I heard the always-remarkably-knowledgeable
Michael Krasny interviewing new American
Poet Laureate and Bay Area
resident Kay Ryan on the
KQED Forum (National Public Radio) show
this morning. I was very impressed and regret to write that this is the first time
I have heard Kay Ryan’s poems. Krasny’s introductory comparisons to American
poets Emily Dickinson and
Robert Frost at first seemed
unlikely. Then I heard her read. Wow! I am buying several Kay Ryan books soon.
My excellent High School English teacher, Carol Marshall, taught me that the defining
characteristics of poetry are word, image, and music.
I have found some of Ryan’s poems on the web. Her work quietly exceeded my
expectations in both first hearing and in re-reading. Ryan’s presentation of the
music of words is a delight. Here is the first poem Kay Ryan read this morning:
“Turtle”
by Kay Ryan
Who would be a turtle who could help it?
A barely mobile hard roll, a four-oared helmet,
She can ill afford the chances she must take
In rowing toward the grasses that she eats.
Her track is graceless, like dragging
A packing-case places, and almost any slope
Defeats her modest hopes. Even being practical,
She’s often stuck up to the axle on her way
To something edible. With everything optimal,
She skirts the ditch which would convert
Her shell into a serving dish. She lives
Below luck-level, never imagining some lottery
Will change her load of pottery to wings.
Her only levity is patience,
The sport of truly chastened things.
From Flamingo Watching, Copper Beach Press, 1994
Copyright Kay Ryan. All rights reserved.
Ryan’s reading reminded me of the big snapping turtle we saw trying to
cross a lakeside road last month:
Image Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson
KatysBlog 