Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2005 Poets on Place W. T. Pfefferle Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the Creative Writing Commons Recommended Citation Pfefferle, W. T. (2005). Poets on place: Tales and interviews from the road. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. poets on place interviews & tales from the road by w.t. pfefferle with a foreword by david st. john Poets on Place Poets on Place Route Map September 2003–May 2004 Poets on Place Tales and Interviews from the Road by W. T. Pfefferle with a foreword by David St. John UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Logan, Utah Copyright © 2005 Utah State University Press All rights reserved Utah State University Press Logan, UT 84322-7800 Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free, recycled paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Poets on place : tales and interviews from the road / [compiled] by W.T. Pfefferle ; with a foreword by David St. John. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-87421-597-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. American poetry--20th century--History and criticism--Theory, etc. 2. American poetry--2lst century--History and criticism--Theory, etc. 3. Poets, American--20th century--Interviews. 4. Poets, American--2lst century--Interviews. 5. Pfefferle, W. T.--Travel--United States. 6. United States--Description and travel. 7. Place (Philosophy) in literature. 8. United States--In literature. 9. Regionalism in literature. 10. Local color in literature. 11. Setting (Literature) I. Pfefferle, W. T. PS325.P634 2005 811’.540932--dc22 2004028467 For Tucker Satellite who would have loved the trip Acknowledgments I want to offer my sincere thanks to the sixty-two poets who let me into their places and poetry. Their kindness was remarkable, and I am forever in their debt. Thanks to Bonnie and G.O. for meals and fellowship during the fi nal months of the book. I want to thank my mother, who taught me the lifelong value of reading and who always stuck up for me when English teachers gave me any lip. I’d like to thank Jim Cummins of the Elliston Poetry Room at the University of Cincinnati for his kindness and resources. And, at a time when the project was winded and spent, David St. John’s encouragement kept us on the road and searching. Some of the interviews appeared in slightly different forms in Poets & Writers. My thanks to the editors of that magazine and especially to Kevin Larimer for his excellent guidance. A few of the interviews in this book appear out of their actual sequence. I’ve been lucky to have John Alley as an editor. His advice is always measured, insightful, and reasonable, and I’ve known from his fi rst contact that the book would be in good hands. Kyle Sessions has been terrifi c in helping us all realize a unique and pleasant look for the book, and Rebecca Marsh’s copyediting saved me from the punctuation junk heap many times. Finally, it’s impossible for me to express how integral my beautiful wife Beth was in the planning and execution of this book. Her unwavering support and endless help on all matters, large and small, made this project as much hers as mine. • James Harms’s “Landscape as the Latest Diet (Southern California)” was published in Tar River Poetry (fall 2003). It is reprinted by permission of the author. • David Citino’s “Through a Glass, Darkly” is published here by permission of the author. • Richard Tillinghast’s “Wake Me in South Galway” was published in Six Mile Mountain (Story Line Press 2000). It is reprinted by permission of the publisher. • Mark Strand’s “A Morning” was published in Selected Poems (Random House 1990). It is reprinted by permission of the author. • Marvin Bell’s “Port Townsend, Washington, Waterside” is published here by permission of the author. • An excerpt from Michael Dennis Browne’s “At the Cabin,” vi Acknowledgments vii published in Great River Review, is reprinted by permission of the author. • David Romtvedt’s “With Caitlin, Age 8, Building a Qhuinzee for a Winter Night” is published here by permission of the author. • Sandra Alcosser’s “Mare Frigoris” is published here by permission of the author. • Robert Wrigley’s “Ordinary Magic” is published here by permission of the author. • Nance Van Winckel’s “Awaiting the Return Ferry” is published here by permission of the author. • Mark Halperin’s “Accident” is published here by permission of the author. • Jana Harris’s “Mr. Elija Welch, First Planting” was published in The Dust of Everyday Life (Sasquatch Books 1997). It is reprinted by permission of the publisher and the author. • An excerpt from Barbara Drake’s “The Man from the Past Visits the Present” is published here by permission of the author. • Floyd