Letter From Elizabeth Alexander, Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 2009, photo © 2009-2010 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Our Poetry & Meditation Group began meeting again in January. We celebrated new beginnings with the poetry of Ruth Stone (the poet mentioned in Carolyn Flynn’s piece An Evening With Elizabeth Gilbert & Anne Lamott). This Friday we’ll read the work of Pablo Neruda.
It’s hard to believe it was over a year ago when we gathered to learn more about poet Elizabeth Alexander. We went around the circle and read her poems. Then, in gratitude, sent a card thanking her for her work. A few weeks later, she would be reading at the inauguration of Barack Obama.
A few of us met in South Minneapolis that historic Winter day to watch the inauguration on the big screen at Sabathani. When Elizabeth got up to read, we knew a little about her life; we had read her poems. We never dreamed the poet would write back. Then, one frosty day in March, her letter arrived in Teri’s mailbox. We passed the parchment during poetry group:
My dear friends in Minnesota,
Thank you for your lovely card and my apologies for my late reply. I’ve found myself in an unusual whirlwind for the last few months.
It was indeed an honor to speak at the inauguration. One of the wonderful gifts that comes from reading is hearing from people like you. What a precious group you have! I hope it continues to flourish.
Yours,
Elizabeth
Last week I was listening to NPR’s Talk of the Nation. At the end of the segment Henry Louis Gates Uncovers ‘Faces Of America’ I was surprised by the voice of Elizabeth Alexander. She was responding to what Gates had uncovered after he traced her ancestry back to Edward Honeywell and Esther Power and King John of England. I thought of Elizabeth at the presidential podium. And I thought about her taking the time to respond to a card from a small Minnesota poetry group. How a letter from a young poet transcended the political. It meant the world to us. The card, the letter, the poems — the poet’s lineage.
Elizabeth Alexander At The Inauguration, Yale University, Letter From A Young Poet, Minneapolis, Minnesota, January & March 2009, photo © 2009-2010 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
-posted on red Ravine, Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
-related to posts: Got Poetry? (National Poem In Your Pocket Day), The Poet Writes Back — Gary Soto, Which Came First, The Grasshopper Or The Egg?, The Poet’s Letter — Robert Bly, Postcard From Billy Collins — Kicking Off National Poetry Month
Oh, Quoin…I love this post. Of course. How is it that we have a letter from Elizabeth Alexander? Fortunate us. I’ll never forget sitting at Sabathani watching the Inauguration; Naomi and I couldn’t help holding hands. We were so excited; she was *our* poet. She was in us.
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It’s so simple and yet so wonderful when a well-published poet responds to a thank you note from a small Midwestern poetry group! It means so much.
Our Milwaukee poetry group (inspired by yours) has been thrilled to receive postcards back from Ted Kooser, Jane Hirshfield. and Hilda Raz. All very gracious and warm in response. These little notes make us feel seen. They add to the pleasure of reading the poems aloud and create a kind of currency flowing through all of us, poets and readers together.
I am so glad you started the tradition and I think I speak for the other people in my poetry group, too, when I say that we treasure our once a month get-togethers.
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Teri, thanks. It was so much fun that day to be a part of something much bigger than us. It feels like so long ago, yet it’s only been a year. Everyone seemed so full of hope then. A lot has changed. But I still find inspiration in the changes, though they may be slow.
Jude, how wonderful that you have heard from Ted, Jane, and Hilda. It’s true — it feels good to be seen by those we consider to be great poets. And it adds so much to the experience of reading poetry. I hope people take away from these posts the inspiration to start their own poetry groups. I know we owe a lot to Teri who started our group and has been a steadfast spirit throughout. Even if the group ends, we will always have the experience of having shared and read these poets together. I’m always so humbled when a writer takes the time to write back to us. That’s the kind of writer I want to be.
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Jude,
I’m happy to hear you’ve heard from three poets, too. I’ll have to admit I don’t know the poetry of Hilda Raz or Jane Hirshfield, but that’s the beauty of having a poetry group. You get to find out who’s who, and what’s what.
Having quite recently sat in the coffee shop Ted Kooser frequents in Dwight, Nebraska, it seems more obvious that he would have written back to both our groups. He’s close to the earth, close to sensible people, close to normal life. Of course he’d send a postcard to people who took the time to write to him.
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I love that about Kooser! His ordinariness is extraordinary.
I’m going to send you my favorite Hilda Raz poem. Watch for it.
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Quoin,
I overheard a conversation yesterday, people discussing what has and has not happened since the 2008 election. It inspired me to do something…not just stare toward Washington to make my world better. I thought of something simple that all the political haggling could not interfere with.
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Okay, I had that name all wrong. (I am totally trashing your image of me as super-literate) Hilda Raz is the editor of Ploughshares from which one of my stories was recently rejected. ( no wonder she was on my mind!) The poet I was thinking of is Barbara Ras. Her recent book, Bite Every Sorrow.
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In Ted’s coffee shop there is a table of brik-a-brak for sale…sort of like something you’d find in a church garage sale. Crocheted pot holders, ceramic frogs, and homemade greeting cards made from other (recycled) cards. In amongst all that was a framed black-and-white of Ted. It had “United States Poet Laureate” printed at the top, and it was probably signed. Here was Ted Kooser’s picture, humbly sitting on the table with a plastic Santa. He doesn’t elevate himself above the offerings of those who contribute (by the world’s standards) much less. I loved him even more.
