HOMER'S ODYSSEY & THE HARVARD CLASSICS

Dear Son,

The (partial) sequel to Homer's Iliad, the Odyssey, is in our library in multiple copies.  The various copies are scattered about the house; as I write this, I don't know the total. But Dad believes we have it in The Easton Press' Greatest Hundred Books ever written series, as well as in the Harvard Classics series.

If you click on this link to Adam Kirsch's article reconsidering the list of the Harvard Classics, you'll get an introduction to the controversy surrounding this series for its (limited) choices regarding science, philosophy and literature.  Son, this is just an earlier version of what critics and others like to play: a "Best of" game (even though the roots underlying the Harvard Classics was not as shallow as many of today's best-of lists).  Be always dubious of such Best of lists, Son -- they're only as legitimate as their author(s)'s tastes, but no single author or group of authors ever can articulate what's best by all tastes.  Expose yourself to many opinions and then form your own educated opinion based on your own investigations, rather than simply by adhering to others' opinions.  Read with your eyes and not with your ears.

Meanwhile, we can enjoy the Harvard Classics version of the Odyssey as its production is wonderful indeed.  The first image presents it as part of the Harvard Classics which we have as a near-complete set of  50 volumes (Dad is looking for the 51st to complete the set; you can see the complete title list HERE):

Love,

Mom and Dad

LITERARY JOURNALS FEATURING MICHAEL'S POEMS

Dear Son,

Of course we include in our library the very precious literary journals in which your poems appear (I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!) -- the two annual journals of St. Helena High School, The Spirit of the Saints / El Espiritu de los Santos:

And, if you recall, your poem "John" was reprinted in the Pine Tree Poetry Collection, an anthology of high school-age poets and artists!  Here you are with that anthology, grumblingly allowing yourself to be photographed by your proud Ma:

Here is that poem, "John":

And because your poems -- all poems -- look for their audience, I will also reprint the second poem you wrote which ended up being published in The Spirit of the Saints:

For My People

By Michael Pollock

 For the children who live on the streets.

My people wander the streets

 looking beat up with scar marks on their fragile feet.

They are hungry, they beg but never get enough to eat

 as they compete with the Barrio’s tough guys.

They steal, get caught and get beat up

with adult objects, even spike heels.

Tears roll down their faces

like car wheels down steep hills.

For my people, all they want is a loving Mom

 but they don’t know where she’s gone anymore.

Old house? New house? She’s left anyhow.

They are alone, no one guiding them along.

The lack of love, kisses, hugs turn a heart to rock.

Affected, the body and mind stop being strong.

For my people who live like shadows

gutted of potential—

 how they wish to grab their lives and take themselves away

 from an unfair world.

They cry silently, wishing

 somebody would take pity on their innocence.

I wish for my people to succeed in life

even if they aim just for junior high.

I wish for my people to learn about life

to know about the world and Columbus

and never forget that they came from Colombia

so at least they can be better off

 than the Barrio’s tough guys.

I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!  Have I said that already?

Anyway, these three literary journals grace our library.  And whether or not you continue to write poems in the future, I want you to know that this art form has welcomed you.

Love,

Mom

CLARE ROJAS: "EVERYTHING FLOWERS"

Dear Son,

Have you ever thought about the mural painted in Dad's and my bedroom?  It was the first -- and perhaps still is the only -- onsite mural painted by Bay Area-based artist Clare Rojas.  She stayed in our house for about three days creating this mural.  We also have two paintings by her, an "Untitled" gouache on panel (2002) and a commissioned one, presumably of Achilles and me, entitled "Achilles" (2005). That is why, when I stumbled across this book in a bookstore a few years ago, I promptly got it and gave it to Dad for Christmas!

It's an enchanting book.  Here are some photos of the interior pages, including a useful excerpt from the curator Natasha Boas (click on images to enlarge):

Entonces, let me file, too, some mural images here -- they will show why we find her work so arresting:

Son, we know you appreciate art ... and are also to see your talents in drawing.  We look forward to sharing more on the art books in our library.

Love,

Mom and Dad

LIBRARY SALES AND A MAN'S FEMINIST TAKE ON "ORPHEUS & EURYDICE"

Dear Son,

Yesterday, I frittered away more of your inheritance by adding three more books to our library.  But not to worry -- they didn't cost much because I acquired them through our local public library sale!