Skloot’s “A Warming Trend” is published here by permission of the author. • Carol Muske-Dukes’s “Twin Cities” was published in Hunger Mountain (fall 2003) and is reprinted by permission of the author. • David St. John’s “Dijon” is published here by permission of the author. • Donald Revell’s “A Parish in the Bronx” was published in New Dark Ages (Wesleyan University Press 1990) and is reprinted by permission of the publisher and the author. • Richard Shelton’s “Local Knowledge” was published in Selected Poems 1969–1981 (University of Pittsburgh Press 1982) and is reprinted by permission of the publisher. • Jane Miller’s “#15” comes from A Palace of Pearls (Copper Canyon 2004) and is reprinted by permission of the author. • William Wenthe’s “Alien” is published here by permission of the author. • Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Pause” was published in Fuel (BOA Editions 1998) and is reprinted by permission of the author. • An excerpt from Beth Ann Fennelly’s “The Kudzu Chronicles” is published here by permission of the author. • Natasha Trethewey’s “South” was published in Shenandoah (spring 2004). It is reprinted here by permission of the author. • Denise Duhamel’s “Valentines, Hollywood Beach” is published here by permission of the author. • Terrance Hayes’s “Threshold” was published in Swink (2004). It is reprinted by permission of the author. viii Poets on Place • Alan Shapiro’s “Bower” is published here by permission of the author. • Charles Wright’s “High Country Spring” is published here by permission of the author. • Rita Dove’s “The House on Bishop Street” was published in Thomas and Beulah (Carnegie Mellon Press 1986) and is reprinted by permission of the author. • Henry Taylor’s “Harvest” was published in The Horse Show at Midnight and An Afternoon of Pocket Billiards (University of Utah Press 1975, 1992) and is reprinted by permission of the author. • Dave Smith’s “Gaines Mill Battlefi eld” is published here by permission of the author. • Nicole Cooley’s “Unfi nished Sketch: Green Sandbox Winter Sky” is published here by permission of the author. • David Lehman’s “April 9” was published in the The Daily Mirror (Scribner 2000) and is reprinted by permission of the publisher. • The excerpt from C. D. Wright’s “The Ozark Odes” was fi rst published in String Light (University of Georgia Press 1991) and subsequently in Steal Away, Selected and New Poems (Copper Canyon Press 2002, 2003). It is reprinted by permission of the publisher. • James Cummins’s “Spring Comes to Hamilton Avenue” is published here by permission of the author. • Frederick Smock’s “Heron” is published here by permission of the author. • Mark Jarman’s “Nashville Moon” was published in Unholy Sonnets (Storyline Press 2000) and is reprinted by permission of the publisher. • Scott Cairns’s “Mud Trail” was published in Philokalia (Zoo Press 2002) and is reprinted by permission of the publisher. • Elizabeth Dodd’s “Sonnet, Almost” is published here by permission of the author. • Paisley Rekdal’s “Ode” was published in Colorado Review (summer 2004) and is reprinted by permission of the author. Contents Foreword xiii Introduction xv Wherein We Begin Life on the Road 1 James Harms — Morgantown, West Virginia 2 Landscape as the Latest Diet (Southern California) 4 David Citino — Columbus, Ohio 6 Through a Glass, Darkly 9 Martha Collins — Oberlin, Ohio 10 Linda Gregerson — Ann Arbor, Michigan 13 Richard Tillinghast — Ann Arbor, Michigan 16 Wake Me in South Galway 19 Winnie Cooper 21 Orlando Ricardo Menes — South Bend, Indiana 22 Mark Strand — Chicago, Illinois 25 A Morning 29 Karen Volkman — Chicago, Illinois 30 Lisa Samuels — Milwaukee, Wisconsin 34 Marvin Bell — Iowa City, Iowa 37 Port Townsend, Washington, Waterside 40 Dust, Corn, and Popcorn People 41 Michael Dennis Browne — Minneapolis, Minnesota 44 from At the Cabin 47 David Allan Evans — Brookings, South Dakota 50 David Romtvedt — Buffalo, Wyoming 53 With Caitlin, Age 8, Building a Qhuinzee for a Winter Night 56 The West 58 Sandra Alcosser — Lolo, Montana 60 Mare Frigoris 64 Robert Wrigley — Moscow, Idaho 66 Ordinary Magic 69 ix x Poets on Place Nance Van Winckel — Liberty Lake, Washington 70 Awaiting the Return Ferry 73 Christopher Howell — Spokane, Washington 74 Wherein the Author Ruminates on RV Life 76 Mark Halperin — Ellensburg, Washington 77 Accident 80 Jana Harris — Sultan, Washington 81 Mr. Elija Welch, First Planting 83 Sam Hamill — Port Townsend, Washington 84 The Day I Did Winnie Cooper Wrong 87 Barbara Drake — Yamhill, Oregon 90 from The Man from the Past Visits the Present 93 Floyd Skloot — Amity, Oregon 94 A Warming Trend 97 Suddenly in California 98 Ralph Angel — South Pasadena, California 100 Carol Muske-Dukes — Los Angeles, California 104 Twin Cities 107 David St.