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What an honor to receive this letter from Alexander. Well, from any poet, really. It’s a generous gesture, first that you send your notes to them, and second for their acknowledgment.
I, too, will forever hold in my heart a special place for Alexander.
Teri, regarding your commitment to do something simple in response to the conversation you overheard, I just wanted to say, good for you! I get tired of the complaining, and especially the cannibalizing within the Democratic party; e.g., Obama is too liberal, not liberal enough, etc.
I read last night a profile in The New Yorker on economist Paul Krugman [LINK], who is influential within the political scene, especially among Democrats. In the Democratic primaries, he was first for Edwards, and after Edwards dropped out, he supported Clinton. He only got behind Obama after the Democratic nomination; according to Krugman, Obama was the most conservative of the Dem candidates. Krugman has been critical of Obama this first year, but, Krugman said, it’s easy to detach oneself from the realities of how legislation actually happens and complain about what hasn’t happened. Recently he is trying to be more realistic about how things are done in Washington and the obstacles to change.
That’s not to say that there shouldn’t be criticism; just that it’s important to understand the system and how it works, and balance the criticism against that reality. And it’s important to not just sit back and put the oneness on politicians to change the system. Be active. Writers, especially, can affect change if they choose to. And if they don’t, that’s fine, too, but it is infuriating to have to hear all the criticism from those people who do nothing.
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I just came back to read the thread of comments here. I had seen them when they came in and wanted to come back to re-read.
ybonesy and Teri, I do think it comes down to making individual choices about how we can make things better. I heard about the Paul Krugman profile on NPR and it made me think a lot about what has or hasn’t happened over the last year. There is a lot I don’t agree with — going back into an old war, nuclear power support, lack of support for gay marriage, but I know it’s up to me gather with like-minded people to make change. I’m so tired of the Democrats right now, I could scream. In my mind, they are all talk and no action. You can’t blame a single president for every way we are stalemated right now. It’s up to all of us!
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Wanted to mention one other thing about poet Elizabeth Alexander, Liz and I have taped the PBS series by Henry Louis Gates [Executive Producer, Host, “Faces of America”; Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research, Harvard University)] on Faces of America and it’s fascinating. I recommend it. (See the link at the end of the post to hear and read about the project.)
So far we have seen him trace the ancestry of Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Alexander, Yo-Yo Ma, and Louise Erdrich, to name a few. It’s fun to watch their faces when they find out how far their ancestry goes back and who they are connected to (sometimes they are related to each other by an ancestor).
One thing that was really fascinating was the genetic test that the people being interviewed could choose to take or not to take. Elizabeth Alexander chose to take it. It turns out she is 66% white, at least genetically. Which led to the discussion of how identity is formed by so much more than what runs in our blood.
Louise Erdrich, after consulting with her family, chose not to have the test done. They said it wasn’t hers to tell. Equally as fascinating. All the questions raised about identity are thought provoking and rich.
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[…] of the Poetry & Meditation Group of which QuoinMonkey fondly and frequently writes. (See Letter From Poet Elizabeth Alexander for the latest post on that group and Teri’s piece titled Desire And A Library Card — The Only […]
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[…] of the Poetry & Meditation Group of which QuoinMonkey fondly and frequently writes. (See Letter From Poet Elizabeth Alexander for the latest post on that group and Teri’s piece titled Desire And A Library Card — The Only […]
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Elizabeth Alexander spoke at St. Ben’s graduation this weekend. If I had known, I would have driven up to the ceremony. This is one of the excerpts from her speech:
“Speak up and be courageous. Gloria Steinem prescribes that people commit one outrageous act every day. I revise that to say one courageous act a day — be it extending an act of kindness, speaking up when the butterflies in our stomach say no, giving half of your metaphorical sandwich to someone who does not have one, admitting when you’ve been wrong, pushing past where your knowledge stops — through the discomfort of unknowing.”
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Elizabeth Alexander was on Krista Tippett’s “Speaking of Faith” program today on public radio. I couldn’t find a way to the link yet, but I’m sure the podcast will be available soon.
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Sinclair, I’m so glad you mentioned Elizabeth Alexander on Krista Tippett this morning. I was working on a few red Ravine changes in the living room, when Liz called out from the bedroom, “Poet Elizabeth Alexander on Speaking of Faith!” I did not get a chance to hear it, but will be sure to check out the link when it’s posted. Was there anything in particular you took away from it?
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They mentioned an essay I want to track down entitled “Poetry is Not a Luxury.”
I may be imagining only what I want to be true, but I’ve heard so many radio references to poetry, included a fabulous essay on the BBC last week.
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[…] of the Poetry & Meditation Group of which QuoinMonkey has fondly and frequently written. (See Letter From Poet Elizabeth Alexander for the last post on the group and Teri’s piece titled Desire And A Library Card — The Only […]
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[…] see poetry everywhere: imprinted on the sidewalks of St. Paul, recited in films like Invictus, and incorporated into presidential inaugurations. Poetry distills events of our common human experience into a few words. I’m informed, assured […]
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