As you can see above by the hardback ($1) and paperback (50 cents) cost, library sales offer good deals and I suggest you be aware of them when you are out there acquiring books (as I have faith you will do so in the future).  You see, Son, when Mom and Dad fork over $25  for a Percy Jackson, Harry Potter or other hardback at the bookstore, we wince but have been doing so because we want to encourage you to read.  In your future, you should of course feel free to acquire books at full retail if you can afford them (because it supports their authors) but also check out alternative and more affordable ways to find books -- a library sale is a great example.  Many often have sales where, for a few dollars, you can have as many books as you can stuff in a grocery bag!

Anyway, today's purchase was of three poetry books:

Son, this reflects one of your Mom's quirks.  You see, as people who live on our mountain, this means that we have almost unlimited space for books.  So one of my quirks is to welcome any poetry book to our Poetry Library.  Our Poetry Library contains books which don't move me but whose existence I allow on our shelves.  Because Poetry, in your Mom's opinion, transcends words and the existence of people who allow poetry in their lives -- let alone write it -- is precious.  I believe we are all born Poets, Son, and it's the living that leaches that out of our lives.  So I consider anyone who's held on to their poetry to be a special person; I don't mind being surrounded by their books...

Having said that, it's more typical -- and certainly nothing wrong with it -- that people have more of a definitive opinion as to what poetry they like.  You will too if you keep paying attention to poetry.  This is to say, don't assume the books within our Poetry Library are books I recommend for your reading.  They do exist, though, as a convenience for you to figure out what type of poetry you will enjoy.

Still, your Mom's indiscriminate poetry-buying does have a key advantage: it opens me up to the poetries of people I might not otherwise experience if I was trying to judge the books ahead of time.  So, for example, among today's purchases, I've already read two of the books and enjoyed them both!  In particular, I so enjoyed EURYDICE’S SONG, poems by William Borden and monotypes by Douglas Kinsey, that I'll be placing it on my recommended poetry book list at LinkedIn to Poetry.  I appreciated this because, as Borden says, most variations of this ancient Greek myth are presented from Orpheus' point of view and Borden's verse presents Eurydice's perspective.  Kinsey's monotypes are also lovely.  I'd never heard before of either Borden or Kinsey so I am indebted to our local library's sale!  Here are some images of their $1 book, and I hope you will end up learning about Orpheus, Eurydice and Borden's feminist--nay, humanist--take:

 

YOUR ABUELITA'S BOOK(S), INCLUDING THE ILIAD

Dear Son,

Of course you know this book--a book your Abuelita wrote for her family, including you:

     DAWAC and Other Memoir-Narratives by Beatriz Tilan Tabios

I know you will always treasure this book as it includes your grandma's stories of her life as a little girl in World War II.  She did always repeat those same stories over and over, didn't she?  But it's a great story!  Reading Homer's Iliad because there's nothing else to do when, having fled to the mountains, she and the family had to wait out the Japanese invaders of her village in the Philippines...and that while still a young girl she nevertheless chose the Iliad because it was a small book she could carry along with rice and salt in her ready-made evacuation bag... You can now read about it forever in her book.

And, when I begin to repeat myself and my stories, I hope you remember Abuelita and feel compassion for how memory, as it ages, must continually recycle itself in an ultimately failed attempt to preserve itself.

Oh, I can feel you thinking that at the time of this writing, I've already begun to repeat myself...?  Really, Son, I do not know what you are talking about ... and did I ever tell you about ...

Love,

Mom

P.S.  Naturally, you also should read the Iliad someday.  Fortunately, we have five copies in the library for you!  The first copy is actually your father's first copy of the Iliad; he was 16 when he owned this version "Retold" by Barbara Leonie Picard and illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe. It was published by Henry Z. Walck, Inc. (New York)/Oxford in 1960.  Dad got his copy from his high school Buckingham Browne & Nichols (Massachusetts) -- note the penciled scrawl of his name on the first page.

