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on Stanley Kunitz

Published by bryan | Filed under journal entries

from donaldmillerwords.com (which has a new look to it)

08 JAN 08

The woman at the Looking Glass Bookstore here in Portland is, I suppose, responsible for introducing me to Stanley Kunitz. I had seen him before, however, on cable. I don’t remember the channel I was watching, but whatever it was covered a poetry festival back east, and Stanley was wrapping up a poem about gardening just as I arrived on the channel. He was very old and small and rose up to the podium like a snail with glasses, like a grandfather. He was bald on top and the white hair on the sides of his head hung around in such a way it gave his nose a large sense of purpose. I say his nose had purpose because he pointed with it instead of with his fingers and he pointed it at people he wanted to stop and to listen and to think about what a great thing was happening in the world around them. At least that is what his poetry did. When he read on television that day his lips were wet and they made his words sound wet. He hunched over his words and squeezed them between his teeth in a voice that was high and raspy. The last lines of the poem he read were “I am not done with my changes…” which was a nod to the seasons he spent in the garden. Though I don’t keep a garden, I knew immediately I wanted to be like him. I sensed that he lived on purpose and wasn’t distracted and enjoyed life rather than dismissed it looking for something better. The last collection of poems printed before he died was entitled “The Wild Braid: A Poet reflects on a hundred years in the garden.”

Stanley Kunitz died in 2006 when he was 100 years old. And so he is finished with his changes. I’ve been reading him again lately because I’m not done with mine. Here’s a bit of a poem from Stanley:

Touch Me, from Collected Poems

Outdoors all afternoon
under a gunmetal sky
staking my garden down,
I kneeled to the crickets trilling
underfoot as if about
to burst from their crusty shells;
and like a child again
marveled to hear so clear
and brave a music pour
from such a small machine.
What makes the engine go?
Desire, desire, desire.
The longing for the dance
stirs in the buried life.
One season only,
and it’s done.

So let the batterd old willow
thrash against the windowpanes
and the house timbers creak.
Darling, do you remember
the man you married? Touch me,
remind me who I am.

Don

January 9th, 2008


6 Responses to “on Stanley Kunitz”

  1. Gretch-A-Sketch Says:
    January 9th, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    I know what I am about to say has nothing to do with this post but I just wanted to be able to tell you how much I am loving Through Painted Deserts! This is my first book I have read by you and I can not seem to put it down. This is unusual for me as I have about a dozen 1/2 read books ….book-marked, on a shelf. I wrote about the book today on my blog. I think everyone should read it!! I totally feel like I am on a road trip with two guys in a VW van…haha Its a trip! I love the humor and the subtle spiritual awakening it holds.

    Thank you.

    Gretchin Anderson

  2. Kevin Padden Says:
    January 10th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

    I’ve been in love with Stanley Kunitz for around ten years, ever since I came across “The Layers.” It was a shock to see his name mentioned on Miller’s site. It was a pretty nice moment.

    I wrote Mr. Kunitz a letter when I was living in Portland, I think he was a young 93 then, telling him how much I appreciated his work and admired his grasp of language. I don’t think I’ve come across anyone who can say so much, so eloquently, in such a short form.

    If anyone cares to hear Stanley Kunitz read ‘The Long Boat” (another amazing one) on NPR here’s the link:

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4776898

  3. James Says:
    January 11th, 2008 at 2:06 am

    I took a quick glance to look up some stuff about Donald (I had just finished Through Painted Deserts this past December) and I noticed a change in the page. I enjoy it though. In regards to TPD, ironically, I had picked it up at Half-Price Books in Houston, TX for $1.50. I had read Blue Like Jazz, before and leapt at the opportunity to buy it, albeit a discounted price. I had been on the lookout for a Miller book since I received BLJ for my birthday in April. This one, like BLJ, was a thoroughly enjoyable read. And with me living in Houston, it really makes me want to pack up and hit the road…

    At anyrate, DonaldMillerFans.net has now been bookmarked! God bless…

    Pax,
    James in Houston, TX!

  4. Kathy Waters Says:
    January 15th, 2008 at 11:37 am

    I’m just back to NYC from Young Life’s conference and I am smitten. First, you talked often and fondly of sexual matters. I miss sex and I wish more Christians would talk often and fondly of it. Then you talked about Bono. I had been sharing my wish for the conference with anyone who would listen that Bono was coming. This wish came to me at the Orlando Airport when I saw the conference sign saying “ONE”. I figured he could sing that song, talk about that initiative in Africa and talk about Christ in that way I love. As you brought up his name and another great song, I wished you were maybe about to introduce Bono. Still, at least you talked about him. Then you said Yosemite. This is my place on the earth. My eharmony photo is of me standing in front of Half Dome. In my spiritual imagination, Jesus and I dance and laugh in my Yosemite meadow. I lived there for a year. And you mentioned it. Yikes! I turned to my friend and announced that I wanted to marry you. And you talked fondly of lesbians who cook. Two of my best friends are lesbians who cook really good, and not just breakfast. In fact, one of them introduced me to Yosemite. So, I bought a couple of your books and am reading “Blue Like Jazz”. I believe I can assume you are not a Republican! And you make me laugh out loud.

    I also bought “To Own a Dragon” because I work with teen mothers, most of whom are fatherless. And most of their baby’s fathers are fatherless as well. I hope it helps me. It’s a mess out here.

    So, thanks. I would like to marry you, but I bet I’m not your first female fan. So, I’ll appreciate you and the way you talk about Christ from afar.

    Smitten in NYC,
    Kathy

  5. Hazel Langenbach Says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am

    I am putting this message here because I am new to the environment and don’t know if there is a better place to put it. I bought Blue Like Jazz last year for my 23 year old law student son and my two nephews. I didn’t actually read it myself, but it looked interesting. I sent my son the link to the CNN interview last week and when we spoke of it he encouraged me to read the book for myself. I did that this week-end - actually devoured that book. I am so full of thinking today that I can barely do my work, and this is a really, really great thing. I just turned 61 and my one of my big fears is becoming rigid and unteachable. I was starting to attribute my general weariness with everything spiritual to my age - not a comforting thought. I have spent so much of the last decade regretting stuff that I didn’t do or stuff that I shouldn’t have done but did anyway. I feel a sprout of hope today - perhaps I can begin to ask God what I should do with myself for however many days I have left instead of continuing to grieve over how I have squandered everything so far. Thanks, young Don, for sharing your journey with all of us. This message is not just for the young ‘uns.

    Miss Hazel

  6. Tucker Lux Says:
    March 1st, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    I love this. Have you read any William Stafford? I get the same feeling from him. It makes me want to sink myself down into the soil of the place I live. It makes me want to spread roots in this soil and spread branches and suck up this water and breathe in this air. We need more of this. We need to know where we are living. We spend too little time being present. Thank you.

    tjl

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