmarks of our common culture. We need to know something of the major poets, those who have meant something to a lot of our fellow Americans. But I also believe that it’s important to find the voices that seem to speak directly to you.
Charles Reznikoff is one of those voice that speaks to me.
If you have a poet who speaks to you, drop me a note.
Thanks, Michael.
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