The second copy is translated by Ennis Rees and published by Oxford in 1991.  This would be a good reading copy:

The third copy is "in contemporary verse" by Robert Fitzgerald with illustrations by W.T. Mars.  It's a lovely production of a leather spine albeit a cloth cover, put out by The Franklin Library as chosen by Oxford.  It's not as deluxe as The Easton Press but still pleasing to the eye:

Next, the fourth copy is part of the Loeb Classical Library and is translated by A.T. Murray, as revised by William F. Wyatt:

Lastly, the fifth copy is the most luxe edition we have, part of the Collector's Edition of "The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written" that came out of The Easton Press in 1979.  It presents the English verse translation by Alexander Pope and illustrations with "the classical designs" of John Flaxman.  The cover is leather-bound with gold leaf, while the pages are archival quality paper specially milled for the edition.  (Dad got this single copy inexpensively from Ebay for $30.) Here are images:

Son, while we have five copies for you -- all a far cry from the book your Abuelita once tucked into her pack for mountain travel -- may you also find your way someday to that point where you would acquire your own copies.  Your own acquisition would imply you came to value this book -- something that would cause pride in you to arise within not just me and Dad proud but also your Abuelita....

FORMING AN "IDEAL BOOKSHELF"

Dear Son,

MY IDEAL BOOKSHELF (art by Jane Mount and edited by Thessaly La Force) is a sweet book, complete with an epigraph from Dr. Seuss:

The more that you read, 

the more things you will know. 

The more that you learn, 

the more places you'll go.

Here's an excerpt from the book's description:

The books that we choose to keep and display—let alone read—can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In My Ideal Bookshelf, one hundred leading cultural figures, including writers Chuck Klosterman, Jennifer Egan, and Michael Chabon, musicians Patti Smith and Thurston Moore, chefs and food writers Alice Waters and Mark Bittman, and fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, reveal the books that matter to them most—books that reflect their obsessions and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world.

You can go HERE for the list of book contributors.  Because I am a poet, I naturally paid closer attention to the poet-contributors (and as I write this, may I say what a joy it was last night for you and I to discuss the poems of Stephen Crane--I hope you will always remember your Mom when you read his poems again in the future (as you should, since poems shouldn't be read just as homework):

If I should cast off this tattered coat, 

And go free into the mighty sky: 

If I should find nothing there 

But a vast blue, 

Echoless, ignorant— 

What then?

In paying attention to the poets, I came across Jorie Graham whose ending to her contribution I take to heart:

Ms. Graham says, "As to what I would say to a young writer? Don't think of it as a career, think of it as a practice. Read everything by one poet.  Learn one whole language and world at a time.  Don't worry about understanding it critically.  Not at first.  Not for a long time."

Dear Son, your Mom was not trained formally as a poet--everything I know about writing poetry I learned from reading poetry.  And though I didn't know of Jorie Graham's advice at the time I was a newbie poet, I inadvertently hewed by it--that is, I was lucky to find three poets whose poems I so adored that I immersed myself in their works for a time.  In our library, their books are gathered together on the shelves and here are the photos of the three poets so meaningful to my development as a (young) poet:

Mei-mei Berssenbrugge:

Mei-mei's books are shelved next to some boxed book art by her husband Richard Tuttle (grist for another post):

Arthur Sze:

You might notice shelved among Arthur Sze's book this wonderful science text, THE QUARK AND THE JAGUAR by Murray Gell-mann.  I have Dr. Gell-mann's book because, in one of his poems, Arthur Sze had referenced quark and jaguar and I wanted to know more about the source --the life lesson, here, Son, is that immersion is best when done as deeply as one is able:

John Yau:

Speaking of deep immersion, John Yau here has more shelf space because I also pay attention to his art writings and collaborations with artists in addition to his poems:

As for the specific book titles by these poets, you can go to our Poetry Library -- click on their names for their books: Berssenbrugge, Sze and Yau.  You might be curious as to how I came to focus on these three writers.  Simply, I'll share that I feel these poets don't just write words but they expand the scope of words as they make their poems. I feel an affinity with what I read to be their approach due to my own transcolonial concerns....actually, let's not focus here on me...

By the way, if one is learning "one whole language and world at a time" without (yet) focusing on "understanding it critically," I believe this relates to at least two factors: 1) that poetry is its own language -- we learned this last night as we discussed how rhetoric and poetry differ; and 2) if critical understanding isn't the scaffold (of sorts) here, what might the position be from which the reader experiences poems for the first time?  Well, that I became a poet provides a clue.  For me, the answer to No. 2 is Love.

Dear Son, reading is a manifestation of Love.  May you always experience it, including ending up doing with your life what it is you (will) love.  It may take a while to get there -- I didn't focus on poetry until I was about double your current age -- but it can happen.

Love, 

Mom