I’ve always loved poetry. I memorized all the typical ones when I was younger…
“I think that I shall never see A poem lively as a tree . . . . “
Joyce Kilmer, TREES
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works ye Mighty and despair!”
Percy Bysshe Shelley, OZYMANDIAS
“I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils;”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, DAFFODILS
“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18
So, like many of my peers, Kilmer, Shelley, Wordsworth and Shakespeare were trusted and happy companions in my youth. But I’ve found other poets more recently that I’d like to share with you.
One of my very favorites is Marge Piercy. My Blog about Perpetual Migration was strongly influenced by her poem of that name. Piercy is an American poet, novelist and activist. I went to the 92nd Street Y in New York City about 10 years ago to hear her speak. The day was cold and stormy. I took the train from New Haven CT into the city. My life was extremely busy at that time and I had not one spare moment to make this trip, but it seemed like a very important thing for me to do since I had recently discovered her poetry and had really been affected by her words. So . . . off I went. When I got there, the place was crowded; I can’t recall if there were reserved seats or not. In any case, I found a seat. And in a few minutes this little woman with long black hair walked quietly onto the stage. No fanfare---not even a proper introduction even. And she sat down in the chair that was waiting in the middle of the stage. Some person came along and sat in the other chair and the audience erupted in applause and people finally realized that the little person was Marge Piercy.
The other person proceeded to ask interview questions to draw Marge out. Truthfully, there was no need to try to draw her out---she was extremely forthcoming and candid. And charming, and funny and self-effacing. She talked a lot about her life---and that is quite a story indeed! Much of her experiences have found their way into her poetry. Her strong feminist poems, her discovery or re-discovery of her Jewish roots, her adamant rejection of women being ignored and/or disempowered, her delight in the natural world, the seasons, life on Cape Cod, and her cats; and her sensual and deep love for her husband Woody.
So, Marge Piercy is someone that I strongly recommend to you as a human being and as an author (she’s also written several novels, none of which I’ve read as yet---I can’t seem to get beyond her poetry), and as a poet. She is someone who has lived a complex but full life, and made a life on her terms. She is a real person---completely real---and accessible. When I initially wanted to include her poem The Perpetual Migration in my website because it had made such a profound impression on me during my own journey, I emailed her and asked her permission. She responded the very next day saying she thought it was a fine idea but it was the publishers who needed to give their permission. That began several weeks of correspondence with 2 or 3 different publishers who needed to check with lawyers and while they were all very nice, no one ever said yes. I finally just gave up and decided I would simply direct anyone who was interested to the YouTube video in which Marge recites that poem. Hearing her voice is particularly personal for this poem. And it seems to me that YouTube makes it in the public domain. So, here it is: