I
met him at a reading at Penn c 1995 when I won the William Carlos
Williams Award of the Academy of American Poets (my judge was Dannie
Abse) and Merwin chose my friend Dr. Dr. Sharon Ann Jaegar (yes 2 Ph Ds
back to back) for a translation award, for translating Rilke.
I
saw his poem The Mirabelles (a kind of fruit) in the New Yorker and
translated it into Burmese and broadcast it to Burma in my poetry
program, Poems of Those who Love their Country, later Garland of Poems.
I changed the name bc the sh**hole "dept head" tried to undermine me by
having "the kid" do alternate weeks.
I have a book, The Second Four Books of Poems (including Carrier of Ladders) signed by Merwin.
Sharon Jaegar went on to publish 2 of my poetry chapbooks. But I lost touch with her. Unable to find her after 1998.
It
was very inspiring to listen to and watch Merwin read poetry, one white
eyebrow, his left, flying off into space and a stack of books, almost
as high as the podium, that he had written, near him.
I always thought his name should be Merlin, like the magician who helped King Arthur of Round Table fame.
I found my book on my poetry shelves. I blew the dust off the top.
I opened it at random, to find a poem to quote--here
Snowflakes (for my mother) by WS Merwin.
Sometime in the dark hours
it seemed I was a spark climbing
the black road
with my death helping me up
like a brother
growing
but this morning
I see that the silent kin I loved as a child
have arrived all together in the night
from the old country--
A poet is not the same as a novelist, but John Gardner said, you must be a poet to write well.
For
those of you who don't read, or don't read in English, of don't read
fiction and poetry, all I can say is READ and read the good stuff, not
shit stuff.
Though if you're a professional writer, you should read everything, at least sample.
George Orwell said it's difficult to write really poor stuff, because you are holding your nose closed with your hand.
Cheers
km
3-16-2019
