~Mary Oliver
Happy Poetry Friday! Hope you've been having a nice week. Today, I'm going to share a poem by Edgar Kunz and info about The 70 Poet Challenge. First, a thoughtful article Edgar wrote: Unspendable Currency: Edgar Kunz on Making Ends Meet As a Poet. And now, Edgar's poem:
PIANO
by Edgar Kunz
I held him together
as long as I could, she says.
He stopped working,
stopped coming upstairs.
He was like tissue paper
coming apart in water.
Like smoke in my hands.
It had nothing to do
with you, baby. You left
when you had to.
I met a woman once
who worked on pianos.
Said it was a hard job.
The tools, the leverage.
The required ear. I love it,
she said, but it’s brutal.
The second I step away
it’s already falling out of tune.
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If the Sealey Challenge got you in a challenge-y mood or if you missed the Sealey Challenge and you are looking for one, here you go:
To celebrate the National Poetry Library's 70th birthday they are inviting you to discover 70 poems by 70 poets from the last 70 years that are ‘new’ to you.
How does it work?
In the London Literature Festival 2023 (19-29 October) the challenge will begin. Everyone can pick up a free booklet, or download from the NPL website, and start their search for their 70 new poets.
There is also space to write your own poem of 70 lines and send it to the library.
Everyone taking part can send their completed booklet, detailing their 70 poets, to the National Poetry Library. They will organise an event in London Literature Festival 2024 of poets who featured highly in the completed lists and one person taking part in the writing challenge of a new 70 line poem will be invited to perform the poem at the event.
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TeacherDance has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Linda!
15 comments:
Tabatha, what a great post. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I've been lost for a while reading Kunz and checking out the 70th birthday of the UK's National Poetry Library. Kunz could be my first new poet!
The Piano poem is heartbreaking.
"He was like tissue paper
coming apart in water."
Tabetha, thank you for the introduction to Edgar Kunz. Paying San Francisco-sized bills on poetry earnings sounds like a real challenge. I feel for the woman who tunes pianos and the second she steps away, the piano is falling out of tune. Makes me think of Sisyphus!
So, it seems that tuning pianos is pretty much the same as getting all the things done that I need to get done…
Thank you for this poem, Tabatha, it makes me feel less alone in the merry-go-round of life.
One of the pleasures I get from working at the bookstore is meeting so many different people, all ages, all looking for that something that brings smiles, After reading Kunz's essay, I felt that kinship with him, especially in "We go into the orchard for apples, and we carry back solitude and pleasure." Like always, Tabatha, you bring new things to ponder and love. And like Kunz, you want us to look and 'see'! Thanks!
cool challenge! I can't commit to it...but I love the idea of it. And, I tucked that Mary Oliver quote into my notebook. I love it! Kunz's poem is sad..."I held him together as long as I could." Wouldn't we all love to hold on to something or someone longer that it or they can. The sweetness of the sadness is beautiful.
I love that challenge! I'm pretty sure I have books by 70 different poets in my house. Maybe my version of this challenge is to read 70 poems from my own collection! Sometimes we need to look closely at what's right under our own nose.
I've spent the week deep cleaning the high-traffic parts of the house in preparation for a gathering on Sunday and I'm feeling those last two lines in my soul. I washed windows on Wednesday, and Wednesday night it rained. And don't even get me started on the cat hair. Sigh.
Ah, the thankless tasks, the impermanence! Beautiful, and real. Thank you, Tab. xo
Thanks for introducing me to Kunz. I reading about how he made ends meet and in his the piano metaphor works so well to describe our never ending tasks. I love the idea of the challenge and finding 70 poets and will consider. Thanks, Tabatha!
This poem! Thank you, Tabatha. "like tissue paper / coming apart in water." <3
Kunz is new to me, so I'm on my way. :) Thanks for this post, this introduction to Kunz, and this idea!
Tabatham thank you for the introduction to Edgar Kunz'a The Piano. I now feel compelled to seek out more his work. The challenge you have shared sounds most inviting. You have provided much in the way of poetic provocations- bravo!
Thanks for the introduction to Edgar Kunz, Tabatha! "Piano" says so much.
What an image Kunz created here,
“ like tissue paper
coming apart in water.”
So strong it hurts, and that alone tips any scale for me with poetry, thanks for this fulfilling post Tabatha!
Beautiful poem, Tabatha. Thank you for spotlighting Kunz. He is definitely new to me. I'll sit with those last two lines... and think about if I have it in me to write a 70 line poem!
Thank you for this poem. I am very curious about how lines bresk and punctuation.
I am slowing working on The Sealey Challenge.
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